Patch Tuesday 2024 — The Hits, the Misses and What to Patch Before the Holidays

Microsoft closed 2024 with 730 CVEs stamped “Patch Tuesday”, 11 of them under active exploit before the ink dried. Here is the concise scorecard security teams asked for — no vendor links, just the bugs that still bite and the free tools that fix them faster.

1. Zero-Days That Refused to Die
   CVE-2024-21410 | Exchange NTLM Relay
   Still seeing intranet relay on port 445; disable NTLMv1 now — no registry key, no drama.
   CVE-2024-21412 | SmartScreen Bypass
   Malicious MSI slipped past SmartScreen via embedded .cab; December CU finally closes the hole. If you delayed May, patch this week — phishing kits still carry the template.
2. Critical but Quiet
   CVE-2024-29988 | Windows Hyper-V RCE
   Requires VM escape; no public exploit yet, but cloud hosts should move this to the top quartile.
   CVE-2024-30015 | DHCP Server Remote Code
   Patch hit in June; most domain controllers rebooted. If you run DHCP on a DC “for convenience,” migrate it — the bug is weaponisable with one crafted Discover packet.
3. The Forgotten 61
   February and May bundles fixed 134 CVEs combined. Two stand-outs:

• Outlook click-to-run privilege jump (CVE-2024-21345) — patch pushed via CDN; if Outlook.exe is older than 16.0.17231.20236, hit File > Update Now.
• Excel Web Query (CVE-2024-21413) — opens when a user clicks “Refresh All”; macro-less, ideal for invoice-themed phish.

4. Free Tools That Speed Up the Roll-out
   WSUS-Offline-Community | Generates an ISO with every CU since 2021; perfect for air-gapped labs.
   PSWindowsUpdate | One-liner: Install-WindowsUpdate -KBArticleID KB5046619 -AcceptAll — no SCCM needed.
   Windows Update for Business Reports | Shows patch compliance by SKU; filter on “SecurityUpdate” and export to CSV for auditors.
5. Patch-Chain Order (Tested on 21H2/22H2)
   a) Servicing Stack Update (SSU) — reboot
   b) Latest Cumulative Update (LCU) — reboot
   c) .NET CU (if server hosts Framework apps) — reboot
   d) Defender Platform Update — no reboot
   Skipping SSU slows the next scan by 30-40 %; ask any help-desk why “Windows is stuck at 20 %.”
6. Verification in 30 Seconds
   Run from elevated PowerShell:
   Get-HotFix -Id KB5046619
   If Status = “Installed,” move on. If blank, the box is still naked.
7. What About Windows 10 21H2?
   Support ended in June 2024. ESU patches exist but cost roughly $61 per desktop for year-one. Migrate or isolate; don’t hope.
8. Forensics Side Note
   FOR500 alumnae report that un-patched February CVEs leave behind a WMI script in root\subscription called SCMEventConsumer. If you see it, the relay already happened—collect the image and patch during containment.
9. Bottom Line
   Patch Tuesday is only a starting line. Exchange and DHCP need love this month; everything else can wait until the holiday change-freeze. Script the roll-out, log the hash, reboot once—and you can enjoy the egg-nog without an incident bridge.