only in patch2:
unchanged:
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/user/tests/src/Functional/Update/AddUserRoleDescriptionTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Tests\user\Functional\Update;
+
+use Drupal\FunctionalTests\Update\UpdatePathTestBase;
+
+/**
+ * Ensures description is added to user role configurations.
+ *
+ * @group Update
+ */
+class AddUserRoleDescriptionTest extends UpdatePathTestBase {
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  protected function setDatabaseDumpFiles() {
+    $this->databaseDumpFiles = [
+      __DIR__ . '/../../../../../system/tests/fixtures/update/drupal-8.8.0.bare.standard.php.gz',
+    ];
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Ensures description is added to user role configurations.
+   */
+  public function testUpdate() {
+    $anonymous_user_role_description = \Drupal::config('user.role.anonymous')->get('description');
+    $authenticated_user_role_description = \Drupal::config('user.role.authenticated')->get('description');
+    $this->assertNull($anonymous_user_role_description, 'Description does not exist for anonymous user role.');
+    $this->assertNull($authenticated_user_role_description, 'Description does not exist for authenticated user role.');
+
+    $this->runUpdates();
+
+    $anonymous_user_role_description = \Drupal::config('user.role.anonymous')->get('description');
+    $authenticated_user_role_description = \Drupal::config('user.role.authenticated')->get('description');
+    $this->assertEquals('The role given to users that are not logged in.', $anonymous_user_role_description, 'Description has been added for anonymous user role.');
+    $this->assertEquals('The basic role given to logged in users.', $authenticated_user_role_description, 'Description has been added for authenticated user role.');
+  }
+
+}
only in patch2:
unchanged:
--- a/core/modules/user/user.post_update.php
+++ b/core/modules/user/user.post_update.php
@@ -13,3 +13,16 @@ function user_removed_post_updates() {
     'user_post_update_enforce_order_of_permissions' => '9.0.0',
   ];
 }
+
+/**
+ * Adds description to user role configurations.
+ */
+function user_post_update_add_user_role_description() {
+  $config_factory = \Drupal::configFactory();
+  $config_factory->getEditable('user.role.anonymous')
+    ->set('description', 'The role given to users that are not logged in.')
+    ->save(TRUE);
+  $config_factory->getEditable('user.role.authenticated')
+    ->set('description', 'The basic role given to logged in users.')
+    ->save(TRUE);
+}