Windows 10 – Servicing Stack Cadence

What are Servicing Stack Updates?

Servicing Stack Updates (SSU’s) are Critical, Security Updates. They are shipped separately to the monthly Latest Cumulative Updates (LCU’s) because they modify the component that installs Windows updates. Microsoft strongly recommend that you install the latest SSU before the LCU. More information on SSU’s can be found at:-

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/servicing-stack-updates#why-should-servicing-stack-updates-be-installed-and-kept-up-to-date

Microsoft strongly recommends you install the latest servicing stack update (SSU) for your operating system before installing the LCU. SSUs improve the reliability of the update process to mitigate potential issues while installing the LCU and applying Microsoft security fixes.

Source: Microsoft

How do Microsoft advertise new SSU’s?

Traditionally, SSU’s have been difficult to differentiate from other Security updates. In fact its only since the beginning of this year that Microsoft started using the term “Servicing Stack Update” in the update name to help us quickly identify if an update was a SSU. Before then, it was quite “challenging” for admins to stage patches – having to ensure SSU’s were installed before the LCU’s…but not easily being able to identify them from month to month.

In November 2018, to try and clear up some confusion around SSU’s, Microsoft published Security Advisory 990001 https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/security-guidance/advisory/ADV990001

This advisory indicates the latest SSU’s available and the previous SSU’s that were replaced. SSU’s haven’t always been cumulative to their predecessor and this has sometimes caused confusion when adopting or maintaining a patching strategy.

SSU Cadence

To help with my understanding, and SSU history, I went through the Microsoft Update Catalog to understand the cadence of SSU’s. They haven’t always superseded each other.

The table below has been grafted from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Indicating the latest SSU for supported Windows 10 Operating Systems.

** Updated 22/02/2020 **

Windows 10 – 1909

OS	KB	Last Modified	Size	Superseded By	Supersedes
1909	4538674	10/02/2020	14.4MB	–	4528759, 4521863
1909	4528759	13/01/2020	14.4MB	4538674	4521863
1909	4521863	12/11/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759	–

Windows 10 – 1903

OS	KB	Last Modified	Size	Superseded By	Supersedes
1903	4538674	10/02/2020	14.4MB	–	4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 450010, 4498524
1903	4528759	13/01/2020	14.4MB	4538674	4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4524569	11/11/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759	4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4525419	23/10/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569	4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4521863	07/10/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419	4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4520390	26/09/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863	4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4515383	09/09/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390	4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4515530	30/08/2019	14.4MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383	4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4508433	26/07/2019	14.6MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530	4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4509096	08/07/2019	14.5MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433	4506933, 4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4506933	26/06/2019	14.6MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433,4509096	4498523, 4500109, 4498524
1903	4498523	29/05/2019	14.5MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933	4500109, 4498524
1903	4500109	11/05/2019	14.5MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523	4498524
1903	4498524	29/04/2019	14.5MB	4538674, 4528759, 4524569, 4525419, 4521863, 4520390, 4515383, 4515530, 4508433, 4509096, 4506933, 4498523, 4500109	–

Windows 10 – 1809

OS	KB	Last Modified	Size	Superseded By	Supersedes
1809	4523204	11/11/2019	13.6MB	–	4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4521862	08/10/2019	13.6MB	4523204	4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4512577	09/09/2019	13.5MB	4523204, 4521862	4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4512937	22/07/2019	13.5MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577	4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4509095	05/07/2019	13.6MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937	4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4504369	09/06/2019	13.6MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095	4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4499728	14/05/2019	13.6MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369	4493510, 4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4493510	01/04/2019	13.7MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728	4470788, 4465664, 4465477
1809	4470788	12/04/2018	13.7MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510	4465664, 4465477
1809	4465664	09/11/2018	13.7MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788	4465477
1809	4465477	08/10/2018	13.6MB	4523204, 4521862, 4512577, 4512937, 4509095, 4504369, 4499728, 4493510, 4470788, 4465664	–

Windows 10 – 1803

OS	KB	Last Modified	Size	Superseded By	Supersedes
1803	4523203	11/11/2019	13.2MB	–	4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4521861	08/10/2019	13.2MB	4523203	4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4512576	09/09/2019	13.2MB	4523203, 4521861	4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4509094	08/07/2019	13.2MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576	4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4497398	11/05/2019	13.2MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094	4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4485449	08/02/2019	13.7MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398	4477137, 4465663, 4343669, 4465663
1803	4477137	12/07/2018	13.3MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449	4465663, 4343669, 4338853
1803	4465663	09/11/2018	13.3MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137	4343669, 4338853
1803	4456655	12/09/2018	13.5MB	–	4343669, 4338853
1803	4343669	17/07/2018	13.3MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4456655	4338853
1803	4338853	22/06/2018	13.1MB	4523203, 4521861, 4512576, 4509094, 4497398, 4485449, 4477137, 4465663, 4456655, 4343669	–

Windows 10 – 1709

OS	KB	Last Modified	Size	Superseded By	Supersedes
1709	4523202	11/11/2019	13.1MB	–	4521860, 4512575, 4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4521860	08/10/2019	13.0MB	4523202	4512575, 4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4512575	09/09/2019	13.1MB	4523202, 4521860	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4509093	08/07/2019	13.1MB	4523202, 4521860, 4512575	4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4500641	11/05/2019	13.1MB	4509093	4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4485448	08/02/2019	13.2MB	4509093, 4500641	4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4477136	07/12/2018	13.2MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448	4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4465661	09/11/2018	13.2MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136	4339420, 413265,0, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4339420	17/07/2018	13.1MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661	4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4132650	21/05/2018	13.1MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420	4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4131372	07/05/2018	13.2MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650	4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4099989	06/04/2018	13.2MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372	4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4090914	05/03/2018	13.0MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989	4087256, 4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4087256	13/02/2018	13.0MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 409998,9 4090914	4074608, 4058702, 4054022
1709	4074608	31/01/2018	13.0MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256	4058702, 4054022
1709	4058702	04/01/2018	13.0MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608	4054022
1709	4054022	29/11/2018	13.0MB	4509093, 4500641, 4485448, 4477136, 4465661, 4339420, 4132650, 4131372, 4099989, 4090914, 4087256, 4074608, 4058702	–

Final Thoughts

As we move forwards, i believe (hope) we will be able to better manage patching SSU’s. Now the update name has the term “Servicing Stack Update” in the title we can start applying filters to our Automatic Deployment Rules in SCCM to ensure they get deployed before the LCU’s.

Mike Terrill has a pretty cool approach using Configuration Baselines, i recommend you take a look at his blog
https://miketerrill.net/2018/12/20/how-to-install-a-win10-ssu-before-the-lcu-using-configuration-manager/

If you haven’t already checked it out, David Segura’s OSDeploy tool makes light work of servicing WIMS and takes away the SSU headache from at least one aspect of your daily life
https://www.osdeploy.com/