Both Adobe and Sun have released patches for several critical vulnerabilities that affect their respective Flash Player and Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

The patches are available from the vendors’ websites; here and here.

Some of the vunerabilities covered in the patches prevent you getting hacked just by viewing a web page that contains malicious Flash or Java content.

Many of the vulnerabilities are cross-platform, and between them, they have most OS-browser combinations covered. You are vulnerable until you install the patches. Read the advisories from the vendors for more information.

Microsoft has released six new patches that you might be interested in.

The critical updates are:

• Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Excel Could Allow Remote Code Execution (936542)
• Vulnerability in Windows Active Directory Could Allow Remote Code Execution (926122)
• Vulnerabilities in .NET Framework Could Allow Remote Code Execution (931212)

The important updates are:

• Vulnerability in Microsoft Office Publisher Could Allow Remote Code Execution (936548)
• Vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Information Services Could Allow Remote Code Execution (939373)

The moderate update is:

• Vulnerability in Windows Vista Firewall Could Allow Information Disclosure (935807)

More detailed information can be found in the July 2007 bulletin.

To check what patches your PC may need, visit Microsoft Update.