It's no-questions-asked overtime for data centre staffers again, after Oracle published its latest monster update batch on Wednesday night.

The October update covers vulnerabilities across Oracle's full software product range which is, of course, extensive. There are 36 bulletins in total. Among them are 15 updates for Oracle Database Suite, six involving Oracle Application Server and four involving E-Business Suite applications. There are a quintet of updates for Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise and JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and six involving BEA application server tech.

The impact of the vulnerabilities addressed by the update varies, but the majority pose a critical risk.

One of the database vulnerabilities lends itself to remote exploitation without authentication. Two of the six Application Server flaws pose a similar risk of allowing hackers to launch attacks across the net, without the need to know either user names or passwords. A brace of Oracle E-Business server security bugs, addressed by the patch batch, also pose a critical danger. Five of the BEA bugs are also remotely exploitable.

Oracle's risk and patching matrix provides a comprehensive overview of the three dozen updates. Although none have been tied to specific hacking attacks or script-kiddie friendly exploit packages, according to security clearing houses such as US CERT and Secunia at least, early patching is still advisable. ®