The State of Patch Management Report 2026

Since 2023, the share of organizations deploying patches within six days has nearly quadrupled, rising from 15% to 59%.

Automation is the top patch modernization investment priority for 76% of organizations in 2026.

86% of organizations say vulnerability remediation is a critical part of their security strategy.

49% of organizations include third-party applications in their current patching process.

74% of organizations cite coordinating vulnerability prioritization and remediation as their biggest security issue.

74% of IT and security professionals have experienced vulnerabilities in third-party applications.

56% worry they remain exposed to known vulnerabilities, even as 86% say remediation is a critical part of their security strategy.

56% of organizations remain concerned they are still exposed to known vulnerabilities that have not yet been remediated in their environments.

More than 60% of organizations rely on manual processes in at least part of the patch lifecycle.