Security Update Guide | Microsoft Security Response Center

Toward greater transparency: Adopting the CWE standard for Microsoft CVEs

Monday, April 08, 2024

At the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), our mission is to protect our customers, communities, and Microsoft from current and emerging threats to security and privacy. One way we achieve this is by determining the root cause of security vulnerabilities in Microsoft products and services. We use this information to identify vulnerability trends and provide this data to our Product Engineering teams to enable them to systematically understand and eradicate security risks.

Security Update Guide

New Security Advisory Tab Added to the Microsoft Security Update Guide

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Today, we are adding a new Security Advisory tab to the Security Update Guide to meet our customers’ needs for a unified and authoritative source for the latest public information about Microsoft security updates and issues. We are continuously listening to feedback from users of the Security Update Guide. Our goal is to find new and improved ways to help customers manage security risks and keep their systems protected.

Reflecting on 20 years of Patch Tuesday

Friday, November 17, 2023

This year is a landmark moment for Microsoft as we observe the 20th anniversary of Patch Tuesday updates, an initiative that has become a cornerstone of the IT world’s approach to cybersecurity. Originating from the Trustworthy Computing memo by Bill Gates in 2002, our unwavering commitment to protecting customers continues to this day and is reflected in Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative announced this month.

Coming Soon: New Security Update Guide Notification System

Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Sharing information through the Security Update Guide is an important part of our ongoing effort to help customers manage security risks and keep systems protected. Based on your feedback we have been working to make signing up for and receiving Security Update Guide notifications easier. We are excited to share that starting today, you can sign up with any email address that you want and receive notifications at that email address.

Continuing to Listen: Good News about the Security Update Guide API!

Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Based on user feedback we have simplified programmatic access to the security update data by removing the authentication and API-Key requirements when using the CVRF API. You will no longer have to log in to obtain a personal API key to access the data. We’re happy to make this valuable public information more freely available and accessible.

Security Update Guide

Security Update Guide Supports CVEs Assigned by Industry Partners

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Hi Folks, This month we are introducing a new data element for each CVE in the Security Update Guide, called Assigning CNA. First let me back up a bit and give some information about the CVE program. The purpose of a CVE is to uniquely identify a cybersecurity vulnerability. The CVE program was started back in 1999 and is funded by the US federal government, currently out of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Security Update Guide: Let's keep the conversation going

Tuesday, December 08, 2020

Hi Folks, We want to continue to highlight changes we’ve made to our Security Update Guide. We have received a lot of feedback, much of which has been very positive. We acknowledge there have been some stability problems and we are actively working through reports of older browsers not being able to run the new application.

Vulnerability Descriptions in the New Version of the Security Update Guide

Monday, November 09, 2020

With the launch of the new version of the Security Update Guide, Microsoft is demonstrating its commitment to industry standards by describing the vulnerabilities with the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS). This is a precise method that describes the vulnerability with attributes such as the attack vector, the complexity of the attack, whether an adversary needs certain privileges, etc.

New and improved Security Update Guide!

Monday, September 21, 2020

We’re excited to announce a significant update to the Security Update Guide, our one-stop site for information about all security updates provided by Microsoft. This new version will provide a more intuitive user experience to help protect our customers regardless of what Microsoft products or services they use in their environment.

Taking your feedback on the Security Update Guide

Friday, April 21, 2017

The Security Update Guide has been in public preview since November 2016. This month marked our first release when security update information was published entirely in the new format. Over the last few months, customers and partners have provided a lot of feedback on the direction and implementation of the Security Update Guide.

Security Update Guide