Patch with Confidence: Stop Auto-Updaters' Hacking Risks

Patch with Confidence: Stop Auto-Updaters' Hacking Risks

One silent redirect is all it takes! The recent Notepad++ updater incident shows why letting endpoints self-update from the internet is a supply-chain risk, because attackers compromised parts of the update infrastructure and selectively rerouted in-app update checks to attacker-controlled servers, turning the internal updater into the attack zone. When update traffic is redirected to malicious infrastructure, the updater becomes an attacker-controlled delivery channel for any device that trusts it. 

With Endpoint Central, updates are downloaded directly from the vendor source, verified, tested, and then distributed internally as approved, legitimate patches; so endpoints don’t automatically reach out to random update URLs on their own. Our dedicated Security Research Team continuously monitors major vendor sources  validates update authenticity using checksum/SSL/file integrity checks and malware scans (including silent-install validation), and tests updates in an internal environment before approval.

After this, the updates flow through a controlled patch pipeline: 

  • One trusted patch workflow for OS and third-party apps, so endpoints don’t rely on each app’s auto-updater reaching out on its own.

  • Approve first, deploy in stages, so nothing gets pushed everywhere by surprise.

  • Block anything suspicious, so tampered or unexpected packages don’t get deployed.

  • Full visibility and proof with inventory, patch status, and audit-ready deployment logs

Incidents like this remind us why centralized, vendor-sourced patching with approvals and staged rollouts is safer than letting every endpoint rely on in-app auto-updaters. Our centralized patch approach keeps updates trusted, controlled, and auditable, greatly reducing supply-chain exposure from in-app auto-updaters.


Cheers,
The ManageEngine Team