Microsoft released a total of 79 patches on Tuesday across eleven product families, addressing critical issues in Azure, SharePoint, and Windows. The company identified seven critical severity issues, with three being actively exploited in the wild and one potentially susceptible due to its connection to other exploited issues.
Additionally, Microsoft highlighted 11 CVEs in Windows that are likely to be exploited within the next 30 days. Eight of the issues can be detected by Sophos protections, offering added security measures for users. The release also included advisory information on three CVEs addressed by patches from Adobe, with one critical-severity vulnerability already being exploited in the wild.
The breakdown of the patches by severity revealed 7 critical, 71 important, and 1 moderate issue. The impact of the vulnerabilities varied, including elevation of privilege, remote code execution, information disclosure, denial of service, security feature bypass, and spoofing.
Among the notable updates in September were two vulnerabilities related to the Windows Mark of the Web security feature bypass. One of these vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-38217) is actively exploited in the wild, while the other (CVE-2024-43492) is predicted to be exploited within the next 30 days.
Another critical issue addressed in the patches is the CVE-2024-38014 Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability, which is actively exploited in the wild and affects all Windows versions, including Win 11H24.
An intriguing vulnerability, CVE-2024-43491, affects specific operational components of Windows 10 versions released in 2015. Microsoft explained that the issue stemmed from a code defect in the Windows Servicing Stack triggered by build version numbers crossing into a problematic range.
This month’s patches also include a significant number (29) of patches for Windows 11 24H2, even though the platform is not yet in general release. Two vulnerabilities in this category have already been detected in the wild.
Overall, the extensive list of patches covers a range of product families including Windows, SQL Server, Azure, SharePoint, Office, Office 365, Dynamics 365, Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac, Outlook for iOS, Power BI, and Visio. Each product family has its unique set of vulnerabilities addressed in the patches to enhance security measures.
The release also includes information on the exploitability of certain CVEs, with some already being actively exploited and others predicted to be exploited within the first 30 days post-release. Sophos protections can help detect several of these vulnerabilities, providing users with an added layer of defense against potential cyber threats.
In conclusion, the September patch release from Microsoft addresses a wide range of critical and important vulnerabilities across various product families, emphasizing the importance of promptly applying these patches to enhance cybersecurity and protect against potential exploits.