Microsoft ended support for Edge in Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 in January 2023; This means Edge 109 is the last browser update available for these operating systems. But as Microsoft announced earlier this year, the company is ready to release periodic security updates and critical patches. One such patch was released recently, bringing a significant update to Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 users.

If you’re still using pre-Windows 10 versions, don’t get too excited about the latest Microsoft Edge update for your old operating system. It’s based on Edge 109, the latest version to support older Windows versions, and only adds fixes for vulnerabilities; i.e. Stack buffer overflow in WebP in Chromium versions prior to 116.0.5845.187, which allows a remote attacker to escape – out-of-bounds memory write using a specially crafted HTML page.

Microsoft describes the update in its documentation as follows:

Version 109.0.1518.140: September 15, 2023

This update is for extended support of Windows M109 sublevel. We ship 109 for Win 7, 8 and 8.1 (including Server 2012 R2 based on Win 8.1).

Microsoft fixed CVE-2023-4863 for the Microsoft Edge stable channel (version 109.0.1518.140). As reported by the Chromium team, this exploits a widespread vulnerability. For more information, see the Security Update Guide. This support is for our enhanced support of the lower level of Windows M109.”

It is worth noting that Microsoft will soon stop releasing even these rare security updates. Extended support for the M109 sublevel for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Server 2012 R2 will end on October 20, 2023. From now on, Firefox will be the only major browser that actively supports already dead versions of Windows.

The Mozilla Foundation plans to continue releasing security updates for Firefox for another year, and Firefox 115 Extended Support (ESR) is scheduled to end in September 2024. As a reminder, older versions of Windows still account for approximately 4.45% of all computer users, according to Statcounter.