Here’s a summary of the main points from the ChannelLife Australia article on BeyondTrust’s 2025 Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report, highlighting Microsoft’s record vulnerability numbers for 2024:
Key Findings:
- Microsoft reported 1,360 vulnerabilities in 2024, an 11% increase from 2022’s previous record.
- Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities made up 40% of all reported cases, remaining the top attack vector for threat actors.
- Security Feature Bypass vulnerabilities surged by 60%, from 56 in 2023 to 90 in 2024.
- While overall critical vulnerabilities are declining, Microsoft Edge vulnerabilities rose 17% to 292 (with 9 critical, up from none in 2022).
- Vulnerabilities in Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365 stayed steady.
- Windows had 587 vulnerabilities (33 critical) and Windows Server had 684 (43 critical).
- Microsoft Office vulnerabilities nearly doubled to 62 but seem to be stabilizing.
- The gradual stabilization and decline in critical vulnerabilities reflect some positive results from Microsoft’s strengthened security initiatives and operating systems.
- However, the complex tech ecosystem of Microsoft (especially with cloud and AI integration) continues to bring new security challenges and attack surfaces.
- Unpatched systems remain at particular risk, and attackers are shifting towards targeting identities and privilege-based attacks rather than just exploits.
- Patching isn’t enough; organizations must employ layered defenses and secure privileged paths and identities to reduce their attack surface.
- James Maude, CTO at BeyondTrust, notes the increasing importance for organizations to protect identities and privileges, not just to rely on patching, given evolving attacker strategies.
If you need insights, statistics, or further analysis from the original BeyondTrust report or want to compare details with any documents you’ve uploaded, let me know!
Source: ChannelLife Australia Microsoft's 2024 vulnerabilities hit record high, report says
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