BeyondTrust’s 12th Annual Report reveals record high in Microsoft vulnerabilities

BeyondTrust has released its annual Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report, revealing a record-breaking number of reported Microsoft vulnerabilities in 2024. Despite ongoing security improvements, attackers continue to exploit key weaknesses, particularly those related to privilege escalation and remote code execution. The 2025 report provides an in-depth analysis of data from security bulletins publicly issued by Microsoft throughout the previous year, providing valuable information about vulnerability trends and the evolving threat landscape to help organisations understand, identify, and address the risks within their Microsoft ecosystems.

Key findings from the 2025 report include:

• A total of 1,360 Microsoft vulnerabilities were reported in 2024, marking an all-time high and an 11% increase over the previous record of 1,292 in 2022.
• Elevation of Privilege (EoP) vulnerabilities comprised 40% (554) of all reported vulnerabilities.
• Security Feature Bypass vulnerabilities surged by 60%, increasing from 56 in 2023 to 90 in 2024, increasing the pressure to reduce software vulnerabilities at the design stage through secure coding and threat modeling.
• Critical vulnerabilities across the Microsoft ecosystem continued to decline overall in 2024.
• Microsoft Edge vulnerabilities increased by 17% to 292 total vulnerabilities, including 9 critical vulnerabilities in 2024, compared to zero in 2022.
• Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365 vulnerabilities plateaued in 2024.
• There were 587 Windows vulnerabilities in 2024; 33 were critical.
• Windows Server had 684 vulnerabilities in 2024; 43 were critical.
• Microsoft Office vulnerabilities nearly doubled from 2023, reaching 62 in 2024.

Although the total number of vulnerabilities has risen, the longer-term trend shows the pace of growth appear is stabilising. This, combined with the continued downward trend toward fewer critical vulnerabilities, suggests Microsoft’s security initiatives and improvements in the security architecture of modern operating systems are paying off.

However, while vulnerability growth appears steady, the report also highlights the complexity of securing today’s vast and diverse ecosystems, where evolving technologies, features, and interdependencies continue to introduce risk.

Key predictions and takeaways from this year’s report include:

• Unpatched systems remain an easy target, opening the door for widespread exploitation.
• Microsoft’s expanding tech stack, including cloud and AI services, will continue to introduce new attack surfaces.
• Novel vulnerabilities will emerge as attackers find new and creative ways to bypass defences.
• Patches alone are insufficient—they can fail or introduce stability risks, underscoring the need for layered defences.
• Threat actors are shifting tactics, increasingly targeting identities and privileges over traditional exploits.

Despite the changing threat landscape, some security fundamentals remain unchanged:

1. Software vulnerabilities are as inevitable as death and taxes
2. Enforcing least privilege remains one of the most effective strategies to reduce risk—even against zero-days and reverse-engineered patches
3. Defence-in-depth strategies that combine prevention with detection and response offer the strongest protection—including against modern, identity-based threats.

“This year’s data offers a clear reminder that the threat landscape isn’t slowing down—it’s rapidly evolving,” said James Maude, Field Chief Technology Officer at BeyondTrust. “The sustained dominance of Elevation of Privilege vulnerabilities highlights how valuable privileges are to attackers and why they will continue to target identities with privileges to move laterally and gain access to critical systems. These trends reinforce the need for organisations to focus not just on patching, but on securing the underlying Paths to Privilege across their environments to reduce the attack surface of every identity and point of access.”

The BeyondTrust Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report serves as a trusted resource for organisations to better understand the Microsoft vulnerability landscape, prioritise patching strategies, and strengthen their identity security posture against modern threats. Download the full 2025 Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report here.