Microsoft has released its March 2026 Patch Tuesday updates, successfully addressing 79 security vulnerabilities across various products and mitigating two publicly disclosed zero-day flaws.
These critical security updates provide essential fixes for enterprise systems, including Microsoft Windows, Office, SQL Server, and the .NET framework.
March 2026 Vulnerability Overview
The March 2026 Patch Tuesday addresses a wide range of security flaws impacting modern infrastructure.
Among the 79 patched vulnerabilities, three are classified as critical. The remaining flaws are rated as important or low severity.
The vulnerabilities span several categories, heavily featuring 46 elevation of privilege flaws and 18 remote code execution risks.
Because attackers often target known vulnerabilities quickly, administrators must apply these patches promptly to protect enterprise networks from unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
Delaying updates can leave systems exposed to cybercriminal groups and ransomware operators.
Microsoft patched two zero-day vulnerabilities that were publicly disclosed before the official fix was available.
While neither flaw has been actively exploited in the wild yet, their public disclosure significantly increases the risk of threat actors developing active exploits.
The notable zero-day flaws include:
- SQL Server Elevation of Privilege: Tracked as CVE-2026-21262, this flaw allows an attacker with authorized access to elevate their privileges to an administrator level over a network.
- .NET Denial-of-Service: This vulnerability affects the .NET framework, allowing attackers to disrupt business operations by causing service outages.
Patched Vulnerabilities Data
Below is the table of Microsoft vulnerabilities based on the provided security update guide.
| CVE ID | Vulnerability Name | Type | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-29059 | .NET Framework Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Important |
| CVE-2024-29057 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Spoofing Vulnerability | Spoofing | Low |
| CVE-2024-28916 | Xbox Gaming Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26247 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Security Feature Bypass | Low |
| CVE-2024-26246 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Security Feature Bypass | Low |
| CVE-2024-26204 | Outlook for Android Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Important |
| CVE-2024-26203 | Azure Data Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26201 | Microsoft Intune Linux Agent Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26199 | Microsoft Office Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26198 | Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| CVE-2024-26197 | Windows Standards-Based Storage Management Service Denial of Service Vulnerability | Denial of Service | Important |
| CVE-2024-26196 | Microsoft Edge for Android (Chromium-based) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Low |
| CVE-2024-26192 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Important |
| CVE-2024-26190 | Microsoft QUIC Denial of Service Vulnerability | Denial of Service | Important |
| CVE-2024-26188 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Spoofing Vulnerability | Spoofing | Low |
| CVE-2024-26185 | Windows Compressed Folder Tampering Vulnerability | Tampering | Important |
| CVE-2024-26182 | Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26181 | Windows Kernel Denial of Service Vulnerability | Denial of Service | Important |
| CVE-2024-26178 | Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26177 | Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Important |
| CVE-2024-26176 | Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26174 | Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Information Disclosure | Important |
| CVE-2024-26173 | Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26170 | Windows Composite Image File System (CimFS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26169 | Windows Error Reporting Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26167 | Microsoft Edge for Android Spoofing Vulnerability | Spoofing | Low |
| CVE-2024-26166 | Microsoft WDAC OLE DB provider for SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| CVE-2024-26165 | Visual Studio Code Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Elevation of Privilege | Important |
| CVE-2024-26164 | Microsoft Django Backend for SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Remote Code Execution | Important |
| CVE-2024-26163 | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Security Feature Bypass | Low |
Recommended Mitigations
To maintain a strong security posture, organizations should follow these mitigation steps:
- Deploy the March 2026 security updates immediately, prioritizing internet-facing and business-critical servers.
- Test patches in a staging environment before full deployment to avoid operational disruptions.
- Monitor SQL Server and .NET applications closely for unusual network traffic or unauthorized access attempts.
- Review Microsoft Office configurations, as certain flaws can be triggered via the preview pane without opening a malicious file.
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