Patch management is the process of identifying, acquiring, testing, and applying updates—or patches—to software and systems in order to fix vulnerabilities, improve performance, or add new functionality. These updates may apply to operating systems, applications, cloud services, firmware, or third-party libraries.
Patch management is a critical component of cybersecurity and IT operations. Unpatched systems are among the most common attack vectors exploited by threat actors, often leading to breaches, ransomware infections, and compliance violations.
What is patch management?
Patch management is a structured workflow that ensures known security flaws, bugs, and configuration issues in software are addressed in a timely and consistent manner. The process includes:
- Vulnerability identification: Monitoring trusted sources like the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), vendor advisories, and threat intelligence feeds for newly disclosed issues
- Patch acquisition: Downloading updates released by software vendors or maintainers
- Testing and validation: Verifying that a patch does not introduce compatibility or functionality issues within a specific environment
- Deployment: Applying the patch to affected systems using automation tools or manual updates
- Verification and auditing: Confirming that the patch was successfully applied and updating inventory or compliance systems accordingly
Patch management applies to physical systems, virtual machines, cloud workloads, containers, IoT devices, and software development environments.
Why patch management matters
Effective patch management reduces the risk of compromise by closing known vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them. It also:
- Prevents zero-day exploitation when fixes are released in response to active threats
- Reduces the attack surface by eliminating outdated or vulnerable components
- Ensures compliance with frameworks like PCI-DSS, HIPAA, NIST, and ISO 27001
- Maintains system stability by resolving bugs and performance issues
- Demonstrates proactive security governance to stakeholders and regulators
The speed and consistency of patch management often directly correlate to an organization’s ability to resist or recover from cyberattacks.
Patch management challenges
While patching seems straightforward in theory, many organizations struggle to maintain effective programs due to:
- Asset sprawl: Difficulty in maintaining an accurate inventory of systems that need to be patched
- Downtime sensitivity: Critical systems may have narrow maintenance windows or strict uptime requirements
- Third-party dependency: Many vulnerabilities originate in open-source components or software packages not developed in-house
- Cloud complexity: Cloud environments introduce infrastructure as code, ephemeral workloads, and layered dependencies that complicate patching
- Testing constraints: Patches may cause regressions or break application functionality if not tested properly
- Prioritization issues: Not all patches carry equal risk, but many teams lack the context to prioritize effectively
- Lack of automation: Manual patching is time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale
These challenges are amplified in hybrid, multi-cloud, and DevOps-driven environments, where change is constant and speed is a competitive necessity.
Patch management in cloud and DevOps environments
In modern cloud-native architectures, patch management extends beyond traditional OS updates to include:
- Container base images: These often contain outdated libraries that require regular rebuilding and redeployment
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Vulnerable resource definitions or default configurations may require updates to code, not just live infrastructure
- Third-party dependencies: Open-source packages used in applications can introduce known CVEs if not kept up to date
- Cloud provider services: Misconfigurations or version drift in managed services may require remediation or platform-specific updates
- CI/CD pipelines: Teams must integrate patching into build and release workflows to prevent vulnerable artifacts from reaching production
Automated scanning, software composition analysis (SCA), and vulnerability management tools are key to keeping pace with these changes.
Best practices for patch management
Organizations can strengthen their patch management program by adopting the following best practices:
Maintain accurate asset inventory: Know what systems, workloads, and software versions exist across environments
Monitor trusted sources: Stay updated on new vulnerabilities through feeds like the NVD, vendor advisories, and industry-specific threat intelligence
Prioritize based on risk: Focus first on critical vulnerabilities (e.g., CVSS 9.0+) that are actively exploited or affect public-facing systems
Test in isolated environments: Validate patches in staging or sandbox environments to identify performance or compatibility issues
Automate patch deployment: Use configuration management tools (e.g., Ansible, Chef, AWS Systems Manager) to push updates consistently and at scale
Integrate with DevOps: Embed patching into CI/CD pipelines to catch and remediate risks during development or before deployment
Track and audit: Maintain records of applied patches, missed updates, and rollback plans to support compliance and post-incident forensics
Schedule regular patch cycles: Supplement emergency updates with regular cadence-based patching windows that align with operations and SLAs
When properly implemented, patch management reduces the time between vulnerability disclosure and risk mitigation—shrinking the window of opportunity for attackers.
Patching vs. mitigating
While patching is the ideal method for addressing vulnerabilities, it’s not always possible to patch immediately. In those cases, teams may implement temporary mitigations, such as:
- Disabling vulnerable features
- Restricting access to affected services
- Applying virtual patches through web application firewalls (WAFs)
- Using segmentation or isolation controls
Mitigations reduce immediate risk but do not eliminate the underlying vulnerability. They should always be followed by proper patching when feasible.
How Orca Security helps
The Orca Cloud Security Platform helps organizations improve patch management in cloud environments by providing deep, context-aware visibility across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes.
With Orca, security and DevOps teams can:
- Automatically detect unpatched vulnerabilities across all cloud assets
- Identify unpatched assets across workloads, images, and infrastructure as code
- Prioritize vulnerabilities dynamically based on a comprehensive set of criticality measures that go far beyond CVSS scores
- Correlate risks with attack paths to determine which unpatched systems are linked to crown jewels
- Remediate vulnerabilities fast and easily using AI-driven or assisted remediation
Orca enables organizations to enhance their vulnerability and patch management programs.
