Microsoft Fixes 6 zero-days, 97 Flaws with January 2022 Patch Tuesday Patch

By | January 16, 2022
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Microsoft Fixes 6 zero-days, 97 Flaws with January 2022 Patch Tuesday Patch

Microsoft warns users of Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11 to update ASAP as serious new vulnerabilities are discovered.

Microsoft has released January Patch Tuesday security updates with a total of 97 Vulnerabilities, including six zero-day with nine classified as Critical and 88 as Important. The products covered in January’s security update include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, Windows Defender, and more.

Microsoft announced that all versions of Windows are affected by a series of newly-detected security threats, announcing a whopping 97 flaws in January 2022 – six of them critical “zero-day” vulnerabilities. 

Six especially critical security vulnerabilities are Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11, along with Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022.

Users can update manually by opening the Start menu, clicking the icon in the bottom left corner of their operating system’s display.

If you have not already received the January 12, 2022, “Patch Tuesday” updates, Windows 10 users can manually update Windows from Settings > Update & Security, while Windows 11 users can update from Settings > Windows Update. Windows users can also wait as Microsoft sends the updates to all Windows users. The patches will reach different users’ operating systems at different times.

The six most critical vulnerabilities are “zero-day” vulnerabilities. Microsoft says none of the vulnerabilities have been exploited by hackers… yet.

Best advice… update Windows as soon as possible. And if you have turned off updates… please turn them back on.

Be smart. Be safe!

13 thoughts on “Microsoft Fixes 6 zero-days, 97 Flaws with January 2022 Patch Tuesday Patch

  1. Kerryn

    Thanks. Why does it say “Pause updates for 1 week” in my update settings for Windows 11?
    I checked for updates and it says I have all the latest.

    Reply
    1. Chase

      Kerryn, The pause feature isn’t required but is an option for those who want to wait a week (or up to 5 weeks) before updating. I don’t use it, because I want updates ASAP. I hope this helps. 😀 (Chase)

      Reply
      1. Kerryn

        Thanks Chase, I tried to “unpause” it but I could only change the pause durations. I couldn’t find how to get rid of the pause completely.

        Reply
    2. infoave Post author

      Hi Kerryn. The standard pause duration is 7 days. You can pause five times – 35 days – 5 weeks. If it says you have all updates then you’re to date. I’m not sure why you’d want to pause updates if you’re up to date. We don’t recommend pausing updates unless Microsoft releases a botched update that affects a great percentage of users. While Microsoft releases a lot of updates that cause problems, they usually affect a small number of users. With one billion (plus) users, a few million having update issues is a lot of people but a small percentage of one billion.

      So, don’t pause updates unless you have a really good reason for doing so.

      Reply
  2. Judy

    I have a relatively new laptop. I am still using Windows 10 as I hesitate to change because of having to learn a new system! When I searched “Updates”, it just listed Windows 11 as an update. It also listed a few “driver” updates. I noticed that my auto updates was not “on” so I turned it on. My question : if I didn’t have any “updates” other than Windows 11 listed, do I have them all?

    Reply
    1. infoave Post author

      You should never click “Check for updates” if you want to keep Windows 10. If there are updates available for Windows 10 they will show up without clicking on “Check for updates”. If you see “You’re up to date” at the top of the Windows update page, then you’re up to date. Driver updates are optional and unless you’re having problems with a hardware device (sound, screen, etc.) we suggest you not install driver updates.
      If updates are available, ‘auto-updates’ is turned on, and you don’t have updates paused, then all you need to do is look to see if it says “you’re up to date: at the top. Windows will automatically check for updates on its own schedule. But if you want to avoid Windows 11, don’t click “check for updates” because, as you’ve found out, you’re going to see Windows 11 there.

      Reply
  3. Gina

    My laptop is running Windows 10. I downloaded Windows 11. My 1-yr-old laptop went completely dark–dead–even the clock stopped working when it tried to install. I thought my laptop was done for. But fortunately, the next morning it did boot up and I’m OK. I immediately paused Windows 11 for 7 days, but I would like to get rid of the download completely. I prefer to just keep using Windows 10 until I buy my next laptop. Can you please tell me how to do this?

    Reply
    1. infoave Post author

      Hi Gina, you have 10 days from the date you updated to Windows 11 to go back to Windows 10 without losing anything. Here is how:

      1 Open Settings > System > Recovery
      2. In Recovery click on Go Back
      You should see go back to the previous version of Windows there. Click on that and follow the instructions – it should take about 45 minutes.

      Reply
  4. SB

    It says I’m up to date, but Update History says the last update was two cumulative updates on January 11. The last Security update was December 21. Should I be worried?

    Reply
    1. infoave Post author

      January 11 was the world-famous Patch Tuesday. The 2nd Tuesday of each month is when Microsoft releases all its security patches, fixes, etc. They rarely release any security patches, fixes, or other important updates “Out of band” – meaning not on Patch Tuesday. The next Patch Tuesday comes on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.

      Reply
      1. SB

        You wrote January 12, so it confused me. I should have looked at the calendar. lol
        “If you have not already received the January 12, 2022, “Patch Tuesday” updates…”

        Reply
        1. infoave Post author

          I wrote January 11… “January 11 was the world-famous Patch Tuesday. The 2nd Tuesday of each month is when Microsoft releases all its security patches, fixes, etc. They rarely release any security patches, fixes, or other important updates “Out of band” – meaning not on Patch Tuesday. The next Patch Tuesday comes on Tuesday, February 8, 2022.”

          Reply

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