In September, Microsoft released a record-breaking update package addressing 999 vulnerabilities across its software ecosystem. The bulk of these patches, totaling 723, specifically target the Windows operating system. The remaining updates cover Office and Office 2016 with 111 fixes, SQL Server with 62, and various third-party projects with 25.
Among the addressed issues, Microsoft identified two high-severity vulnerabilities, CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880, which were already being exploited in the wild. These flaws allowed attackers to gain local privileges and execute arbitrary code. The company has now successfully patched both security gaps to prevent further unauthorized access.
Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to expand its memory integrity protection feature for Windows 11 users starting in October. This security mechanism operates at the kernel level and utilizes Virtualization-based Security to isolate environments. By leveraging hardware virtualization, the system creates dedicated hypervisors to protect against sophisticated threats.
