Microsoft has released a bumper batches of 12 security updates - eight of them critical - as part of its regular Patch Tuesday update cycle.

The security patches address various critical vulnerabilities involving Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Media Player, Word, and PowerPoint that create a means for hackers to compromise vulnerable systems, run malicious code, or crash Windows PCs.

Among these patches is a much anticipated fix for the zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Word, which became the target of hacking attacks last month. There's also a cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, designed to fix four critical vulnerabilities affecting IE 5.0 and 6.0 on Windows 2000 and Windows XP/Windows Server 2003.

More info can be found in Microsoft's summary here or an overview by US CERT here. ®

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