Update Your Windows PC to Avoid This Wifi Security Flaw

Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday update fixes an important vulnerability.

Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday update has a series of fixes for bugs in both Windows 10 and Windows 11. One of these vulnerabilities is particularly troubling though, as it allows bad actors to hack your PC so long as their within wifi range.

As reported by The Register, Microsoft patched 49 security flaws with its latest Patch Tuesday update, but there are really three of key interest: The first, which Microsoft says is public (but not exploited), is tracked as CVE-2023-50868 and can allow a bad actor to push your CPU to the point where it stops functioning correctly. The second, CVE-2024-30080, concerns Microsoft Message Queuing: This flaw allows a remote attacker to send a malicious data packet to a Windows system, and execute arbitrary code on that system. This one doesn't necessarily affect individual users as much, but Microsoft did give it a high severity rating, and while it hasn't necessarily been exploited yet, the company thinks exploitation is more than likely. But the last flaw seems most pressing: CVE-2024-30078 is a vulnerability affecting wifi drivers. The company says a bad actor can send a malicious data packet to a machine using a wifi networking adapter, which would allow them to execute arbitrary code. In practice, this could allow someone within wifi range of another user to hack their computer from that wifi connection alone. And since this affects many different versions of Windows, attackers will likely try to exploit this flaw as soon as possible.

It's a chilling concept: If someone learns how to exploit this flaw, they could use it to attack other Windows PCs in their immediate vicinity. Imagine the field day a hacker could have going to a high-density area of laptop users like a coffee shop or shared workspace. Fortunately, the latest security updates for both Windows 10 and Windows 11 patch these issues, so once you're updated, you're safe to return to your office in the corner of the café.

How to install the latest patches on your Windows PC

If you're running Windows 11, head to Start > Settings > Windows Update. On Windows 10, head to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Either way, hit Check for updates. Once available, download and install it on your PC.