What is Patch Management? A Complete Guide

Patch management is the systematic process of identifying, acquiring, installing, and verifying software updates (known as patches) to address security vulnerabilities and bugs and improve overall system performance.

This proactive approach serves as a defense for businesses against the persistent threats of cyberattacks, providing stable, efficient IT operations.

Beyond risk mitigation, a well-implemented patch management strategy offers numerous advantages, from bolstering security defenses to enhancing system reliability and reducing the likelihood of costly disruptions.

To help you maintain a safe and healthy IT environment, we’ll cover everything you need to know about patch management, including how it works, as well as its benefits, challenges, and best practices.

Given the persistent and active targeting of unpatched assets by malicious actors, applying security patches becomes a critical step in closing down opportunities for criminals to exploit within your business.

This proactive measure is essential for preventing a range of cyberattacks, including ransomware, malware infections, data breaches, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Besides strengthening security, patch management is also important to fix bugs and improve system performance.

To ensure robust protection against emerging threats, effective patch management ensures the swift implementation of these updates. Other important considerations include:

After the update, patches are monitored to ensure they are successfully applied and haven’t caused complications.

Patch management sometimes throws up challenges. Typical complications include:

  • Patch overload: The volume of patches released, especially for large and complex IT environments, can be difficult to keep a handle on. Maintaining accurate ongoing records can be equally challenging.
  • Downtime: Applying security patches often requires you to shut down services. This impacts productivity and causes inconvenience to employees, customers, and suppliers.
  • Remote and mobile devices: Ensuring remote and mobile devices are consistently patched poses some challenges. Firstly, scheduling patching across dispersed assets can be tricky. Not making matters any easier, remote devices are often not connected to the corporate network.
  • Compatibility issues: Patches sometimes conflict with existing software or hardware, which can cause system problems or application failures. Additionally, rolling back a failed patch may entail urgent troubleshooting and restoring the system from backups, which means business disruption.
  • Testing complexities: Thoroughly testing patches in a safe environment before deployment is crucial. However, this exercise can be time-consuming and divert resources from other critical tasks.
  • Legacy systems and unsupported software: Vendors often stop releasing updates for older systems, leaving exposed vulnerabilities. Companies are then forced to live with the risk or invest in system replacements/upgrades.

The patch management lifecycle is a structured process to keep software and systems secure and up-to-date. Here are the six key stages in the lifecycle:

Inventory and identification: First, create a complete inventory of your devices, operating systems, and applications. Then, identify vulnerabilities and outdated software across these assets. Regular scanning and monitoring play a key role in detecting missing patches and gaps.

Prioritization: Once vulnerabilities are identified, they must be assessed and ranked based on the probability and severity of the risk. What is the likelihood of an attack occurring? How much damage will it cause? Prioritizing ensures that urgent threats are addressed swiftly while low-level risks can be scheduled for later.

Patch testing: Patches are tested in a controlled environment or on a small subset of systems before they’re applied. This ensures compatibility and that a newly deployed patch does not introduce complications.

Deploy patches: After successful testing, deployment is carefully planned, and patches are rolled out. Generally, this should be scheduled during off-peak hours to limit disruption. Backups are also recommended before patching to restore systems if the update causes issues or needs to be rolled back.

Verification: It’s essential to check that patches have been correctly installed and that weak points are now addressed. Verification involves testing functionality, security, and performance.

Monitoring and documentation: The lifecycle involves continuous monitoring to ensure that applied patches are effective. You must also remain vigilant about new vulnerabilities that arise as cyber threats evolve. A record of all your assets, updates, test results, and patching activity should be kept.

Here are valuable best practices to include in patch management:

A clear policy forms the foundation of effective patch management. It should define:

  • Scope and tools
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Timelines
  • Procedures and protocols
  • Regular and emergency patching policies

Use automated tools to execute the patching process. Automated patch management handles discovery, deployment, and monitoring more efficiently (and at scale). Plus, it reduces the risk of human error and ensures timely updates.

Look to centralize your patch management, which allows IT teams to monitor, deploy, and verify updates across all systems from a central hub. It brings several benefits:

  • A consistent approach
  • Reduced risk of missed patches
  • Streamlines compliance
  • Faster response times in an emergency

Assess the importance of patches based on the threats they address and the systems they impact. Apply security patches for mission-critical systems first.

Always test patches in a controlled environment before rolling them out across your network. This helps red-flag conflicts and other potential problems.

Not all systems can be patched immediately. For systems that must delay patches for operational reasons, consider additional safeguards, such as stricter firewall rules and closer monitoring.

Legacy systems may no longer receive official updates. In such cases:

  • Explore third-party patches or community-supported fixes
  • Plan for an upgrade or replacement to mitigate long-term risks
  • Isolate the resource as far as possible to limit a breach from infecting the larger network

Maintain a complete, accurate inventory of all hardware and software assets. You want to ensure no systems are overlooked during patching cycles.

Patch management software and tools are only part of the puzzle, though. Patching is one element of a multi-layered security strategy. In particular, it’s a critical component of vulnerability management—a broader process to identify, prioritize, and contain security risks.

When vulnerability management tools uncover outdated software risks, patching protocols become a priority.

What types of patches are there?

Types of patches include security patches, bug fixes, feature updates (sometimes), and performance improvements. Some patches are urgent (e.g. zero-day fixes), while others are part of regular maintenance.

Can patches fix zero-day exploits?

Patches can fix zero-day exploits, but only after the vulnerability has been discovered and a fix is created. A zero-day exploit is a security flaw that is unknown to the software vendor. This weakness may be actively exploited before a patch exists. Once the vendor identifies the vulnerability, they urgently release a patch to resolve it.

What is another name for a security patch?

A security patch is also referred to as a bugfix, security update, or hotfix. Larger fixes are often called software updates or service packs.