Microsoft explains why it pushed buggy Windows kernel patch after an earlier warning

Microsoft earlier this month released its August Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 10 (KB5029244) and Windows 11 (KB5029263/KB5029253) and also Servers. The one for 10 finally fixed an Intel DirectX issue on an older Windows 10 version.

Aside from Windows, Microsoft also rolled out Office security updates for Outlook, Excel, Word, and more, which fix issues like spoofing and remote code execution (RCE). So you should probably update if you haven't already (find the download links here).

Speaking of security updates, this month's Patch enables a kernel security vulnerability fix by default, something Microsoft had cautioned back in June that it could potentially break something on your system, though it didn't really go into much detail about it. The support page for the issue had later been updated with the following message confirming that Microsoft was now enabling the fix by default for everyone on Windows 11 and 10:

IMPORTANT The resolution described in this article introduces a potential breaking change. Therefore, we are releasing the change disabled by default with the option to enable it. We recommend that you validate this resolution in your environment. Then, as soon as it is validated, enable the resolution as soon as possible.

NOTE The resolution described in this article has now been released enabled by default.

[...]

IMPORTANT The resolution described in this article has been released enabled by default. To apply the enabled by default resolution, install the Windows update that is dated on or after August 8, 2023. No further user action is required.

However, since we reported this news, Microsoft has once again updated its bulletin and has removed the portion that warned users of the kernel issue. That's because the tech giant now feels confident stating that the potentially-breaking Windows kernel patch is problematic no more. The company assures this after having run "multiple investigations and tests" wherein "no issues were found". On the change log, it notes:

August 18, 2023

Removed the recommendation for validation concerning breaking changes in the "Resolution" section because after multiple investigations and tests, no issues were found associated with this update.

You can follow the issue on the support document under KB5028407.

Source