Tuesday drops the fixes.Wednesday starts the clock.
See which of this month’s Microsoft and third-party patches your endpoints are missing, prioritize exploited vulnerabilities, and deploy fixes in minutes.
Next Patch Tuesday · Live
Today
——
00Days
00Hours
00Minutes
Until the next Patch Tuesday. Then it's a race to remediation.
Patch Tuesday
——
Next release —
Exploit Wednesday
——
What is Exploit Wednesday?
Exploit Wednesday is an informal term for the day after Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday release. Once patches become public, security researchers and attackers can compare vulnerable and patched software to understand what the fixes address.
That does not mean every vulnerability is exploited immediately, or at all. But public patches can provide useful information about a flaw, and the longer an affected endpoint remains unpatched, the longer it may remain exposed.
Patch Tuesday creates the fix.
Exploit Wednesday increases the urgency to know what is affected, prioritize what matters, and get the right updates deployed.
Top 5 exploits to patch first
Ranked by exploitation risk.
How Patch Manager Plus closes the Exploit Wednesday gap
Bring visibility, prioritization, testing, deployment, and verification into one repeatable Patch Tuesday workflow.
- 01
Find and prioritize missing patches
See which endpoints are missing Microsoft and third-party updates, prioritized by active exploits and risk.
- 02
Test before broad rollout
Pilot patches with test groups, approve what’s ready, and manage exceptions that need delayed remediation.
- 03
Automate Patch Tuesday
Scan, download, test, approve, deploy, and report on updates through scheduled, repeatable workflows.
- 04
Patch beyond Microsoft
Update Windows, macOS, Linux, Microsoft apps, and 1,100+ third-party applications from one console.
- 05
Verify and report remediation
Track patch status, failed installs, and reboot compliance, plus systems still exposed after deployment.
Free Patch Tuesday webinar
Attackers move fast once patches are public. Join the live session to know what to patch first.
- A complete breakdown of the
latest Patch Tuesday updates - Patch updates you
should be prioritizing - Real-time patching scenarios
and how to handle them
Frequently asked questions.
Exploit Wednesday is the informal name for the day after Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday release. Once security updates become public, researchers and attackers analyze them to identify the vulnerabilities they fix; in some cases, this analysis can lead to working exploit code.
Microsoft releases most of its security updates on the second Tuesday of each month, known as Patch Tuesday. The following day became known as Exploit Wednesday because the public availability of patches can give attackers a starting point for reverse-engineering fixes and developing exploits.
No. Not every vulnerability receives a working exploit, and exploit development does not always happen immediately. However, actively exploited vulnerabilities, publicly disclosed technical details, and widely used software can make unpatched systems a higher-priority risk soon after patches are released.
There is no single deadline for every organization. A practical approach is to patch actively exploited vulnerabilities and internet-facing systems as soon as testing allows, then deploy remaining updates through a risk-based rollout. The goal is to reduce the time between a patch becoming available and vulnerable endpoints being protected.
Prioritize updates based on exploitation risk, not CVSS severity alone. Start with vulnerabilities that are actively exploited, listed in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, remotely exploitable, or present on exposed and high-value systems. Then address critical vulnerabilities and broad endpoint coverage.
Patch Tuesday is when Microsoft publishes its monthly security updates. Exploit Wednesday is the period immediately afterward, when those updates are analyzed and attackers may begin developing or refining exploits. In short: Patch Tuesday creates the fix; Exploit Wednesday increases the urgency to deploy it.
Patch Manager Plus helps IT teams identify missing Microsoft and third-party patches, prioritize actively exploited vulnerabilities, test updates with pilot groups, and deploy fixes across Windows endpoints and supported applications from a single console. It also helps teams track patch status and reduce the window between patch release and remediation.
Yes. In addition to Windows and Microsoft application updates, Patch Manager Plus supports patching for more than 1,100 third-party applications, helping teams reduce exposure across the broader endpoint software stack.