End Of Security For Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019? Not With 0patch!

Expensive Upgrade is Not Your Only Option: 0patch Will Secure Your Office Apps For Years To Come!

 

Much like for Windows 10, this October will also be the last month of Microsoft's official security fixes for Microsoft Office versions 2016 and 2019. The implied narrative goes: if you want to keep using Office securely, you have to throw out your 2016 and 2019 versions - which may work perfectly well for you -  and either purchase Office 2024 or subscribe to one of Microsoft 365 plans.

In contrast to Windows 10 end-of-support, however, there will be no Extended Security Updates for Office - so one can't just throw money at Microsoft to proceed without disruption.

On top of said disruption (installing and configuring new Office apps, adjusting to user interface changes, reworking integrations), there is also a question of confidentiality, or even national security, as both cloud and on-premises Office 365 versions send your every word to Microsoft's AI.

Now let's talk numbers. Anyone currently using Office 2016 or 2019 at home or at work and wanting to migrate to new, supported Office apps running on their PC (not in Microsoft's cloud) has two options:

1. Buy Office 2024 as a one-time purchase: Organizations can purchase long-term support Office LTSC 2024, costing them about $500 for the Standard edition, and about $700 for the Professional Plus edition. Home users can buy the Home edition for $149.99, while small businesses can get Home & Business edition for $249.99.
   
   
2. Subscribe to Microsoft 365: For organizations, the smallest plan that includes PC apps is Microsoft 365 Business Standard for $150/year (per user), while home users can get Microsoft 365 Personal for $99.99/year (for one user) or Microsoft 365 Family for $129.99/year (for 2-6 users). 

 

All this is... kind of disruptive, intrusive and expensive.

Fortunately, there is an alternative that costs less, allows you to keep using your Office 2016 or 2019 apps, and protects you against the likely-to-be-exploited vulnerabilities just as well as official Office updates would (if they were to continue past October 2025, that is). 

0patch Security-Adopts Microsoft Office 2016 and 2019

With October 2025, 0patch will "security-adopt" Office 2016 and Office 2019, and will provide critical security patches for these Office versions for at least 3 more years - and even longer if there's demand on the market. While this alone is a powerful alternative to Microsoft's offerings, it is a "patching jackpot" for those using Office on Windows 10, which also goes out of free support this October. Namely, we're also security-adopting Windows 10 22H2, and patches for both will be included in a single 0patch license.  

We're the only commercial provider of unofficial security patches for Windows and Office ("virtual patches" are not really patches), and we have done this many times before: after security-adopting Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in January 2020, we took care of 6 versions of Windows 10 as their official support ended, security-adopted Windows 11 v21H2 to keep users who got stuck there secure, and took care of Windows Server 2012 in October 2023.

But most importantly, we had already security-adopted two popular Office versions - 2010 and 2013 - when they got abandoned by Microsoft, and we are still providing security patches for customers using them.

With 0patch, you will be receiving security "micropatches" for critical, likely-to-be-exploited vulnerabilities affecting Office 2016 or Office 2019 that get discovered after October 14, 2025. These patches will be really small, typically just a couple of CPU instructions (hence the name), and will get applied to running processes in memory without modifying a single byte of original Microsoft's binary files. (See how 0patch works.)

There will be no rebooting the computer or even restarting Office applications after a patch is downloaded, because applying the patch in memory is done by briefly stopping the application, patching it, and then letting it continue. Users won't even notice that their Word or Outlook was patched while they were writing a document or replying to an email.

Just as easily and quickly, our micropatches can be un-applied if they're suspected of causing problems. Again, no rebooting or application re-launching.

Enterprise security admins know what a nightmare it is to firewall network traffic on computers with Microsoft Office if you want to allow Office Updater to work: there is an undocumented and ever-changing set of IP addresses that need to be allowed, and the updater executable is in a different folder for every update. 0patch puts an end to this nightmare: we only need a single IP address and port open. Another plus for security.

And You Won't Only Get Our Office Patches...

Office 2016 and Office 2019 patches will be added to our PRO and Enterprise plans, which means they will be bundled with all other patches we have, including:  

1. "Legacy" patches - all patches for security-adopted products. For instance, if you're using Office 2016 or 2019 on a Windows 10 22H2 computer that will also stop receiving free Windows Updates this October, a single 0patch license will cover both Windows and Office for you. Alternatively, if you're already using 0patch PRO or Enterprise on a computer, our patches for Office 2016 and 2019 will automatically be delivered there without you having to do - or pay - anything.
    
2. "0day" patches - patches for vulnerabilities that have become known, and are possibly already exploited, but for which no official vendor patches are available yet. We've fixed many such 0days in the past, for example "Follina" (13 days before Microsoft), "DogWalk" (63 days before Microsoft), Microsoft Access Forced Authentication (66 days before Microsoft) and "EventLogCrasher" (100+ days before Microsoft). On average, our 0day patches become available 49 days before official vendor patches for the same vulnerability.
   
   
3. "Wontfix" patches - patches for vulnerabilities that the vendor has decided not to fix for some reason. The majority of these patches currently fall into the "NTLM coerced authentication" category: NTLM protocol is more prone to abuse than Kerberos and Microsoft has decided that any security issues related to NTLM should be fixed by organizations abandoning their use of NTLM. Microsoft therefore doesn't patch these types of vulnerabilities, but many Windows networks can't just give up on NTLM for various reasons, and our "Wontfix" patches are there to prevent known attacks in this category. At this time, our "Wontfix" patches are available for the following known NTLM coerced authentication vulnerabilities: DFSCoerce, PrinterBug/SpoolSample, PetitPotam and WSPcoerce.
   
   
4. Non-Microsoft patches - while most of our patches are for Microsoft's code, occasionally a vulnerability in a non-Microsoft product also needs to be patched when some vulnerable version is widely used, or the vendor doesn't produce a patch in a timely manner. Patched products include Java runtime, Adobe Reader, Foxit Reader, 7-Zip, WinRAR, Zoom for Windows, Dropbox app, and NitroPDF.

 

While you're probably reading this article because you're interested in keeping Office secure, you should know that our "0day", "Wontfix" and Non-Microsoft patches are also available for still-supported Windows versions such as Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022, and we keep updating them as needed. Currently, about 40% of our customers are using 0patch on supported Windows versions as an additional layer of defense or for preventing known NTLM attacks that Microsoft doesn't have patches for.

 

How about the cost? Our Office 2016 and Office 2019 patches will be included in two paid plans:

1. 0patch PRO: suitable for small businesses and individuals, management on the computer only, single administrator account - currently priced at 24.95 EUR + tax per computer for a yearly subscription.
2. 0patch Enterprise: suitable for medium and large organizations, includes central management, multiple users and roles, computer groups and group-based patching policies, single sign-on etc. - currently priced at 34.95 EUR + tax per computer for a yearly subscription.

Prices may get adjusted in the future but if/when that happens anyone having an active subscription on current prices will be able to keep these prices on existing subscriptions for two more years. (Another reason to subscribe sooner rather than later.)

How to Prepare for October 2025

 

Organizations

Organizations need time to assess, test, purchase and deploy a new technology so it's best to get started as soon as possible. We recommend the following approach:

1. Read our Help Center articles to familiarize yourself with 0patch.
   
2. Create a free 0patch account and start a free Enterprise trial at the top of the page.
   
3. Install 0patch Agent on some testing computers with Office 2016 or 2019 installed, ideally with other typical software you're using, especially security software.
4. Familiarize yourself with 0patch Central.
5. See how 0patch works with your apps, report any issues to support@0patch.com.
   
6. Deploy 0patch Agent on all machines with Microsoft Office 2016 or 2019.
7. Purchase licenses.
   
8. In October 2025, update Office with the latest available updates.
   
9. Let 0patch take over Office patching.
10. If any Office updates happen to be provided by Microsoft any time after October 2025, install them.

 

Home Users and Small Businesses

Home users and small businesses who want to keep using Office 2016 or 2019 but don't need enterprise features like central management, patching policies and users with different roles, should do the following:

1. Read our Help Center articles to familiarize yourself with 0patch.
   
2. Create a free 0patch account and start a free PRO trial at the top of the page..
   
3. Install 0patch Agent on your computer(s).
4. See how 0patch works with your apps, report any issues to support@0patch.com.
   
5. Purchase licenses.
   
6. In October 2025, update Office with the latest available updates.
   
7. Let 0patch take over Office  patching.
8. If any Office updates happen to be provided by Microsoft any time after October 2025, install them. 

 

Distributors, Resellers, Managed Service Providers

We have a large and growing network of partners providing 0patch to their customers. To join, send an email to sales@0patch.com and tell us whether you're a distributor, reseller or MSP, and we'll have you set up in no time.

We recommend you find out which of your customers may be affected by Office end-of-support, and let them know about 0patch so they have time to assess it.

More information:

• We're a reseller. How can we resell 0patch to our customers?
• We're a Managed Service Provider. How can we offer 0patch to our customers?
• We'd like to become a 0patch distributor. How do we get started? 
  

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long do you plan to provide security patches for Office 2016 and 2019 after October 2025?

A: We initially plan to provide security patches for 3 years, but will extend that period if there is sufficient demand. (We're now in year 5 of Office 2010 support and will extend it further.)

Q: How much will it cost to use 0patch for protecting Office 2016 or 2019?

A: Our current yearly price for 0patch PRO is 24.95 EUR + tax per computer, and for 0patch Enterprise 34.95 EUR + tax per computer. Note, however, that these plans also include many non-Office patches (see above).

Active subscriptions will keep these prices for two more years in case of pricing changes.

Q: I am using Office 2016 or 2019 on a Windows 10 22H2 computer, and they both go out of support in October. What does this mean for me?

A: You're in luck: Both problems can be resolved with a single 0patch license. Just make sure you have Windows updated with October 2025 updates, Office updated to the latest available update, and 0patch set up on your computer.

Q: What is the difference between 0patch PRO and 0patch Enterprise?

A:  While both plans include all security patches, 0patch Enterprise also includes central management via 0patch Central, multiple users and roles, computer groups and group-based patching policies, single sign-on and various other enterprise functions.

Q: What is 0patch FREE?

A: 0patch FREE is a free 0patch plan that only includes "0day patches", i.e., patches for vulnerabilities that don't have an official vendor fix available (yet). 0patch FREE does not include security patches needed for keeping Microsoft Office secure after October 2025. Please see this article for more information on restrictions regarding 0patch FREE.

 

Q: Does 0patch also provide general technical support for Office 2016 and 2019?

A: No. We only provide security patches and support related to our service.

Q: Where can I learn more about 0patch?

A: Our Help Center has many answers for you.