Microsoft has one final bumper harvest of 17 security bulletins to release before the year is out.
The record-breaking number of bulletins from Redmond will be pushed out next Tuesday and will address 40 vulnerabilities.
Microsoft rates two of the 17 security bulletins "critical". Fourteen are considered "important" and the final one is marked "moderate".
The patches apply to Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well as Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The software giant is also patching Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 and Office 2010.
In October the company patched a massive 49 vulns and released 16 bulletins to address those flaws.
Microsoft has the full details about the forthcoming Patch Tuesday here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-dec.mspx(ElReg)