Windows Update Assistant Gets A Security Update

Microsoft has released a security update for the Windows Update Assistant. Since a new Windows 10 version is currently being distributed, this security update has been classified as important. If you want to update directly, you should act now.

Microsoft has released a new version of the Windows 10 Update Assistant to fix the local vulnerabilities for the privilege extension that makes it possible for an attacker to run a program with system privileges with elevated privileges. This would have led to any action in Windows 10 by the attacker.

Privilege Security Vulnerabilities

The vulnerabilities were discovered and reported by external security specialists. The vulnerabilities enable an attacker to raise their privileges and thus give themselves admin rights. This can then smuggle in and install unauthorized malicious code and switch off other security functions. The security update has therefore been rated as important. Details can be found on the support page for the security vulnerability CVE-2021-42297 and CVE-2021-43211. According to Microsoft’s assessment, exploitation of the vulnerabilities is rather unlikely. An exploit is not yet known for either of them.

Automatic update

However, much information has not yet been made available. Nevertheless, all users should install the update as soon as possible if it is available. The Windows 10 Update Assistant is only used on x86/64 systems, ARM is not supported. The easiest way to get the security update is direct via the integrated Windows update function. If it wasn’t installed automatically, it should appear in the list of regular updates.

The Windows Update Assistant downloads and installs feature updates such as the recently launched Windows 10 Version 21H2 aka November 2021 Update. So it is rarely used, but should not be neglected.