15-04-2025
12th Annual Edition of the BeyondTrust Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report Reveals Record-Breaking Year for Microsoft Vulnerabilities
ATLANTA, April 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BeyondTrust, the global cybersecurity leader protecting Paths to Privilege ™, today released its annual Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report, revealing a record-breaking number of reported Microsoft vulnerabilities in 2024. Despite ongoing security improvements, attackers continue to exploit key weaknesses, particularly those related to privilege escalation and remote code execution. The 2025 report provides an in-depth analysis of data from security bulletins publicly issued by Microsoft throughout the previous year, providing valuable information about vulnerability trends and the evolving threat landscape to help organizations understand, identify, and address the risks within their Microsoft ecosystems.
Key findings from the 2025 report include:
Although the total number of vulnerabilities has risen, the longer-term trend shows the pace of growth appear is stabilizing. This, combined with the continued downward trend toward fewer critical vulnerabilities, suggests Microsoft's security initiatives and improvements in the security architecture of modern operating systems are paying off.
However, while vulnerability growth appears steady, the report also highlights the complexity of securing today's vast and diverse ecosystems, where evolving technologies, features, and interdependencies continue to introduce risk.
Key predictions and takeaways from this year's report include:
Despite the changing threat landscape, some security fundamentals remain unchanged:
1) Software vulnerabilities are as inevitable as death and taxes
2) Enforcing least privilege remains one of the most effective strategies to reduce risk—even against zero-days and reverse-engineered patches
3) Defense-in-depth strategies that combine prevention with detection and response offer the strongest protection—including against modern, identity-based threats.
'This year's data offers a clear reminder that the threat landscape isn't slowing down—it's rapidly evolving,' said James Maude, Field Chief Technology Officer at BeyondTrust. 'The sustained dominance of Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities highlights how valuable privileges are to attackers and why they will continue to target identities with privileges to move laterally and gain access to critical systems. These trends reinforce the need for organizations to focus not just on patching, but on securing the underlying Paths to Privilege™ across their environments to reduce the attack surface of every identity and point of access.'
The BeyondTrust Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report serves as a trusted resource for organizations to better understand the Microsoft vulnerability landscape, prioritize patching strategies, and strengthen their identity security posture against modern threats. Download the full 2025 Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report here.
About BeyondTrust
BeyondTrust is the global cybersecurity leader protecting Paths to Privilege™. Our identity-centric approach goes beyond securing privileges and access, empowering organizations with the most effective solution to manage the entire identity attack surface and neutralize threats, whether from external attacks or insiders.
BeyondTrust is leading the charge in transforming identity security to prevent breaches and limit the blast radius of attacks, while creating a superior customer experience and operational efficiencies. We are trusted by 20,000 customers, including 75 of the Fortune 100, and our global ecosystem of partners.
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