Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday release has set a new record, disclosing 973 vulnerabilities, with two of them—CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880—actively exploited by hackers, according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Federal agencies have until September 22 to address these vulnerabilities. More than 22,000 corporate Exchange servers remain unpatched against weaponized exploit code.
CVE-2026-81963 is linked to a component used for installing Windows updates, while CVE-2026-85880 affects a messaging system within Windows. Experts warn that vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-81963 can serve as initial steps in ransomware attacks, where hackers gain access through phishing and escalate their privileges. “The component makes it worse. An attacker who owns the update stack owns the thing you’d use to evict them,” said Automox engineer Serena DiPenti.
This month’s Patch Tuesday release marks a significant increase in disclosed vulnerabilities, pushing the total for the year to over 2,600—more than double the previous record set in 2020. The surge in vulnerabilities has raised concerns among cybersecurity researchers, who have warned that the use of artificial intelligence in code-review tools may lead to a rise in minor vulnerabilities that could be exploited in dangerous ways. For further details, refer to the reporting by The Record.
As organizations scramble to patch these vulnerabilities, the potential for exploitation remains high, underscoring the urgent need for timely updates and robust cybersecurity measures.
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