Microsoft's March 2025 Patch Tuesday Swings into Action with a Bunch of Bug Fixes 🔧
Microsoft's Recent Update Addresses 57 Security Flaws
Get ready, folks! March 2025's Patch Tuesday is here to save the day, fixing a whopping 57 issues across various Microsoft systems, including Windows, Office, Azure, and more. Seven of these fixes tackle zero-day vulnerabilities, with six of them being actively exploited. That's some serious business right there!
According to our cyber-savvy friend, Bleeping Computer, we're looking at 23 elevation of privilege flaws, three security feature bypasses, 23 remote code execution flaws, four information disclosure flaws, one denial of service flaw, and three spoofing flaws. Sounds like a real Doomsday for bad actors, amirite?
Zero-Day Rodeo 🦄
Seven of these flaws are zero-day vulnerabilities, babies with some oomph—they let the bad guys exploit systems before the dev team can release a patch. Yikes! Six of the seven zero-day vulnerabilities are already being exploited, and one is just waiting for its turn. Two of the six active exploits (CVE-2025-24985 and CVE-2025-24993) are remote code execution vulnerabilities, allowing the baddies to make users mount a malicious VHD file to execute unauthorized code remotely.
Two other active exploits (CVE-2025-24984 and CVE-2025-24991) are information disclosure vulnerabilities, both in Windows NTFS. With CVE-2025-24984, bad guys with physical access to a device can steal data by reading memory when a malicious USB drive is inserted, while CVE-2025-24991 runs wild when a user mounts a malicious VHD file.
Now, let's not forget about CVE-2025-24983 and CVE-2025-26633. CVE-2025-24983 is a vulnerability in the Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem, allowing local attackers to gain system privileges on a device, and CVE-2025-26633 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in the Microsoft Management Console.
Fun fact: Most of the exploited zero-days were anonymously disclosed, but CVE-2025-24983 was discovered by the ESET crew, and CVE-2025-26633 by Trend Micro.
And the Runner-Up is... CVE-2025-26630 🏅
Oh, and there's CVE-2025-26630—a publicly disclosed zero-day discovered by Unpatched.ai. It allows remote code execution in Microsoft Office Access if the user opens a file sent via a phishing or social engineering attack.
Oh, and there were six more "critical" vulnerabilities Microsoft took care of affecting Microsoft Office, Remote Desktop Client, Windows Domain Name Service, Windows Remote Desktop Services, and Windows Subsystem for Linux Kernel.
How to Get these Security Updates, You Ask? 🤖
Microsoft drops its Patch Tuesday fixes on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. PT. Notifications and security updates are automatically pushed to users if needed. If you want to make sure your PC is updated, just head to Start > Settings > Windows Update, and select Check for Windows updates. Pat yourself on the back; your security is now up-to-date! 🎉
- The upcoming patches from Microsoft's March 2025 Patch Tuesday include a patch for CVE-2025-24991, an information disclosure vulnerability in Windows NTFS, which can be exploited when a user mounts a malicious VHD file.
- Among the zero-day vulnerabilities being fixed during Microsoft's March 2025 Patch Tuesday, CVE-2025-26630 is a publicly disclosed remote code execution vulnerability in Microsoft Office Access that can be exploited via a phishing or social engineering attack.
- On Tech news outlets, cybersecurity experts are highlighting the importance of installing patches on Patch Tuesday, including the ones for the 57 issues Microsoft is addressing in March 2025, such as CVE-2025-24983, an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem.
