BeyondTrust, a global company in intelligent identity and access security, announced the release of the 2023 Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report. This report is the 10th-anniversary edition and covers a decade of vulnerability insights, providing valuable information to help organizations see into the past, present, and future of the Microsoft vulnerability landscape. Produced annually by BeyondTrust, The Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report analyzes data from security bulletins publicly issued by Microsoft throughout the previous year.
This report analyses the Microsoft vulnerabilities data for 2022, showing significant changes and patterns since the previous report. Some of the most important CVEs for 2022 are highlighted in the report, along with information on how attackers abuse them and mitigation or mitigation measures that can be taken.
Microsoft groups product vulnerabilities into the following categories: Remote Code Execution, Elevation of Privilege, Security Feature Bypass, Tampering, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, and Spoofing. Once again, the Elevation of Privilege was the leading vulnerability category in 2022.
Last year, the total number of Microsoft vulnerabilities increased to 1,292, marking the highest count since the report’s inception a decade ago. The impact of these vulnerabilities should not only be evaluated based on their total number but also their distinct threat and potential consequences.
♣ Elevation of Privilege is the #1 vulnerability category for the third year running, accounting for 55% (715) of the total Microsoft vulnerabilities in 2022.
♣ Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365 generate the biggest financial gains for Microsoft, as well as the biggest gain in several vulnerabilities.
♣ In 2022, 6.9% of Microsoft’s vulnerabilities were rated as ‘critical,’ while in 2013, 44% of all Microsoft vulnerabilities were classified as ‘critical.’
♣ Azure and Dynamics 365 vulnerabilities skyrocketed by 159%, from 44 in 2021 to 114 in 2022.
♣ Microsoft Edge experienced 311 vulnerabilities last year, but none were critical.
♣ There were 513 Windows Vulnerabilities, 49 of which were critical.
♣ Microsoft Office experienced a five-year low of just 36 vulnerabilities.
♣ Windows Server vulnerabilities rose slightly to 552.
Within the report, a panel of some of the world’s leading cybersecurity experts weigh in on the report’s findings. They provide insights as we look forward to how the next decade in cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and defences may unfold.
James Maude, Lead Security Researcher at BeyondTrust said “Microsoft has a high volume of vulnerabilities that we have seen increase over the last 10 years of our research.”
Maude added “This report outlines many of the risks, and highlights the importance of timely patching alongside the removal of excessive administrative rights to mitigate the risks.”
Throughout the past decade, Microsoft vulnerabilities have risen across all categories, particularly with the Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities increasing by 650%. The increase in vulnerabilities has largely been driven by the introduction of new Microsoft products, with Azure and Dynamics 365 vulnerabilities surging by 159%, largely attributed to Azure Site Recovery Suite over last year.
The fact that the basic strategies for reducing those risks haven’t changed much over the past ten years of vulnerabilities is, if anything, a ray of hope. The application of least privilege has shown to be equally applicable to modern cloud systems and IoT devices as it was to older systems, some of which are still in use. By safeguarding endpoints with tools like BeyondTrust’s Endpoint Privilege Management solutions, businesses can quickly accomplish the least privilege while maintaining the ideal level of productivity and security.
