Microsoft will issue four Security Bulletins on Tuesday, and it will host a webcast to address customer questions on these bulletins the following day (October 15 at 11:00 AM PDT, if you're interested). Four of the vulnerabilities are marked as "Critical," six are rated "Important," and one is considered to be "Moderate." The first four earned the rating through a remote code execution impact, meaning a hacker could potentially gain control of an infected machine. Eight of the 11 updates will require a restart.

The list of affected operating configurations includes Windows 2000, Windows XP (x86 and x64), Windows Server 2003 (x86 and x64), Windows Vista (x86 and x64), and Windows Server 2008 (x86 and x64). All supported Office versions are affected (Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007, Office 2004 for Mac, and Office 2008 for Mac). IE6 and IE7, Open XML File Format Converter for Mac, Microsoft Office Excel Viewer, and Microsoft Host Integration Server 2000/2004/2006 also need to be patched.

The exact breakdown of the 11 bulletins is as follows:

Along with these patches, Microsoft is also planning to release the following on Patch Tuesday:

This information is subject to change by Patch Tuesday; Microsoft has been known to rush patches as well as pull them if it deems it necessary.

Further reading