Microsoft has released a security update for its Windows operating system that patches 887 vulnerabilities. The update, which is available as a free download, is designed to protect users from attacks that could exploit vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system. The release of the security update comes just two months after Microsoft released a similar update that patched 884 vulnerabilities. The company has warned users of the importance of installing the updates as soon as they are available, as they can help protect against attacks that could exploit these vulnerabilities. “We encourage customers to install this security update as soon as it becomes available,” said Kurt Baumgartner, principal security advisor at Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC). “By doing so, customers can help protect themselves from attacks that could exploit these vulnerabilities.” The latest security update includes fixes for eight critical vulnerabilities and one important vulnerability. Of the critical vulnerabilities, five are rated as high severity and three are rated as critical severity. The important vulnerability is also rated as high severity. ..
According to Zero Day Initiative, Microsoft had a busy 2021, patching an impressive 887 CVE-assigned vulnerabilities. CVE-assigned means vulnerabilities that are identified, defined, and cataloged by the CVE Program. That means Microsoft has likely fixed far more than the 887 outlined in Zero Day Initiative’s report, but those aren’t tracked. Additionally, that number doesn’t include Chromium-based Edge.
While that number is large, it’s actually a 29% decrease over 2020. We’ll have to wait for 2022 to see what sorts of new bugs and vulnerabilities make their way to the surface and how many of them Microsoft will fix on Patch Tuesday (and through other emergency patches).
As far as the most recent Patch Tuesday, Microsoft released 67 security fixes. Of those, seven are critical issues and one is a zero-day flaw actively being exploited in the wild, so it’s definitely a set of updates you’ll want to download to make sure your PC is as secure as possible.
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