SAP Security Patch Day: Monthly Updates and Risk Analysis

Last updated: January 30, 2026.

SAP Security Patch Day is a fixed point in the monthly operating cycle for SAP customers. On the second Tuesday of each month, SAP publishes Security Notes addressing vulnerabilities across core, supporting, and legacy systems.

The schedule is predictable. The risk is not. Severity ratings alone do not define impact; real exposure is shaped by configuration, authorization design, component reachability, and response speed across SAP landscapes.

This article provides a continuously updated analysis of SAP Security Patch Day. It focuses on the updates most likely to materially affect enterprise risk each month, explaining why those issues matter operationally, rather than cataloging every Security Note, with analysis informed by trusted SAP security partners vetted by SAPinsiders.

SAP Security Patch Day — January 2026

SAP’s January 2026 Patch Day delivered 17 Security Notes, including four critical and four high-severity issues. The most consequential risks span SAP S/4HANA, monitoring, and landscape transformation systems. The remaining notes were rated medium or low.

Critical Issues to Prioritize

1. SAP S/4HANA Financials — SQL Injection (CVSS 9.9)
   A critical SQL injection flaw can allow database manipulation under permissive RFC authorizations, directly threatening financial data integrity and reporting accuracy.
2. SAP Wily Introscope Enterprise Manager — Remote Code Execution (CVSS 9.6)
   A remote code execution vulnerability allows arbitrary command execution on a trusted monitoring system that often runs with elevated privileges.
3. SAP S/4HANA — Code Injection (CVSS 9.1)
   This code injection issue enables unauthorized modification of program logic and potential OS-level command execution, accelerating attacker control after initial compromise.
4. SAP Landscape Transformation — Code Injection (CVSS 9.1)
   A code injection vulnerability allows execution logic to be altered without proper authorization checks, increasing risk in highly connected transformation environments.

What Security Practitioners Are Flagging

January’s Patch Day shows SAP security risk concentrating inside trusted systems rather than at the perimeter. Onapsis and Layer Seven Security highlight that the most severe issues rely on common enterprise conditions such as broad RFC authorizations, long-lived technical users, and embedded legacy components rather than novel exploits.

From an operational perspective, SecurityBridge notes that remediation frequently requires authorization and configuration changes alongside patching. Pathlock frames these vulnerabilities as realistic intrusion paths, where credential compromise can quickly escalate through RFC-enabled functions and trusted administrative tools.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

• Patch Day requires operational discipline. Effective Patch Day response depends on repeatable processes and clear execution. Defined ownership, severity-based triage, authorization review, and post-patch validation reduce risk without disrupting business-critical SAP operations.
• SAP security risk is structurally complex. Modern SAP environments combine core ERP, integrations, extensions, and long-lived components that expand exposure beyond individual vulnerabilities. Ongoing monitoring and informed external insight help teams understand where risk accumulates and which changes warrant attention.
• External insight reinforces internal judgment. Independent SAP security vendors provide research and early analysis that can surface exposure ahead of Patch Day. Monitoring credible vendor insight helps organizations prioritize response while retaining ownership of risk decisions.