Microsoft has just announced a major update, and users of Windows PCs would be wise to install it as soon as possible. The update – which is part of the firm’s Patch Tuesday initiative – fixes a total of 84 bugs. More worryingly, eight are rated “critical” with two being given the dreaded “zero-day” rating. As Microsoft explains, “Zero-day vulnerabilities often have high severity levels and are actively exploited.” There’s nothing to suggest that any PCs have been attacked because of the current flaws, but it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry.

Other issues addressed in this release include a Microsoft Server bug that allows a logged-in user to quietly climb the privilege ladder and potentially become a full database administrator. There’s also a flaw in Microsoft’s .NET platform that lets an attacker remotely crash certain applications, effectively taking them offline.

Microsoft has also fixed vulnerabilities affecting Microsoft Office users. It seems there are two remote code execution flaws in this popular software, which can both be exploited via the preview pane.

Once the update is installed and PCs are restarted, all the gremlins will be resolved, and devices will be safe from future attacks.

You can install today’s update by going to Start > Settings > Windows Update and clicking on ‘Check for Updates.’

“This month, over half (55%) of all Patch Tuesday CVEs were privilege escalation bugs, and of those, six were rated exploitation more likely across Windows Graphics Component, Windows Accessibility Infrastructure, Windows Kernel, Windows SMB Server, and Winlogon,” Satnam Narang, senior staff research engineer at Tenable, said.

“We know these bugs are typically used by threat actors as part of post-compromise activity, once they get onto systems through other means (social engineering, exploitation of another vulnerability).”