KB5028233 is the security-only update for Windows Server 2012. It was released as part of the July month’s ‘Patch Tuesday’ update cycle on 11 July 2023.
Salient points
- KB5028233 is a standalone security update for Windows Server 2012. For full security coverage on the server, you will need to ensure that all the previous security updates for Windows Server 2012 are already deployed.
- KB5028233 succeeds KB5027281 security update released in June 2023.
- KB5028233 is included in the monthly rollup update KB5028232. We strongly recommend installing monthly rollup update KB5028232 as it is cumulative in nature. There are lesser hassles in installing the cumulative update or monthly rollup updates on Windows Server 2012.
- Servicing Stack Update KB5027575 needs to be installed before installing the security update KB5028233.
- Internet Explorer Cumulative Update KB5028167 needs to be installed on Windows Server 2012 as part of the security update process.
- 71 security vulnerabilities affect Windows Server 2012. Out of these 71 threats, there are 6 CRITICAL threats and 4 zero-day threats. The CRITICAL and zero-day vulnerabilities have been mentioned in the vulnerability section below.
Download KB5028233
KB5028233 is a standalone security update that can be deployed manually. The manual deployment process for KB5028233 is recommended to include the following three steps of update management and deployments:
- Download and install Servicing Stack Update KB5027575
- Download and install Internet Explorer Cumulative Update KB5028167
- Download and install KB5028233 security update
These updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog page. Alternatively, you can use the direct download links shared below to download the patch file.
The patch files are available in MSU file extensions.
- Download KB5027575 Servicing Stack Update from the Microsoft Update Catalog.
- Download KB5028167 Internet Explorer Cumulative Update
- Download KB5028233 security-only update for Windows Server 2012
- Direct download link for KB5027575
- Direct download link for KB5028167
- Direct download link for KB5028233
It may be worth reiterating the following facts about these updates:
- KB5027575 is a simple Servicing Stack Update. The update file has a size of 10.1 MB and it does cause the server to reboot.
- KB5028167 Internet Explorer Cumulative Update file has a size of 46.3 MB. IE Cumulative Updates complete after server reboots.
- KB5028233 security update has a size of 79.9 MB. It will lead to a server reboot. Therefore, we recommend setting aside a change management schedule to install the security update on Windows Server 2012.
- If you run into issues with any of these updates, you can easily uninstall the update from the server using the Windows Update program.
Vulnerabilities
As mentioned above, there are 71 security vulnerabilities on Windows Server 2012. We share the 6 CRITICAL and 4 Zero-day threats below.
CRITICAL vulnerabilities on Windows Server 2012
| CVE Details | Impact | CVSS Score | Severity | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-35367 | Remote Code Execution | 9.8 | CRITICAL | Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) are affected |
| CVE-2023-35365 | Remote Code Execution | 9.8 | CRITICAL | Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) are affected |
| CVE-2023-35366 | Remote Code Execution | 9.8 | CRITICAL | Windows Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) are affected |
| CVE-2023-32057 | Remote Code Execution | 9.8 | CRITICAL | Microsoft Message Queuing is affected |
| CVE-2023-35352 | Security Feature Bypass | 7.5 | CRITICAL | Windows Remote Desktop is affected |
| CVE-2023-35297 | Remote Code Execution | 7.5 | CRITICAL | Windows Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) is affected |
Zero-day threats on Windows Server 2012
| CVE Details | Impact | CVSS | Severity | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-32046 | Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | 7.8 | Important | Windows MSHTML Platform is affected |
| CVE-2023-36874 | Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability | 7.8 | Important | Windows Error Reporting is affected |
| CVE-2023-36884 | Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | 8.3 | Important | Office and Windows HTML are affected |
| CVE-2023-24932 | Secure Boot Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | 6.7 | Important | An attacker with physical access or Administrative rights to a target device could install an affected boot policy. |
KB5028233 Changelog
KB5028233 brings in a new log entry about the impending end of support status of Windows Server 2012 on 10th October 2023.
- Starting with this release, we will log event logs beginning July 11, 2023, and ending on October 10, 2023, to notify customers of the end of support (EOS) for Windows Server 2012 on October 10, 2023.
Microsoft July 2023 Security Updates
- KB5028232 Monthly Rollup update for Windows Server 2012
- KB5028233 Security Update for Windows Server 2012
- KB5028223 Security Update for Windows Server 2012 R2
- KB5028228 Monthly Rollup Update for Windows Server 2012 R2
- KB5028169 Cumulative Update for Windows Server 2016
- KB5028168 Cumulative Update for Windows Server 2019
Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.