Microsoft releases 63 security fixes, including patches for two zero-day flaws, one of which is being actively exploited, and five critical RCE vulnerabilities
Today is Microsoft's September 2022 Patch Tuesday, and with it comes fixes for an actively exploited Windows vulnerability and a total of 63 flaws.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft’s September release follows a run of patch batches in which actively exploited zero-days appeared alongside critical vulnerabilities, including June 2021 fixes for six exploited zero-days. The recurrence makes deployment speed, rather than flaw counts alone, the operational issue for Microsoft customers.
The pattern also persisted in Microsoft’s November 2022 security release, which included six actively exploited Windows zero-days. September’s package is an earlier signal that exploited flaws were becoming a recurring priority within routine patching.
First-order effects
- Microsoft customers must prioritize the actively exploited Windows flaw and the five critical RCE vulnerabilities ahead of lower-risk items in the 63-fix release.
- Microsoft removes known exposure paths for organizations that deploy the updates, while unpatched Windows environments remain exposed to the actively exploited flaw.
Second-order effects
- Enterprise security and IT teams face a larger validation and rollout workload because urgent zero-day remediation must be coordinated with fixes for critical remote-code-execution vulnerabilities.
- The repeated presence of exploited zero-days in Microsoft’s patch cycle pushes customers to treat monthly updates as incident-response work rather than solely scheduled maintenance.
Third-order effects
- If this cadence holds, Windows ecosystem security will increasingly favor organizations with automated patch deployment and clear prioritization processes over those relying on slower, periodic update cycles.
- Recurring exploited flaws in routine releases reinforce ecosystem cyber defense as a shared dependency between Microsoft’s remediation pipeline and customer deployment discipline.
The trend: Microsoft’s patch cadence is increasingly defined by rapid response to actively exploited vulnerabilities alongside broad monthly remediation.