A five-year analysis of reported Windows vulnerabilities (rise of critical vulnerabilities)

[LASER_oneXM]

Based on analysis of all disclosed Microsoft vulnerabilities in 2017, a new Avecto report shows a significant rise in the number of reported vulnerabilities. Last year, 685 vulnerabilities were found versus 325 vulnerabilities that were found in 2013.

The removal of admin rights could mitigate 80% of all critical Microsoft vulnerabilities reported in 2017. Nearly all (95%) of critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft browsers could be mitigated by the removal of admin rights.

The rise of critical vulnerabilities

Despite being widely regarded as the most secure Windows operating system, the number of critical vulnerabilities in Windows 10 rose by 64% in 2017 compared to the previous year.


587 vulnerabilities were reported across Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1/RT 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems in 2017. This is a record high – increasing by 132% over a five-year period. Removing admin rights would mitigate 60% of critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, Publisher and others).

“One hundred percent security cannot be guaranteed in the cyber world,” said Dr. Eric Cole, CEO of Secure Anchor Consulting. “No matter how many safeguards you put in place, there will always be some risk. Prevention techniques like application whitelisting, removing admin access and adopting the principles of least privilege go a long way toward protecting individual users’ machines and reducing inroads to the network while not severely restricting user functionality.”