Fixes for two Windows flaws coming from Microsoft

Microsoft's first security update of the New Year should be relatively easygoing for administrators, with the software giant prepping just two patches to close three vulnerabilities.

One of the fixes is rated "critical" and corrects at least one vulnerability in all supported versions of Windows. The other bulletin earned an "important" designation and plugs at least one flaw in Vista.

Administrators will not see patches for two, publicly known vulnerabilities – one in Internet Explorer (IE), announced in late December, and the second in the Windows Graphics Rendering Engine, disclosed earlier this week.

But Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of vulnerability management firm Qualys, said Microsoft customers should not wait until those issues are patched to take action.

"Both flaws are reportedly used in targeted attacks and users should look at the mitigation steps outlined in the advisories [here and here]," Kandek said.

Microsoft so far only has confirmed active attacks targeting the IE flaw.