Patch Tuesday March 2021: Update Highlights and Known Issues

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Patch Tuesday March 2021 Edition

Microsoft rolled out the March 2021 Patch Tuesday updates on March 9, 2021. As always, with this batch of updates, the Redmond giant focuses on improving the overall functionality of the OS and fixing existing bugs.

This month’s updates are all about improving the security of most Windows components and apps. If you want to install the latest updates, you can check out this guide where you’ll also find the direct download links.

We already covered the key changes in these posts. Do check them out to learn what’s new:

Microsoft rolls out different Patch Tuesday updates for all the Windows 10 versions currently supported. For more information on the latest updates, check out our Windows 10 Patch Tuesday update history page.

What are the main changes?

Microsoft Products and services updates

Across all major versions of Windows 10 that have received cumulative updates, ranging from Windows 10 v1507 to Windows 10 v2004.

Here are the main highlights brought by the March Patch Tuesday updates according to Microsoft:

Updates to improve security when Windows performs basic operations.
Updates to improve security when using Microsoft Office products.
Updates security for the Windows user interface.

Patch Tuesday list of CVEs

While last month 106 CVEs were identified, it seems that this month managed to top that record with 97 total CVE of different severity.

Adobe Products

Just 8 vulnerabilities were found this month, and they affected Adobe Connect, Creative Cloud Desktop, and Framemaker.

Microsoft product vulnerabilities

The rest of this month’s vulnerabilities were found affecting Microsoft products, out of which 75 are rated as Important.

If you want to learn more about this month’s list of common vulnerabilities and exposures, you can check out the table below:

Note: Regardless of the service affected, or the severity level of the CVE, Microsoft advises that all users install the latest patches as soon as they become available in their region.

What are the best practices for Patch Tuesday?

There are a few things that you can do in order to make sure that your computer installs the latest Patch Tuesday updates without any issues. We all know that Windows updates often trigger errors.

In extreme cases, they may even render your PC completely unusable. Follow these tips to make sure the update install process goes as smoothly as possible.

How to download the latest PT updates

While the Patch Tuesday updates are true of greater significance compared to other patches that Microsoft regularly releases, installing them is done in pretty much the same way.

This means that you can perform the actions by following these steps:

Make sure that no other apps are running in the background.
Go to one of these sources to get the updates:
- The Windows Update menu
- The Windows Update Catalog (This allows for individual updates to be downloaded one by one manually)
- The Windows Server Update Service (WSUS)
- A Group Policy created by a network administrator
After downloading the updates, make sure nothing interrupts the update process until it is finished.
Reboot your PC once the updates are complete to finalize the installation.

Exploit Wednesday & Uninstall Thursday

Right after Patch Tuesday, hackers try to exploit the vulnerabilities left unpatched by Microsoft. This leads to an increase in the number of cyber-attacks.

On the other hand, many users often decide to uninstall the Patch Tuesday updates a few hours after install due to the large number of issues they triggered — hence the name Uninstall Thursday.

Check out this guide to learn more about how to stay safe after Patch Tuesday and make sure the updates don’t brick your computer.

Patch Tuesday: All your Questions Answered

When is Patch Tuesday released?

Microsoft rolls out new Patch Tuesday updates on the second Tuesday of each month. The next Patch Tuesday Update is expected to arrive on April 13, 2021.

How does Patch Tuesday work?

We already answered this question in this quick guide. Do check it out to learn more on the mechanisms behind Patch Tuesday.

What is the bandwidth impact of Patch Tuesday?

When actively downloading updates, you may experience slow connection issues on your Windows 10 computer. This happens especially when updating multiple PCs at the same time.

The solution is to distribute the updates locally via WSUS. This means downloading the updates from Microsoft Servers.

Then, your Windows 10 computers can share the updates in a peer-to-peer manner over the local network resulting in a faster update process.

Patch Tuesday Troubleshooting

Oftentimes, Patch Tuesday updates trigger various errors on Windows computers. These may range from minor glitches to technical issues that may render your computer unusable.

We covered extensively Patch Tuesday issues we compiled hundreds of troubleshooting guides to help you solve these problems quickly.

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