Microsoft said on Tuesday that a hacking group previously linked to the Russian government and U.S. political hacks is behind recent cyber attacks that exploit a newly discovered flaw in its Windows operating system. Microsoft said that a patch to defend Windows users against this sort of attack will be released on Nov. 8.

The software maker said in an advisory on its website there had been a small number of attacks using "spear phishing" emails from a hacking group known Strontium, which is more widely known as "Fancy Bear" or APT 28.

Microsoft did not identify any victims of the attacks.

Microsoft said the attacks exploited a vulnerability in Adobe's Flash software and one in the Windows operating system.

Adobe released a patch for that vulnerability on Monday as security researchers with Google went public with details on the attack.