Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday update includes a series of fixes for bugs in both Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, one of these vulnerabilities is particularly troubling because it could allow bad actors to hack your PC as long as they’re within Wi-Fi range.
As reported by The Register, Microsoft fixed 49 security flaws in its latest Patch Tuesday update, but three are particularly noteworthy. The first one was publicly disclosed by Microsoft (but not exploited): CVE-2023-50868 A malicious individual could overwhelm the CPU and cause it to stop working properly. CVE-2024-30080The first one is about Microsoft Message Queuing. This flaw could allow a remote attacker to send malicious data packets to a Windows system and execute arbitrary code on that system. While this doesn’t necessarily affect individual users, Microsoft has rated it as highly severe, and while it hasn’t necessarily been exploited yet, the company believes it is quite likely to be exploited. However, the last flaw seems to be the most pressing. CVE-2024-30078 This is a vulnerability that affects WiFi drivers. According to the company, a malicious actor could send malicious data packets to a machine with a WiFi network adapter and execute arbitrary code. In practice, this could allow someone within WiFi range of another user to hack that user’s computer using only that WiFi connection. And because this affects many different versions of Windows, attackers may be trying to exploit this flaw as soon as possible.
It’s a scary concept. If someone knew how to exploit this flaw, they could use it to attack other Windows PCs in the immediate vicinity. Imagine the hackers at work in coffee shops, shared workspaces, and other areas crowded with laptop users. Luckily, the latest security updates for Windows 10 and Windows 11 have fixed these issues, so once you’ve updated, it’s safe to head back to your office corner from the cafe.
How to install the latest patches on your Windows PC
If you are using Windows 11, Start > Settings > Windows UpdateFor Windows 10, Start > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Updateeither way, Check for updatesOnce available, download and install it on your PC.
