Adobe Flash Player Critical Update Available and Much More

Last month we got to see quite a brief Patch Tuesday released by Microsoft, which was kind of disappointing for many people. Now it seems that the tech giant wants to make up for it and has released the largest ever batch of updates both for Windows and for Microsoft Office. Besides, they also stepped up the game with a critical update they developed for the Adobe Flash Player.

What does the March update bring?

The March update introduces quite an unusual number of updates. Nine patches are rated as being critical, while the other 9 are important. Besides this, there is also the security advisory wearing the series KB3123479.

There are also two browser patches, namely MS17-006 and MS17-007, plus the update for the Adobe Flash Player (MS17-023). Moreover, the important patch for XML Servies (MS17-022) is trying to solve a zero-day flaw that has been publicly disclosed.

How does Microsoft deliver updates?

There have been some important changes made to the way in which Microsoft releases the updates for the Windows platforms. In October 2016 we observed that the company switched to a patch roll-up strategy for Windows 10 that also included Windows 8.x and Windows 7. In the beginning of 2017, Microsoft publicly announced that they are intending to split out the Internet Explorer updates, as a response to major feedback they received from their customers, saying that the patch downloads were too big.

It was a move that was really appreciated, since breaking the browser from the Security Only Bundles meant that companies could now dodge the supportability issues when it comes to web apps. Moreover, now they don’t have to download any updates for the OS too.

According to speculations, the Patch Tuesday released last month were caused by the infrastructure changes that were needed in order to support the patch release change.