Hotfix verification
Also called: hotfix testing, production fix verification
Hotfix verification is the testing done on an urgent production fix: confirm the fault is gone, confirm nothing nearby broke, and record what was checked.
A hotfix is a small release made under pressure, and it deserves to be treated as a release. Verification has three parts: reproduce the original fault on the old build, confirm it is gone on the new one, and re-check the journeys the fix could reach.
The temptation is to check only the reported symptom. The second incident, caused by the fix, is how a bad day becomes a bad week.
During an incident the tester’s job is evidence. I work with the developers to reproduce the fault, describe which journeys and users are affected, verify the fix and leave a short written record of what was and was not checked.