Microsoft started 2025 with a hefty patch launch this month, addressing eight zero-days with 159 patches for Home windows, Microsoft Workplace and Visible Studio. Each Home windows and Microsoft Workplace have “Patch Now” suggestions (with no browser or Trade patches) for January.
Microsoft additionally launched a major servicing stack replace (SSU) that adjustments how desktop and server platforms are up to date, requiring further testing on how MSI Installer, MSIX and AppX packages are put in, up to date, and uninstalled.
To navigate these adjustments, the Readiness group has offered this convenient infographic detailing the dangers of deploying the updates.
Identified points
Readiness labored with each Citrix and Microsoft to element the extra severe replace points affecting enterprise desktops, together with:
- Home windows 10/11: Following the set up of the October 2024 safety replace, some prospects report that theOpenSSH (Open Safe Shell) service fails to begin, stopping SSH connections. The service fails with out detailed logging; guide intervention is required to run the sshd.exe course of. Microsoft is investigating the problem with no (as of now) printed schedule for both mitigations or a decision.
Citrix reported vital points with its Session Recording Agent (SRA), inflicting the January replace to fail to finish efficiently. Microsoft printed a safety bulletin (KB5050009) that claims: “Affected gadgets would possibly initially obtain and apply the January 2025 Home windows safety replace appropriately, equivalent to through the Home windows Replace web page in Settings.” As soon as this example happens, nonetheless, the replace course of stops and proceeds to rollback to the unique state.
In brief, you probably have the Citrix SRA put in, your machine was (doubtless) not up to date this month.
Main revisions
For this Patch Tuesday, we’ve got the next revisions to beforehand launched updates:
- CVE-2025-21311: Home windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Microsoft has launched an up to date group coverage (SkuSiPolicy.p7b) to raised deal with safety associated points with VBS scripts included within the information observe, “Steerage for blocking rollback of Virtualization-based Safety (VBS)”.
- CVE-2025-21308: Home windows Themes Spoofing Vulnerability. Microsoft recommends disabling NTLM for desktop programs to handle this vulnerability. Steerage on the course of might be discovered right here: Prohibit NTLM: Outgoing NTLM visitors to distant servers.
Microsoft additionally launched CVE-2025-21224 to handle two reminiscence associated safety vulnerabilities within the legacy line printer daemon (LPD), a Home windows characteristic that has been deprecated for 15 years. I can’t see issues bettering for these print-related features (given the issues we’ve seen for the previous decade). Perhaps now’s the time to begin eradicating these legacy options out of your platform.
Home windows lifecycle and enforcement updates
The next Microsoft merchandise might be retired this 12 months:
- Microsoft Genomics: Jan. 6, 2025
- Visible Studio App Heart: March 31, 2025
- SAP HANA Massive Situations (HLI): June 30, 2025
In fact, we don’t want to say the elephant within the room. Microsoft will finish assist for Home windows 10 in October.
Every month, we analyze Microsoft’s updates throughout key product households — Home windows, Workplace, and developer instruments — that can assist you prioritize patching efforts. This prescriptive, actionable, steerage is predicated on assessing a big utility portfolio and an in depth evaluation of the Microsoft patches and their potential impression on the Home windows platforms and apps.
For this launch cycle from Microsoft, we’ve got grouped the important updates and required testing efforts into totally different purposeful areas together with:
Distant desktop
January has a heavy concentrate on Distant Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) and community protocols, with the next testing steerage:
- RD Gateway Connections: Guarantee RD Gateway (RDG) continues to facilitate each UDP and TCP visitors seamlessly with out efficiency degradation. Strive disconnecting RDG from an present/established connection.
- VPN, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Eventualities: check end-to-end configurations and close by sharing performance.
- DNS Administration for Operators: Confirm that customers within the “Community Configuration Operators” group can handle DNS consumer settings effortlessly.
Native Home windows file system and storage
File system and storage parts additionally get minor updates. Desktop and server file system testing efforts ought to concentrate on:
- Offline Information and Mapped Drives: Check mapped community drives beneath each on-line and offline circumstances. Pay shut consideration to Sync Heart standing updates.
- BitLocker: Validate drive locking and unlocking, BitLocker-native boot situations, and post-hibernation states with BitLocker enabled.
Virtualization and Microsoft Hyper-V
Hyper-V and digital machines obtain light-weight updates:
- Site visitors Testing: Set up the Hyper-V characteristic and restart programs. Monitor community efficiency and guarantee no regressions in digital community visitors or digital machine administration.
Safety and authentication
Key areas for security-related testing embrace:
- Digest Authentication Stress Testing: Simulate heavy masses whereas utilizing Digest authentication to uncover potential points.
- SPNEGO Negotiations: Confirm Safe Negotiation Protocol (SPNEGO) functionalities in cross-domain or multi-forest Energetic Listing setups.
- Authentication Eventualities: Check purposes counting on LSASS processes and be sure that protocols like Kerberos, NTLM, and certificate-based authentication stay steady beneath load.
Different important updates
There are some further testing priorities for this launch:
- App Deployment Eventualities: Set up and replace MSIX/Appx packages with and with out packaged companies, confirming admin-only necessities for updates.
- WebSocket Connections: Set up and monitor safe WebSocket connections, guaranteeing correct encryption and handshake outcomes.
- Graphics and Themes: Check GDI+-based apps and workflows involving theme information to make sure UI parts render appropriately throughout totally different view modes. Some solutions embrace international language purposes that depend on Enter Methodology Editors (IMEs).
January’s updates preserve a medium-risk profile for many programs, however testing stays important — particularly for networking, authentication, and file system situations. We suggest prioritizing distant community visitors validation, with mild testing for storage and virtualization environments. In case you have a big MSIX/Appx package deal portfolio, there’s lots of work to do to make sure that your package deal installs, updates and uninstalls efficiently.
Every month, we break down the replace cycle into product households (as outlined by Microsoft) with the next primary groupings:
- Browsers (Microsoft IE and Edge)
- Microsoft Home windows (each desktop and server)
- Microsoft Workplace
- Microsoft Trade and SQL Server
- Microsoft Developer Instruments (Visible Studio and .NET)
- Adobe (should you get this far)
Browsers
There have been no Microsoft browser updates for Patch Tuesday this month. Anticipate Chromium updates that can have an effect on Microsoft Edge within the coming week. (You could find the enterprise launch schedule for Chromium right here.)
Microsoft Home windows
It is a fairly massive replace for the Home windows ecosystem, with 124 patches for each desktops and servers, protecting over 50 product/characteristic teams. We’ve highlighted a few of the main areas of curiosity:
- Fax/Telephony
- MSI/AppX/Installer and the Home windows replace mechanisms
- Home windows COM/DCOM/OLE
- Networking, Distant Desktop
- Kerberos, Digital Certificates, BitLocker, Home windows Boot Supervisor
- Home windows graphics (GDI) and Kernel drivers
Sadly, Home windows safety vulnerabilities CVE-2025-21275 and CVE-2025-21308 each have an effect on core utility performance and have been publicly disclosed. Add these Home windows updates to your “Patch Now” launch schedule.
Microsoft Workplace
Microsoft Workplace will get three important updates, and an additional 17 patches rated vital. Unusually, three Microsoft Workplace updates affecting Microsoft Entry fall into the zero-day class with CVE-2025-21366, CVE-2025-21395 and CVE-2025-21186 publicly disclosed. Add these Microsoft updates to your “Patch Now” calendar.
Microsoft Trade and SQL Server
There have been no updates from Microsoft for SQL Server or Microsoft Trade servers this month.
Microsoft Developer Instruments (Visible Studio and .NET)
Microsoft has launched seven updates rated as vital affecting Microsoft .NET and Visible Studio. Given the pressing consideration required for Workplace and Home windows this month, you possibly can add these commonplace, low-profile patches to your commonplace developer launch schedule.
Adobe and third-party updates
No Adobe associated patches had been launched by Microsoft this month. Nonetheless, two third-party, improvement associated updates had been printed; they have an effect on GitHub (CVE-2024-50338) and CERT CC patch (CVE-2024-7344). Each updates might be added to the usual developer launch schedule.
