Welcome to the overview for Microsoft’s March 2020 Patch Day; the company released security updates for all supported versions of Microsoft Windows as well as other company products.
The overview provides you with important information about released patches. It includes links to support articles and summaries of patches, links to security advisories, non-security updates, as well as direct download links for Windows updates.
Feel free to check out the February 2020 Patch Day overview here.
Microsoft Windows Security Updates March 2020
You may download the following Excel spreadsheet to get a full tabular listing of patches and updates that Microsoft released on the March 2020 Patch Day. Click on the following link to download the Excel spreadsheet to your local system: microsoft-security-updates-windows-march-2020
Executive Summary
- Microsoft released updates for all supported versions of the Windows operating system.
- Updates were also released for Microsoft Edge (classic and new), Internet Explorer, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Office, Windows Defender, Visual Studio, Azure, Azure DevOps, Microsoft Dynamics.
- The Microsoft Update Catalog lists 113 patches.
Operating System Distribution
- Windows 7 (extended support only):39 vulnerabilities: 3 critical and 36 important
- Windows 8.1: 55 vulnerabilities: 3 rated critical and 52 rated important
- Windows 10 version 1803: 71 vulnerabilities: 7 critical and 64 important
- Windows 10 version 1809: 73 vulnerabilities: 7 critical and 66 important
- same as Windows 10 version 1803
- Windows 10 version 1903: 75 vulnerabilities: 7 critical and 68 important
- same as Windows 10 version 1803
- Windows 10 version 1909: same as Windows 10 version 1903
Windows Server products
- Windows Server 2008 R2 (extended support only): 47 vulnerabilities, 5 critical, 42 important
- Windows Server 2012 R2: 55 vulnerabilities: 3 critical and 52 important.
- Windows Server 2016: 71 vulnerabilities: 6 critical and 65 important.
- Windows Server 2019: 72 vulnerabilities: 7 critical and 65 are important
- Same as Windows Server 2016 plus
- CVE-2020-0807 | Media Foundation Memory Corruption Vulnerability
Other Microsoft Products
- Internet Explorer 11: 6 vulnerability: 6 critical
- Microsoft Edge: 14 vulnerabilities: 13 critical, 1 important
- CVE-2020-0768 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0811 | Chakra Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0812 | Chakra Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0816 | Microsoft Edge Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0823 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0825 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0826 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0827 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0828 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0829 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0830 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0831 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- CVE-2020-0848 | Scripting Engine Memory Corruption Vulnerability
- Microsoft Edge on Chromium:
- see here (latest security patches from the Chromium project)
Windows Security Updates
Windows 7
Improvements and fixes:
- Fixed an issue that might prevent icons and cursors from appearing as expected. (monthly-rollup only)
- Security updates
Windows 8.1
Improvements and fixes:
- Fixed an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading.
- Fixed an issue that might prevent icons and cursors from appearing as expected.
- Security updates
Windows 10 version 1803
Improvements and fixes:
Windows 10 version 1809
Improvements and fixes:
Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909
Improvements and fixes:
- Fixed an issue that prevented some users from upgrading the operating system “because of corrupted third-party assemblies”.
- Security updates.
Other security updates
- KB4540671 — 2020-03 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer
- KB4540694 — 2020-03 Security Only Quality Update for Windows Embedded 8 Standard and Windows Server 2012
- KB4541504 — 2020-03 Security Only Quality Update for Windows Server 2008
- KB4541506 — 2020-03 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows Server 2008
- KB4541510 — 2020-03 Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows Embedded 8 Standard and Windows Server 2012
- KB4539571 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10 Version 1809
- KB4540670 — 2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 Version 1607
- KB4540681 — 2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1709
- KB4540693 — 2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1507
- KB4540705 — 2020-03 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1703
- KB4540721 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1507
- KB4540722 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1703
- KB4540723 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 Version 1607
- KB4540724 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1803
- KB4540725 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 R2
- KB4540726 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Embedded 8 Standard and Windows Server 2012
- KB4541338 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server, version 1909, Windows 10 Version 1909, Windows Server, version 1903, and Windows 10 Version 1903
- KB4541731 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows 10 Version 1709
- KB4550735 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2
- KB4550736 — 2020-03 Servicing Stack Update for Windows Server 2008
Known Issues
Windows 7
- May receive “failure to configure Windows updates. Reverting Changes. Do not turn off your computer” if the update is installed on non-ESU systems.
- Certain operations that are performed on files or folders on Cluster Shared Volumes may fail with the error “STATUS_BAD_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL (0xC00000A5)”.
Windows 8.1
- Certain operations that are performed on files or folders on Cluster Shared Volumes may fail with the error “STATUS_BAD_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL (0xC00000A5)”.
Windows 10 version 1809
- After installing KB4493509, devices with some Asian language packs installed may receive the error, “0x800f0982 – PSFX_E_MATCHING_COMPONENT_NOT_FOUND.”
- Mitigation: uninstall and reinstall the language pack, then install the April 2019 Cumulative Update. If that does not help, Microsoft suggests Resetting the PC.
- May encounter issues in Windows Server containers and 32-bit applications and process.
Windows 10 version 1903 and 1909
- May encounter issues in Windows Server containers and 32-bit applications and process.
How to download and install the March 2020 security updates
Security updates for all supported version of Windows and products included in Windows, e.g. Microsoft Edge, are made available via Windows Update, WSUS, and other update distribution systems. Administrators may download standalone patches to systems to apply these directly without using Windows Updates.
We recommend that backups are created of important date or, better, the entire system, before patches are installed.
Do the following to check for new updates:
- Open the Start Menu of the Windows operating system, type Windows Update and select the result.
- Select check for updates in the application that opens. Updates may be installed automatically when they are found or offered by Windows; this depends on the operating system and version that is used, and update settings.