Microsoft issues biggest security update in recent history fixing 57 flaws with arch rival Google to thank for reporting many of the problems

Microsoft has issued one of its biggest ‘Patch Tuesday' monthly security updates ever, issuing fixes for a massive 57 flaws in Windows, Inteet Explorer, Microsoft Office, and other products.

The update includes twelve ‘security bulletins' which address 52 vulnerabilities and exposures. Five of the bulletins have a severity rating of ‘critical' and seven are deemed ‘important.'

This means that they address exploitable issues, ones that could cause quite a headache if left unpatched and which will require Microsoft users to update their software.

Microsoft has acknowledged that 32 of the 57 items addressed in Tuesday's update were reported by Google engineers Gynvael Coldwind and Mateusz 'j00ru' Jurczyk.

The total number of bugs Microsoft fixed this month is close to the all-time record of 64.

Microsoft welcomes bug reports from outsiders, which is why it has appended an 'acknowledgements' section to every security update since 2000.

'When you see a security professional acknowledged in a Microsoft Security Bulletin, it means that they reported the vulnerability to us confidentially, worked with us to develop the patch, and helped us disseminate information about it once the threat was eliminated,' the company says.

The total number of bugs Microsoft fixed this month is close to the all-time record of 64