security updates

Microsoft has reached a definitive end‑of‑service milestone for one of its longest‑running Windows families: the final vendor‑backed security update pathway for the Vista‑era Windows Server 2008 codebase expired on January 13, 2026, closing the Premium Assurance bridge and leaving Server 2008...

Microsoft's emergency fixes for the Meltdown CPU vulnerability in early 2018 inadvertently introduced a far more dangerous weakness on 64‑bit installations of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 — a bug that made kernel page tables accessible to unprivileged code and allowed trivial, high‑speed...

Microsoft has quietly drawn a line under one of the longest‑lived branches of Windows: the Vista‑derived codebase that powered Windows Server 2008 has reached the absolute end of vendor‑supplied security updates, with the final paid lifecycle option (Premium Assurance) closing on January 13...

Microsoft has quietly pushed an out‑of‑cycle set of patches that touches a wide swath of Windows platforms — from legacy desktop builds to server editions and even Windows RT — and includes cumulative fixes for Internet Explorer that close severe, remotely exploitable bugs. The releases, which...

Microsoft’s January cumulative for Windows 11, delivered as KB5074109, patches a broad set of security issues while correcting a surprisingly practical battery‑life regression on NPU‑equipped devices and preparing the platform for a phased Secure Boot certificate rotation — but it also...

Microsoft released the January 13, 2026 security baseline today — published as KB5074109 — and enterprise administrators should treat this as both a mandatory security checkpoint and a practical reminder about the new Hotpatch servicing cadence for Windows 11 Enterprise (24H2 and 25H2). The...

Microsoft's January 13, 2026 cumulative update for Windows 11 (KB5073455, OS Build 22631.6491) closes several security gaps, removes legacy modem drivers with known high-severity vulnerabilities, and introduces a controlled, phased mechanism to deliver replacement Secure Boot certificates ahead...

A high‑severity Chromium vulnerability, tracked as CVE‑2026‑0628, was disclosed in early January 2026 and patched upstream in Chrome 143.x; Microsoft has recorded the same CVE in its Security Update Guide (SUG) to tell Edge customers when their downstream Microsoft Edge builds have ingested the...

I still run a Windows 10 PC in my living room because it does exactly what I need—and with a careful, layered approach I’ve kept it safe even after Microsoft’s official support ended on October 14, 2025. Background / Overview Windows 10 reached its official end-of-support date on October 14...

Microsoft’s Security Update Guide now lists CVE-2025-14765 — an out‑of‑bounds read and write vulnerability in the V8 JavaScript engine used by Chromium — because Microsoft Edge (Chromium‑based) consumes upstream Chromium code and Microsoft publishes the Security Update Guide entry to show...

Microsoft appears to be tightening the Windows 10 update pathway in ways that will change how millions of PCs receive security fixes — and some recent headlines suggesting the company will “remove an essential update feature for non‑ESU users” need careful unpacking to separate confirmed policy...

Microsoft has confirmed a serious regression in its December 2025 Extended Security Update (ESU) rollups for Windows 10 and several server builds: the cumulative patches that include KB5071546 (and companion KBs for older server SKUs) modify the Message Queuing (MSMQ) security model and NTFS...

Microsoft’s December Patch Tuesday update, delivered as KB5072033, landed on December 9, 2025, and while it does not introduce headline-grabbing features, it fixes two of the most visible annoyances in everyday Windows 11 use: the File Explorer white-flash when navigating and a buggy Ask Copilot...

Microsoft’s plan to install Windows quality (monthly security) updates during the out-of-box experience (OOBE) for managed Windows 11 devices is now a live, configurable admin control — but it comes with caveats, prerequisites, and real-world trade-offs that every IT team should evaluate before...

Microsoft's December security update contains another reminder that old, system-level services can still be an attractive target for attackers: CVE-2025-62474 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability affecting the Windows Remote Access Connection Manager (RasMan) component, and system...

Microsoft’s advisory for CVE-2025-62562 — an Outlook remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability — is unambiguous: if your systems are offered multiple security updates for this issue, you must install every update that applies to the Office/Outlook binaries in your estate. Microsoft states that...

Microsoft’s December Patch Tuesday brought a focused Windows 11 rollup for the 23H2 servicing baseline: KB5071417 (OS Build 22631.6345), a cumulative security-and-quality update that formally carries forward fixes from November’s roll and introduces a notable behavioral change in PowerShell 5.1...

Dell’s blunt math on the PC installed base — roughly 1.5 billion machines, with “about 500 million” capable of running Windows 11 but still on Windows 10 and another “about 500 million” too old to meet Windows 11’s hardware gate — has pushed a quiet but important story into the open: the Windows...

Microsoft has formally ended free support for Windows 10, and every user still running that OS needs to take immediate action to avoid growing security exposure: either enroll in the Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program or upgrade to a supported operating system—and for...

A genuine Windows 11 product key is the single most effective insurance policy most PC owners can buy: it unlocks updates, support, advanced features, and — crucially — reduces the real-world security and legal risks that come with pirated or gray‑market copies. Background / Overview Windows 11...