Before closing the year, Microsoft has deployed the last batch of Patch Tuesday that will update and deliver fixes to all supported versions and builds of Windows 10. The latest installment will complete the recently released November 2019 Feature Upgrade via the cumulative update packed with the OS bump.
In fact, the update has been designed to work on all Windows 10 versions currently in use - from the first release in 2015 up to the last feature jump that Microsoft provided last month.
According to WCCFTech, "Windows 10 cumulative updates are now live for Windows 10 November 2019 Update, May 2019 Update, October 2018 Update, April 2018 Update, Fall Creators Update, Creators Update, Anniversary Update, and the original Windows 10."
Notably, the fixes and updates included in the new Patch Tuesday will work for both Versions 1903 and 1909. That's because these OS builds "share a common core operating system," the report added.
Likewise, Microsoft indicated the inclusion of a zero-day patch for the potential exploit that was first detected by Kaspersky Lab. The Windows maker tracks the bug as CVE-2019-1458, ZDNet said in a report.
In an accompanying security advisory, the company described the zero-day as "an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory."
Microsoft warned that when successfully exploited, hackers could take control of a system with the unpatched opening.
"An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in kernel mode... An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights," said the Richmond tech giant.
It's a possibility too that the patch can be utilized to launch an attack through the Google Chrome browser, in which users could be directed to unsafe and malicious websites and where attackers could deploy malware.
ZDNet said the December 2019 Patch Tuesday is considered the lightest in the past three years, containing only 36 fixes for identified security bugs, of which only seven have been labeled as critical.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has also released the latest build for preview by Windows Insiders participants. Build 19041.1 of Windows 10 2004, codenamed Version 20H1, is now ready for testing by those ion the Fast and Slow rings, WCCFTech said in a separate report.
The new build is packed mostly with general improvements, and it is likely that a few more builds in a similar nature will be issued prior to the release of the RTM build. As usual in the case, testers can expect that Build 19041.1 remains plagued by problems that will get fixed by upcoming build releases.
Windows 10 2004 is expected to be finalized and released in April or May 2020.
