Microsoft Rolls Out Emergency Windows Server Update to Fix Remote Desktop Issues

Microsoft has started to roll out an emergency OOB (out-of-band) update for Windows Server to address connection and performance issues in Remote Desktop.

Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, and 2012 R2 are among the platforms affected by the bug that reportedly leads to slow sign-in, black screen, and an overall system slowdown.

Microsoft is releasing Out-of-band (OOB) updates today, January 4, 2022, to resolve issues in which Windows Server might experience a black screen, slow sign in, or general slowness on Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2012 R2, the company says.

The bug could also make it impossible to access the server via Remote Desktop and, in some situations, render the server completely unresponsive.

The emergency OOB update that addresses this issue can’t be accessed through Windows Update. In other words, the patch won’t deploy itself automatically on vulnerable systems.

Currently, Windows Server users can access and deploy the patch in two ways:

• Downloading the standalone KB5010196 update for Windows Server 2019
• Using the Microsoft Update Catalog to download the update, then importing it into WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) manually

The update package KB includes detailed instructions on how to retrieve and apply updates for affected systems. Users who prefer the “Catalog” method can find extensive instructions on using the Microsoft Update Catalog to import hotfixes into WSUS on the company’s website.

The KB5010196 update package is cumulative, meaning you don’t need to apply previous Windows Server updates to install it.

Additionally, the updates are not available yet for Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2016, but the company said it is working on a fix and will release patches for the remaining platforms shortly.

Last week, Microsoft rolled out an emergency update to fix the Y2K22 date check failure bug that was causing email messages to get stuck on on-premises Microsoft Exchange Servers. The patch consists of a PowerShell script that resets the scan engine to avoid the date validation error that was causing the glitch.