Windows 10's final update is a big one - with a record 173 bug fixes

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Microsoft has released its October Patch Tuesday update for Windows. Though that's business as usual, this marked the final monthly update for Windows 10 after 10 years of support. All the cool new features and enhancements were reserved for Windows 11, but both versions of Windows received a whopping number of security patches. With the latest updates for all versions of Windows, Microsoft has delivered a hefty 173 security patches, a record amount for 2025. Among these, nine are rated critical, according to patch management provider Action1, while six are zero-day exploits. Three of them have already been exploited in the wild, and three others have publicly available proofs of concept, which means sample code is publicly available to show how the flaw can be exploited. Also: Can't upgrade your Windows 10 PC? Support has ended, so you need to act now As documented on a Microsoft security page, the bug fixes cover such core features and services as the Windows kernel, Windows Search, Windows Remote Desktop Protocol, Windows Hello, File Explorer, PowerShell, Copilot, BitLocker, and Bluetooth. Also in the mix are Microsoft Exchange Server, Visual Studio, Azure, and Microsoft Office. In one case, Microsoft had to actually remove a built-in driver called the ltmdm64.sys driver for fax modem hardware, as attackers had already been exploiting it as a zero-day flaw. Also: The Windows 11 upgrade tool stopped working at the worst ...