PatchStatus

Patchstatus is a term used in information technology and software maintenance to describe the current state of patches for a given system, component, or asset. It indicates whether patches are available, downloaded, installed, failed, or deferred, and may include reboot requirements or supersedence.

In practice, patchstatus is maintained by patch management systems, software update services, or configuration management databases. It aggregates data from vulnerability scanners, repository catalogs, and deployment agents to present an at-a-glance view of patch compliance across an environment.

Common states include Not Applicable, Available, Downloaded, Installed, Failed, Pending Reboot, Deferred, and Superseded. Some implementations differentiate between patches that are approved for deployment and those that are blocked by policy or compatibility concerns.

Applications of patchstatus include reporting and dashboards for IT leadership, driving automation to install or remediate patches, and triggering alerts when critical patches are missing. It supports audit trails for compliance and risk management.

Limitations: patchstatus is a snapshot and may not reflect real-time changes; it does not measure vulnerability severity, exposure, or exploit availability. It should be interpreted alongside vulnerability data, asset inventory, and change management processes.

See also: Patch management, Vulnerability management, Configuration management, Change management.