Patch Tuesday July 2026: tons of security updates for your small business this month.

Mega Microsoft Updates

Microsoft started using AI to find security problems with their products a few months ago. Since then Microsoft finds way more vulnerabilities every month. Last month Microsoft patched 206 critical vulnerability and exposures (CVE). This month Microsoft patched 622 CVEs.

Most notable CVEs for small business: CoPilot remote code execution, Exchange spoofing vulnerability, BitLocker security bypass, and 16 remote code execution vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office applications.

If you have M365 Office, Microsoft automatically patches those vulnerabilities (usually the during the busiest part of your day). You have to patch the rest of the 616 vulnerabilities by installing and restarting your computer. Microsoft claimed the install time for my desktop would take one reboot and 3 minutes. Actually required 3 reboots and about 12 minutes. Your update install speed will vary on your hardware but I recommend you allow at least 15 minutes for this install.

Chrome and Chromium updates

Google released a ton of updates over the last month for Chrome and its Chromium siblings (Edge, Vivaldi for examples).

Just close and reopen your browser. It’s that simple.

If you want to check your Chrome version or manually start the update, click on the three vertical dots n the upper right hand corner. Then click Help (way down the menu) and click About.

Why update? Because hackers love to steal tokens and passwords from your browser.

Apple Bytes

Last major updates Apple released were June 29th. Usually Apple releases fewer updates just before new product/OS release in early fall.

Apple released updates June 29th for all supported iThingys and Mac OS. Details from the Apple Security Releases page. This page also includes links on how to update your various Apple devices.

Make sure you have enough disk space on your device for the updates. The latest iOS update requires almost 3GB of hard drive space.

WordPress Updates

Checked your WordPress web site lately? WordPress released a new version of WordPress which means almost every theme and plugin you have also needs an update.

The WordPress update patches a vulnerability that allows hackers to easily take control of your web site and wreak havoc.

If you are able, set your web site to auto-update via your control panel. And make regular backups.

Patch Tuesday July 2026

An ounce of patching is cheaper than a pound of hacking. If you’re not sure what to patch or why, read Patch Primer for Small Business.