NEW YORK, USA: Microsoft on Tuesday will release a batch of 13 security updates for 34 vulnerabilities affecting its Windows systems, including critical vulnerabilities in all Windows operating systems up to Windows 7 that could allow hackers to execute code and take over PCs.

Eight critical and five important bulletins affecting Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, Silverlight, Forefront, Developer Tools and SQL Server are included in the monthly patch slated for October 13.

The advance notification bulletin from the Microsoft Security Response Center alerted customers of the affected systems to let them "plan accordingly and deploy these updates as soon as possible," Microsoft's Jerry Bryant said in a blog post.

Bulletin Five, rated critical because there is executable code in the wild that could exploit the vulnerability on the internet, affects Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista SP1 and SP2 and Windows 7 32-bit and x64 based systems.

The flaw is in Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8, according to Microsoft's security notification. Several of the fixes will require a restart of the PC.

"Thirteen is not a lucky number," said Andrew Storms, director of a top IT company, according to Computerworld. "They've been a busy bunch at Microsoft, that's for sure."

(Source: MX LOGIC)