Microsoft has released an out-of-band, emergency patch to fix a critical issue that affects all the supported versions of its Windows operating system.
In a security bulletin that Microsoft recently released, the tech giant said that if hackers would exploit the vulnerability, they can remotely execute codes once a user accesses a specially designed document or lands on an untrusted website which has OpenType fonts embedded.
"An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights," Microsoft wrote on the released security bulletin.
The vulnerability is a very serious one, as the previously undiscovered issue in how Windows manages a certain type of font could allow hackers to take complete control over an entire system.
The affected versions of Windows are Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows RT, along with all systems that are running Windows Server 2008 and later.
A spokesperson for Microsoft confirmed in an email sent to technology news website ZDnet that the Windows 10 Insider Preview, the first look at the company's newest operating system, is also vulnerable to the reported issue.
The software update, which has been labelled as a "critical" one by Microsoft, is released almost one week after the company's regular Patch Tuesday, through which Microsoft usually releases security updates such as this one.
Microsoft believes that the flaw is out in the public, but there is no indication to suggest that the vulnerability is being actively used by hackers to take control of affected systems.
Users can download and install the patch through the Windows Update feature of the operating system.
The discovery of the dangerous vulnerability is credited to security researchers from FireEye and the Project Zero of Google.
Despite not yet being released to the public, Windows 10 already has a vulnerability problem that Microsoft will fix through this security patch. However, the support plan of Windows 10 is a solid one, with mainstream support for the operating system to be offered until 2020 with extended support to run until 2025.
Users will no longer pay for updates to Windows 10, and instead will receive the updates as soon as they are released. This set-up will allow Microsoft to handle issues and bugs quickly, such as this one that was recently discovered and fixed.
