Microsoft to issue six critical patches on Tuesday

Microsoft will end the year on a busy note for IT security professionals next week, with its last Patch Tuesday of 2008 featuring six critical and two important updates.

The six critical patches all protect against remote code execution problems in the Windows operating system, Internet Explorer and Visual Basic, as well as Word and Excel in the Office suite.

The first important fix, for Windows Media Centre, also involves remote code execution, while the second fixes an elevation of privacy issue in SharePoint.

The "critical" rating is the highest level in Microsoft's security system.

The patches will roll out on 9 December as part of Microsoft's monthly update schedule. More information on the vulnerabilities is available here.