March 2025 Patch Tuesday Updates Fix 6 Zero-Day Flaws

Microsoft has rolled out the March 2025 Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10, addressing critical security threats. This month’s release patches six zero-day vulnerabilities impacting key services, including Windows, Office, Azure, .NET, Visual Studio, Remote Desktop Services, DNS Server, and Hyper-V Server.

This update introduces new features and improvements for Windows 11 users on versions 24H2, 23H2, and 22H2. It includes minor enhancements to File Explorer, Narrator, and Windows Spotlight for a smoother user experience.

67 vulnerabilities fixed in the March 2025 Patch Tuesday updates

As pointed out by Zero Day Initiative, the March 2025 Patch Tuesday Updates fix a total of 67 vulnerabilities, with six of them rated Critical, and 50 are rated Important in severity. Here are the most critical vulnerabilities fixed with this month’s Patch Tuesday updates:

• CVE-2025-24993: This is a heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability that affects the New Technology File System (NTFS) file system in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server 2008 and later. This security flaw allows hackers to perform remote code execution on the target system.
• CVE-2025-24991: This is an information disclosure vulnerability in NTFS with a CVSS score of 5.5. This bug allows hackers to perform an out-of-bounds read to access data on the target system. It requires attackers to trick the user into mounting a malicious virtual hard disk to trigger the vulnerability.
• CVE-2025-24983: This is a Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem privilege escalation vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.0. An attacker could exploit it to elevate privileges to the system level and execute malicious code on an affected machine.
• CVE-2025-24984: This 4.6-rated vulnerability requires hackers to physically plug in a malicious USB drive to a target computer.
• CVE-2025-24985: This is a zero-day flaw in the Windows Fast FAT File System Driver with a CVSS score of 7.8. It requires cybercriminals to convince a local user to mount a specially crafted VHD. This bug could potentially be chained together with a privilege escalation flaw to gain complete control over the system.
• CVE-2025-26633: This is an actively exploited security feature bypass vulnerability in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) that targets both Windows desktop and server systems.
• CVS-2025-24064: This is a remote code execution flaw in the Windows Domain Name Service that could be exploited by sending a “perfectly timed” dynamic DNS update message.

You can find the full list of CVEs included in this month’s Patch Tuesday below:

Quality and experience updates

Microsoft released the KB5053598 and KB5053602 updates for users running Windows 11 version 24H2 as well as Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2, respectively. This release brings a couple of new capabilities for all supported versions of the operating system, including a new multi-app camera feature.

There is also a new home page with cards that allow users to view device information and accessibility features available on managed PCs. Commercial customers can also access a card showing details of all Microsoft account types in use, but this feature is exclusive to Windows 11 version 22H2 Enterprise and Education editions.

Additionally, Microsoft released the KB5053606 patch for Windows 10 version 22H2. This update brings security fixes and improvements for Windows 10 devices. However, users who have certain Citrix components installed might be unable to install the January 2025 Windows security update on their machines.

Windows Update testing and best practices

Microsoft advises organizations to conduct comprehensive testing before deploying monthly patches in production environments. This is crucial as it helps to ensure that the updates do not cause any unexpected issues or disruptions to the systems. However, IT administrators should not delay deployment to the extent that it exposes the organization to increased risk.

A recommended best practice is to back up systems before applying updates to minimize unexpected post-update issues. This approach helps enterprise customers to ensure minimal downtime and disruption to critical operations.

There are backup tools built into Windows and Windows Server that you can use to restore systems in the event a patch causes a problem. The backup features in Windows can be used to restore an entire system, or files and folders on a granular basis.