Software giant Microsoft is warning users using older Windows versions to urgently apply for a Windows Update in order to protect their systems and data against a potential widespread attack.

The company has already released security patches for Windows 7, XP and Windows Server 2003 despite the fact that XP and Server 2003 are already out of support.

"This vulnerability is pre-authentication and requires no user interaction. Any future malware that exploits this vulnerability could propagate from vulnerable computer to vulnerable computer in a similar way as the WannaCry malware spread across the globe in 2017," the company wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

The company has not yet observed any exploitation of the vulnerability as yet.

However, the security patches have been released to ensure that no cyber attacker could create malware and attack data and systems saved and running on Windows operating system.

"It is for these reasons that we strongly advise that all affected systems - irrespective of whether Network Level Authentication (NLA) is enabled or not - should be updated as soon as possible," the post added.

Systems running Windows 8 and Windows 10 are not affected by this vulnerability.