NativeAOT is a .NET publishing mode that compiles an application ahead of time into native machine code, rather than relying on just-in-time compilation at runtime. The result can run without installing the shared .NET runtime, though the application still includes the components it needs.
This affects security patching because fixes to runtime libraries may not reach an already published NativeAOT binary through a machine-wide runtime update. Teams should identify NativeAOT deployments and rebuild and republish them with updated .NET components, then verify the new artifact is deployed. In practice, this matters when responding to flaws in libraries used by an application, such as a decoder that processes untrusted input.