More Info:

Ensure that operating system (OS) upgrades are automatically applied to your Microsoft Azure virtual machine scale sets when a newer version of the OS image is released by the image publishers. Automatic OS Upgrades feature supports both Windows and Linux images, and can be enabled for all virtual machine sizes. An automatic OS upgrade works by replacing the boot (OS) disk of a virtual machine instance running within a scale set with a new disk created using the latest image version available. Any configured extensions and custom data scripts are run on the OS disk, while persisted data disks are retained.

Risk Level

Medium

Address

Security

Compliance Standards

HITRUST, NISTCSF

Triage and Remediation

Remediation

To enable Automatic OS Upgrades in Azure, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the Azure portal.

  2. Select the Virtual Machine that you want to configure.

  3. In the Virtual Machine pane, select the “Update Management” option.

  4. In the “Update Management” pane, select the “Schedule update deployments” option.

  5. In the “Schedule update deployments” pane, select the “Automatic” option for “OS upgrades”.

  6. Choose the maintenance window time that suits your needs.

  7. Click on the “Save” button to save the changes.

That’s it! Now your Virtual Machine will automatically receive OS upgrades during the maintenance window you have selected, ensuring that your system is always up-to-date and secure.