XP SP3 and Vista SP1 Share New Critical Vulnerabilities

Despite being different releases associated with the evolution of the Windows client, Windows XP and Windows Vista share not only common elements and components through their architecture, starting with the kernel, but also flaws in the source code.

In this context, the Service Pack 1 and respectively Service Pack 3 refreshes for the two operating systems have done nothing to break the intimate connection between the two products. An illustrative example in this situation are the new Critical updates Microsoft is wrapping up for the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista SP1 and XP SP3, designed to patch security vulnerabilities in the two operating systems.

Next week, on September 9, 2008, Microsoft will make available three security bulletins impacting both the latest service packs for Vista and XP. According to the Redmond giant, the updates will patch vulnerabilities in Windows Media Player 11, Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, and Windows itself.

“It is important to remember that while the information [offered] is intended to help with your planning, because it is preliminary information, it is subject to change. As part of our regularly scheduled bulletin release, we’re currently planning to release: four Microsoft Security Bulletins rated as Critical. These updates may require a restart and will be detectable using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer,” revealed Bill Sisk, Microsoft Security Response Center Communications manager.

But at the same time, it’s not just Vista SP1 and XP SP3, or the two clients’ components that are affected. X86 and x64 variants of Windows Server operating systems will also receive patches including Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008. In addition, Microsoft is cooking Critical updates for Office XP SP3, Office 2003 SP2 and SP3, and Office 2007 SP1. And on top of it all, security updates will be provided for SQL Server 2005 and various versions of Visual Studio, including 2008.