Microsoft to Release Out Of Band Patch Monday

Microsoft is releasing an important “out of band” release of a patch that affects most current users of their operating systems. Make sure you run Windows Updates on Monday if you don’t have automatic updates turned on.

Because of the seriousness of the flaw, Microsoft has decided to publish the patch before the company’s scheduled release of security patches Aug. 10. The so-called “out of band” release corrects a flaw that results in Windows incorrectly parsing shortcuts in a way that allows malicious code to be executed when the icon of a specially crafted shortcut is displayed, the company said.