Microsoft Monthly Security patches for August 2012

This bulletin advance notification will be replaced with the August bulletin summary on August 14, 2012.

Microsoft also provides information to help customers prioritize monthly security updates with any non-security, high-priority updates that are being released on the same day as the monthly security updates. Please see the section, Other Information.

Bulletin Information

Executive Summaries

This advance notification provides a number as the bulletin identifier, because the official Microsoft Security Bulletin numbers are not issued until release. The bulletin summary that replaces this advance notification will have the proper Microsoft Security Bulletin numbers (in the MSyy-xxx format) as the bulletin identifier.

The following table summarizes the security bulletins for this month in order of severity.

For details on affected software, see the next section, Affected Software.

Affected Software

This advance notification provides a number as the bulletin identifier, because the official Microsoft Security Bulletin numbers are not issued until release. The bulletin summary that replaces this advance notification will have the proper Microsoft Security Bulletin numbers (in the MSyy-xxx format) as the bulletin identifier.

The following tables list the bulletins in order of major software category and severity.

How do I use these tables?

Use these tables to learn about the security updates that you may need to install. You should review each software program or component listed to see whether any security updates pertain to your installation. If a software program or component is listed, then the severity rating of the security update is also listed.

Note You may have to install several security updates for a single vulnerability. Review the whole column for each bulletin identifier that is listed to verify the updates that you have to install, based on the programs or components that you have installed on your system.

Windows Operating System and Components

Microsoft Office Suites and Software

Note for Bulletin 4

See also other software categories under this section, Affected Software and Download Locations, for more update files under the same bulletin identifier. This bulletin spans more than one software category.

Microsoft Server Software

Note for Bulletin 4

See also other software categories under this section, Affected Software and Download Locations, for more update files under the same bulletin identifier. This bulletin spans more than one software category.

Detection and Deployment Tools and Guidance

Security Central

Manage the software and security updates you need to deploy to the servers, desktop, and mobile computers in your organization. For more information see the TechNet Update Management Center. The TechNet Security Center provides additional information about security in Microsoft products. Consumers can visit Security At Home, where this information is also available by clicking “Latest Security Updates”.

Security updates are available from Microsoft Update and Windows Update. Security updates are also available at the Microsoft Download Center. You can find them most easily by doing a keyword search for “security update”.

For customers of Microsoft Office for Mac, Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac can help keep your Microsoft software up to date. For more information about using Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac, see Check for software updates automatically.

Finally, security updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. The Microsoft Update Catalog provides a searchable catalog of content made available through Windows Update and Microsoft Update, including security updates, drivers and service packs. By searching using the security bulletin number (such as, “MS07-036”), you can add all of the applicable updates to your basket (including different languages for an update), and download to the folder of your choosing. For more information about the Microsoft Update Catalog, see the Microsoft Update Catalog FAQ.

Detection and Deployment Guidance

Microsoft provides detection and deployment guidance for security updates. This guidance contains recommendations and information that can help IT professionals understand how to use various tools for detection and deployment of security updates. For more information, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 961747.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer

The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) allows administrators to scan local and remote systems for missing security updates as well as common security misconfigurations. For more information about MBSA, visit Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer.

Windows Server Update Services

By using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), administrators can quickly and reliably deploy the latest critical updates and security updates for Windows 2000 operating systems and later, Office XP and later, Exchange Server 2003, and SQL Server 2000 to Windows 2000 and later operating systems.

For more information about how to deploy this security update using Windows Server Update Services, visit Windows Server Update Services.

System Center Configuration Manager

System Center Configuration Manager Software Update Management simplifies the complex task of delivering and managing updates to IT systems across the enterprise. With System Center Configuration Manager, IT administrators can deliver updates of Microsoft products to a variety of devices including desktops, laptops, servers, and mobile devices.

The automated vulnerability assessment in System Center Configuration Manager discovers needs for updates and reports on recommended actions. The Software Update Management in System Center Configuration Manager is built on Microsoft Windows Software Update Services (WSUS), a time-tested update infrastructure that is familiar to IT administrators worldwide. For more information about how administrators can use System Center Configuration Manager to deploy updates, see Software Update Management. For more information about System Center Configuration Manager, visit System Center Configuration Manager.

Systems Management Server 2003

Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) delivers a highly-configurable enterprise solution for managing updates. By using SMS, administrators can identify Windows-based systems that require security updates and to perform controlled deployment of these updates throughout the enterprise with minimal disruption to end users.

Note System Management Server 2003 is out of mainstream support as of January 12, 2010. For more information on product lifecycles, visit Microsoft Support Lifecycle. The next release of SMS, System Center Configuration Manager, is now available; see the earlier section, System Center Configuration Manager.

For more information about how administrators can use SMS 2003 to deploy security updates, see Scenarios and Procedures for Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003: Software Distribution and Patch Management. For information about SMS, visit the Microsoft Systems Management Server TechCenter.

Note SMS uses the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer to provide broad support for security bulletin update detection and deployment. Some software updates may not be detected by these tools. Administrators can use the inventory capabilities of SMS in these cases to target updates to specific systems. For more information about this procedure, see Deploying Software Updates Using the SMS Software Distribution Feature. Some security updates require administrative rights following a restart of the system. Administrators can use the Elevated Rights Deployment Tool (available in the SMS 2003 Administration Feature Pack) to install these updates.

Update Compatibility Evaluator and Application Compatibility Toolkit

Updates often write to the same files and registry settings required for your applications to run. This can trigger incompatibilities and increase the time it takes to deploy security updates. You can streamline testing and validating Windows updates against installed applications with the Update Compatibility Evaluator components included with Application Compatibility Toolkit.

The Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) contains the necessary tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows Vista, a Windows Update, a Microsoft Security Update, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer in your environment.

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