May 2025 Patch Tuesday forecast: Panic, change, and hope

April 2025 was quite the rollercoaster in the cybersecurity scene! Patch Tuesday rolled around on April 8, kicking off a month of action with a hefty number of CVEs—84 for Windows 11 and 87 for Windows 10. Just one pesky vulnerability, CVE-2025-29824, was known to be exploited, but nothing too alarming overall.

Then, chaos struck as MITRE suddenly announced they’d stop supporting the CVE Program due to funding cuts. After a brief panic, they secured an 11-month contract renewal. This program is crucial as it helps detail vulnerabilities and their fixes through the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). The question of who’ll manage it in the future remains up in the air.

Meanwhile, the Google Threat Intelligence Group reported a concerning rise in zero-day vulnerabilities, particularly affecting enterprise infrastructure and popular applications like Windows. Interestingly, there have been fewer zero-day exploitations in browsers and mobile devices, suggesting some progress.

Microsoft had a busy month too! They acknowledged some annoying authentication issues on Windows Server 2025 after their April updates and hinted at upcoming fixes. Excitingly, they also confirmed the end of the hot patching preview program on June 30. Plus, Skype officially bid farewell on May 5 after 14 years!

May 2025 Patch Tuesday Forecast

  • Prepare for the usual batch of Microsoft updates next week—an uneventful month is on the wish list!
  • Adobe is likely to release limited updates for their Creative Cloud products, including potential Acrobat and Reader updates.
  • After the last Apple updates in April, expect more security updates later this month, but not just yet.
  • Google has rolled out Chrome for Desktop 137 to the Beta channel; a general release is coming soon!
  • Mozilla Foundation released key security updates recently, but don’t anticipate another update right now.

Why should I read this?

If you’ve got any interest in cybersecurity or software updates, this article’s a gem! It dives into the current state of vulnerabilities in major systems, explores critical updates on the horizon, and highlights trends that could affect your security setup. It’s the sort of knowledge that keeps you ahead in a world where security lapses can be a real headache.