As part of its monthly security update cycle, Microsoft released patches for 61 vulnerabilities affecting Windows OS, including two zero-day vulnerabilities that had already been exploited in the wild. Zero-day vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous as they pose a significant threat before vendors have a chance to address them.
The May 2024 security updates address a wide range of vulnerabilities, categorized as follows:
- 1 Critical vulnerability
- 59 Important vulnerabilities
- 1 Moderate vulnerability
These vulnerabilities could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable system by tricking a user into opening a malicious document. Once exploited, an attacker could gain the same privileges as the user, potentially leading to data theft, malware installation, or other unauthorized actions.
In addition to the Windows updates, Microsoft also released patches for 30 vulnerabilities in the Chromium-based Edge browser, including two zero-day vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-4671 and CVE-2024-4761) that had also been exploited in attacks.
It is highly recommended that users install the latest security updates as soon as possible to mitigate these risks. Updates can be installed automatically through the Windows Update feature within the operating system settings.
