Today is the monthly 'Windows Update' day, and 'Hot Patch Update' which minimizes the need for reboots has become the default for some licenses.
Windows Update, the monthly update that delivers security updates and bug fixes for Windows, has been released. The update for March 11, 2026 (Japan time) includes two 'Critical' and eight 'Important' updates. It also announced that 'Hot Patching,' which minimizes the need for reboots, will be enabled by default for some licenses.
March 2026 security updates (monthly)
The March 2026 Microsoft Monthly Security Update has been released. Updates are automatically applied by default. For organizations that manage updates, we have published an overview on our blog. Please refer to this and deploy updates as soon as possible. https://t.co/1DKWl7rfQy pic.twitter.com/tz80wZIG3a
— Microsoft Security Team (@JSECTEAM) March 10, 2026
The list of security updates for March 2026 is as follows. Among the vulnerabilities addressed by the updates, the .NET Denial of Service Vulnerability ( CVE-2026-26127 ) and the SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability ( CVE-2026-21262 ) were publicly disclosed ahead of the update release, and users are advised to apply the updates as soon as possible.
| Product Family | maximum severity | The biggest impact | Related knowledge base articles or support web pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 11 v26H1, v25H2, v24H2, v23H2 | important | Remote code execution possible | v26H1 5079466 v25H2, v24H2 5079473 v25H2, v24H2 Hotpatch 5079420 v23H2 5078883 |
| Windows Server 2025 (including Server Core installation) | important | Remote code execution possible | 5078740 HotPatch 5078736 |
| Windows Server 2022, 23H2 (including Server Core installation) | important | Remote code execution possible | Windows Server 2022 5078766 HotPatch 5078737 Windows Server 23H2 5078734 |
| Windows Server 2019, 2016 (including Server Core installation) | important | Remote code execution possible | Windows Server 2019 5078752 Windows Server 2016 5078938 |
| Microsoft Office | emergency | Remote code execution possible | https://learn.microsoft.com/officeupdates |
| Microsoft SharePoint | emergency | Remote code execution possible | https://learn.microsoft.com/officeupdates/sharepoint-updates |
| Microsoft .NET | important | Privilege Escalation | https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet |
| Microsoft SQL Server | important | Privilege Escalation | https://learn.microsoft.com/sql |
| Microsoft Azure | important | Privilege Escalation | https://learn.microsoft.com/azure |
| System Center Operations Manager | important | Privilege Escalation | https://learn.microsoft.com/system-center |
Microsoft also announced that it will enable ' hot patch updates ' by default, which minimizes the need for reboots during updates.
Securing devices faster with hotpatch updates on by default - Windows IT Pro Blog
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/securing-devices-faster-with-hotpatch-updates-on-by-default/4500066
Enabling hot patching can improve the speed at which updates can be distributed across an organization. A Microsoft study showed that in a company with 70,000 machines, implementing hot patching reduced the time it took to complete updates from 27 days to 14 days.
Hot patch updates are available for Windows 11 24H2 and later, but are limited to the following seven license types:
Windows 11 Enterprise E3
Windows 11 Enterprise E5
Microsoft 365 F3
・Windows 11 Education A3
・Windows 11 Education A5
・Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Windows 365 Enterprise
Windows Update is released on the second Tuesday of every month in the US, and the next update is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, Japan time.
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