Microsoft has started to roll out two security updates today to address vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer. The first fixes a critical vulnerability in versions 7 and 8 of Internet Explorer on Windows XP and Internet Explorer 9 on Windows 7 or Windows Vista. The hole was originally discovered by French researchers earlier this week, with code available for malicious users to attack machines via a specially-crafted Flash animation.

Microsoft's second out-of-band security patch fixes a Flash vulnerability on Windows 8 with Internet Explorer 10. Although Windows 8 isn't available publicly yet, a number of developers and organizations are testing the final Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of the product ahead of its release on October 26th. Researchers found a flaw that could cause Flash to crash, allowing an attack to take control of a user's system.

Both updates are available through Microsoft's Windows Update service for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 users.