Whats New Wednesday: January 2026 January 14, 2026 – Posted in: Cyber Security, IT Support, What's New Wednesdays – Tags: Cyber Security, cybersecurity, ITSupport, Patch Tuesday, SmallBusiness, WhatsNewWednesday
Welcome to the first Patch Tuesday of 2026. Microsoft’s New Year offering included patches for 8 critical vulnerabilities, including 3 zero-day flaws. It’s a good idea to restart your PC today, and we may restart some of your servers overnight this week if a patch requires it.
NEW THIS WEDNESDAY
Overall Microsoft patched:
- 57 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilities
- 3 Security Feature Bypass vulnerabilities
- 22 Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities
- 22 Information Disclosure Vulnerabilities
- 2 Denial of Service Vulnerabilities
- 5 Spoofing Vulnerability
There were 3 zero-day vulnerabilities patched, 1 of which was actively exploited:
CVE-2026-20805 – Desktop Window Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability
An actively exploited information disclosure flaw in the Desktop Window Manager, successfully exploiting the flaw allows attackers to read memory addresses associated with the remote ALPC port.
CVE-2026-21265 – Secure Boot Certificate Expiration Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Windows Secure Boot certificates issued in 2011 are nearing expiration, and systems that are not updated have increased risk of threat actors bypassing Secure Boot.
CVE-2023-31096 – MITRE: CVE-2023-31096 Windows Agere Soft Modem Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Microsoft has now removed vulnerable third party Agere Soft Modem drivers from Windows. Microsoft attributes this fix to Zeze with TeamT5.
Releases from other software providers include:
- Adobe – updates for InDesign, Illustrator, InCopy, Bridge, Substance 3D Modeler, Substance 3D Stager, Substance 3D Painter, Substance 3D Sampler, Coldfusion, and Substance 3D Designer.
- Cisco – updates for an Identity Services Engine (ISE) vulnerability with a public proof-of-concept exploit code.
- Fortinet – updates for multiple products, including fixes for two RCEs.
- D-Link – announced a new actively exploited vulnerability impacts end-of-life routers.
- Google – Android’s January security bulletin, which includes a fix for one critical “DD+ Codec” flaw that impacts Dolby components.
- jsPDF – fixed a critical vulnerability that could be used to smuggle arbitrary files from a server while generating PDFs.
- n8n – fixed a maximum-severity vulnerability dubbed “Ni8mare” that can be used to hijack servers
- SAP – January security updates for multiple products, including a fix for a 9.9/10 code injection flaw in SAP Solution Manager.
- ServiceNow – disclosed a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in the ServiceNow AI Platform.
- Trend Micro – patched a critical security flaw in Apex Central (on-premise) that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
- Veeam – updates to patch multiple security flaws in its Backup & Replication software, including a critical RCE vulnerability.
FULL LIST OF KNOWN PATCHES
| Vulnerable Service | CVE ID | CVE Title | Severity |
| Agere Windows Modem Driver | CVE-2023-31096 | MITRE: CVE-2023-31096 Windows Agere Soft Modem Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Azure Connected Machine Agent | CVE-2026-21224 | Azure Connected Machine Agent Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Azure Core shared client library for Python | CVE-2026-21226 | Azure Core shared client library for Python Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) | CVE-2026-20835 | Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) | CVE-2026-20851 | Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) | CVE-2026-20830 | Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) | CVE-2026-21221 | Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) | CVE-2026-20815 | Capability Access Management Service (camsvc) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Connected Devices Platform Service (Cdpsvc) | CVE-2026-20864 | Windows Connected Devices Platform Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Desktop Window Manager | CVE-2026-20805 | Desktop Window Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Desktop Window Manager | CVE-2026-20871 | Desktop Windows Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement (DRTM) | CVE-2026-20962 | Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement (DRTM) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Graphics Kernel | CVE-2026-20836 | DirectX Graphics Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Graphics Kernel | CVE-2026-20814 | DirectX Graphics Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Host Process for Windows Tasks | CVE-2026-20941 | Host Process for Windows Tasks Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Inbox COM Objects | CVE-2026-21219 | Inbox COM Objects (Global Memory) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Mariner | CVE-2026-21444 | libtpms returns wrong initialization vector when certain symmetric ciphers are used | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68758 | backlight: led-bl: Add devlink to supplier LEDs | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68757 | drm/vgem-fence: Fix potential deadlock on release | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68764 | NFS: Automounted filesystems should inherit ro,noexec,nodev,sync flags | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68756 | block: Use RCU in blk_mq_[un]quiesce_tagset() instead of set->tag_list_lock | Important |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68763 | crypto: starfive – Correctly handle return of sg_nents_for_len | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68755 | staging: most: remove broken i2c driver | Moderate |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68759 | wifi: rtl818x: Fix potential memory leaks in rtl8180_init_rx_ring() | Important |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68766 | irqchip/mchp-eic: Fix error code in mchp_eic_domain_alloc() | Important |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68753 | ALSA: firewire-motu: add bounds check in put_user loop for DSP events | Important |
| Mariner | CVE-2025-68765 | mt76: mt7615: Fix memory leak in mt7615_mcu_wtbl_sta_add() | Moderate |
| Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2026-0628 | Chromium: CVE-2026-0628 Insufficient policy enforcement in WebView tag | Unknown |
| Microsoft Graphics Component | CVE-2026-20822 | Windows Graphics Component Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Critical |
| Microsoft Office | CVE-2026-20952 | Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Microsoft Office | CVE-2026-20953 | Microsoft Office Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Microsoft Office | CVE-2026-20943 | Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20949 | Microsoft Excel Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20950 | Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20956 | Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20957 | Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20946 | Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Excel | CVE-2026-20955 | Microsoft Excel Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Microsoft Office SharePoint | CVE-2026-20958 | Microsoft SharePoint Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office SharePoint | CVE-2026-20959 | Microsoft SharePoint Server Spoofing Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office SharePoint | CVE-2026-20947 | Microsoft SharePoint Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office SharePoint | CVE-2026-20951 | Microsoft SharePoint Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office SharePoint | CVE-2026-20963 | Microsoft SharePoint Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Word | CVE-2026-20948 | Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Microsoft Office Word | CVE-2026-20944 | Microsoft Word Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Printer Association Object | CVE-2026-20808 | Windows File Explorer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| SQL Server | CVE-2026-20803 | Microsoft SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Tablet Windows User Interface (TWINUI) Subsystem | CVE-2026-20827 | Tablet Windows User Interface (TWINUI) Subsystem Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Tablet Windows User Interface (TWINUI) Subsystem | CVE-2026-20826 | Tablet Windows User Interface (TWINUI) Subsystem Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Admin Center | CVE-2026-20965 | Windows Admin Center Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock | CVE-2026-20831 | Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock | CVE-2026-20860 | Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock | CVE-2026-20810 | Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Client-Side Caching (CSC) Service | CVE-2026-20839 | Windows Client-Side Caching (CSC) Service Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Clipboard Server | CVE-2026-20844 | Windows Clipboard Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver | CVE-2026-20940 | Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver | CVE-2026-20857 | Windows Cloud Files Mini Filter Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Common Log File System Driver | CVE-2026-20820 | Windows Common Log File System Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Deployment Services | CVE-2026-0386 | Windows Deployment Services Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows DWM | CVE-2026-20842 | Microsoft DWM Core Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Error Reporting | CVE-2026-20817 | Windows Error Reporting Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows File Explorer | CVE-2026-20939 | Windows File Explorer Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows File Explorer | CVE-2026-20932 | Windows File Explorer Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows File Explorer | CVE-2026-20937 | Windows File Explorer Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows File Explorer | CVE-2026-20823 | Windows File Explorer Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Hello | CVE-2026-20852 | Windows Hello Tampering Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Hello | CVE-2026-20804 | Windows Hello Tampering Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows HTTP.sys | CVE-2026-20929 | Windows HTTP.sys Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Hyper-V | CVE-2026-20825 | Windows Hyper-V Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Installer | CVE-2026-20816 | Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) | CVE-2026-20828 | Windows rndismp6.sys Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kerberos | CVE-2026-20849 | Windows Kerberos Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kerberos | CVE-2026-20833 | Windows Kerberos Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kernel | CVE-2026-20838 | Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kernel | CVE-2026-20818 | Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kernel Memory | CVE-2026-20809 | Windows Kernel Memory Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers | CVE-2026-20859 | Windows Kernel-Mode Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows LDAP – Lightweight Directory Access Protocol | CVE-2026-20812 | LDAP Tampering Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) | CVE-2026-20854 | Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Critical |
| Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) | CVE-2026-20875 | Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) Denial of Service Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Local Session Manager (LSM) | CVE-2026-20869 | Windows Local Session Manager (LSM) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20924 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20874 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20862 | Windows Management Services Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20866 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20867 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20861 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20865 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20858 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20918 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20877 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20923 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Management Services | CVE-2026-20873 | Windows Management Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Media | CVE-2026-20837 | Windows Media Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Motorola Soft Modem Driver | CVE-2024-55414 | Windows Motorola Soft Modem Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows NDIS | CVE-2026-20936 | Windows NDIS Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows NTFS | CVE-2026-20922 | Windows NTFS Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows NTFS | CVE-2026-20840 | Windows NTFS Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows NTLM | CVE-2026-20925 | NTLM Hash Disclosure Spoofing Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows NTLM | CVE-2026-20872 | NTLM Hash Disclosure Spoofing Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Remote Assistance | CVE-2026-20824 | Windows Remote Assistance Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Remote Procedure Call | CVE-2026-20821 | Remote Procedure Call Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Remote Procedure Call Interface Definition Language (IDL) | CVE-2026-20832 | Windows Remote Procedure Call Interface Definition Language (IDL) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) | CVE-2026-20868 | Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) | CVE-2026-20843 | Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Secure Boot | CVE-2026-21265 | Secure Boot Certificate Expiration Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Server Update Service | CVE-2026-20856 | Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Shell | CVE-2026-20834 | Windows Spoofing Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Shell | CVE-2026-20847 | Microsoft Windows File Explorer Spoofing Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20926 | Windows SMB Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20921 | Windows SMB Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20919 | Windows SMB Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20927 | Windows SMB Server Denial of Service Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20848 | Windows SMB Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows SMB Server | CVE-2026-20934 | Windows SMB Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Telephony Service | CVE-2026-20931 | Windows Telephony Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows TPM | CVE-2026-20829 | TPM Trustlet Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave | CVE-2026-20938 | Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave | CVE-2026-20935 | Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave | CVE-2026-20819 | Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Information Disclosure Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave | CVE-2026-20876 | Windows Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) Enclave Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Critical |
| Windows WalletService | CVE-2026-20853 | Windows WalletService Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Win32K – ICOMP | CVE-2026-20811 | Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Win32K – ICOMP | CVE-2026-20870 | Windows Win32 Kernel Subsystem Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Win32K – ICOMP | CVE-2026-20920 | Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
| Windows Win32K – ICOMP | CVE-2026-20863 | Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | Important |
GLOSSARY
- Authentication – proving who you are so you can be given access to what you need/have rights to.
- MFA – multi-factor authentication, proving who you are in multiple ways, something you know (like a password or pin), something you are (a fingerprint or retina scan), something you have (like your phone – proved with a code).
- Vulnerability – a defect in software that could allow an attacker to gain control of a system or service.
- Patch – a change to a piece of software, released after sale, to fix a problem or add a feature.
- Zero Day – Microsoft classifies a vulnerability as a zero-day if it is publicly disclosed or actively exploited with no official fix available.
- Actively Exploited – an actively exploited vulnerability is one that is being used by malicious actors.
- DDOS / DOS – (Distributed) Denial of Service attack, a method of swamping a service or server with so many false queries at once that it is forced offline.
- Disclosed – a disclosed vulnerability is one that the software creators have published, meaning that it can be easily found out about by anyone who knows where to look.
- CVE ID – CVE, short for Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, is a list of publicly disclosed computer security flaws, the ID is the number assigned to that vulnerability.
- Severity – a disclosed vulnerability is one that the software creators have published, meaning that it can be easily found out about by anyone who knows where to look.
- Security Feature Bypass Vulnerabilities – allow for intruders to bypass security features such as password protection or MFA.
- Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities – allow people to remotely trigger potentially malicious code on your device.
- Information Disclosure Vulnerabilities – allow the wrong people access to your data.
- Denial of Service Vulnerabilities – allow a DOS/DDOS attack to succeed.
- Spoofing Vulnerabilities – allow someone to pretend to be you/your systems.
If you have any concerns about cybersecurity, or would like to discuss any other IT Support needs you might have please give us a call on 01245 265100 or email us at . To stay up to date with our regular What’s New Wednesday emails and receive industry news straight to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters in the top right. f