One of the updates is a fix for a 13-year old bug that first appeared in Windows NT 3.1, it was discovered last month by a Google security researcher:
The ancient bug was discovered by Google security researcher Tavis Ormandy in January 2010 and involves a utility that allows newer versions of Windows to run programs that date from the DOS era.More info at BBC News.
Mr Ormandy has found a way to exploit this utility in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and 2008 as well as Windows Vista and Windows 7.