Microsoft's latest update patches six zero-days and two critical flaws - but is it another buggy mess?

Source: ZDNet

Screenshot by Lance Whitney/ZDNET

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The February update continues to refresh Secure Boot certificates.
• The update also fixes a number of feature and security glitches.
• Let’s hope this month’s update is less buggy than the one in January.

Another month, another Patch Tuesday rollout from the folks at Microsoft. This month’s roundup tackles several feature and security bugs, and it also continues to refresh the expiring Secure Boot certificates to ensure that your PC remains protected against boot‑kit malware.

Secure Boot

A security feature that aims to thwart nasty boot‑kit malware, Secure Boot uses certificates to ensure that only trusted programs run during the boot process. With many of those certificates due to expire in June, Microsoft needs to update them on most Windows PCs. This process started with the January Patch Tuesday rollout and now continues with the February update.

Also: Your PC’s critical security certificates may be about to expire – how to check

On the client side, the new Secure Boot certificates are designed for both Windows 11 and Windows 10. However, Windows 10 users must be enrolled in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. ESU ensures that your Windows 10 PC will continue to receive important security updates and patches until October 2026.

Feature fixes

The latest Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 11 and Windows 10 also include fixes for several feature bugs.

• Windows 11: resolves a glitch that affected game playing in full‑screen mode and another that prevented some PCs from connecting to certain WPA3‑Personal Wi‑Fi networks.
• Windows 10: addresses issues with Chinese fonts, certain graphics processing units, and custom folder names in File Explorer. It also fixes a bug introduced with the January update that caused some Secure Launch‑compatible PCs to restart instead of shutting down or hibernating.

Also: How to upgrade your “incompatible” Windows 10 PC to Windows 11 – for free

Security fixes

No Patch Tuesday update would be complete without the usual security patches. This month the number of fixes was dramatically lower than in January—only 55 fixes compared with 114 last month. Though only two of this month’s security vulnerabilities were rated as critical, six of the 55 were zero‑day bugs, turning this into a more urgent update according to patch‑management provider Action1.

Also: Microsoft and ServiceNow’s exploitable agents reveal a growing – and preventable – AI security crisis

Key points:

• One vulnerability already exploited in the wild could allow an attacker to gain System privileges on affected Windows systems.
• Another exploited vulnerability could affect network connectivity on your PC.
• A third vulnerability detected in real‑world attacks could let a hacker disable security controls and access sensitive data.

All of this means the February update is an important one.

Update your PC

• Windows 11: Open Settings → System → Windows Update and click Check for updates.
• Windows 10: Open Settings → Update & Security → Windows Update and click Check for updates.

So, with all these bug patches, should you install the February update ASAP? Normally, the answer is yes. However, Microsoft has been plagued by buggy updates lately. The January Patch Tuesday update was a glitchy mess, introducing a host of bugs that forced Microsoft to issue two emergency patches in response.

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If you’re concerned about the security vulnerabilities and other bugs fixed in this month’s update, you should install it as soon as possible. If you can afford to wait, consider holding off a couple of days to ensure the February rollout is more stable and reliable than the January update.

If you do install the update, be sure to follow the standard backup and restore procedures in case you need to roll back.

That you can always uninstall it should it prove to be another buggy mess.

Clearly, though, Microsoft needs to focus more on quality control for its monthly updates to ensure that they fix bugs rather than create more of them.