Rewterz Threat Advisory – Windows emergency out-of-band (OOB) updates for Win Server

Severity

High

Analysis Summary

This patch Tuesday Microsoft released multiple security updates, which caused multiple issues for administrators, multiple administrators reported anomalous reboots of Windows domain controllers, and Hyper-V that was no longer starting on Windows servers. Microsoft then had to release Windows emergency out-of-band (OOB) updates to fix these multiple issues. 

After Installation of the January 2022 updates, the Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) volumes were no longer accessible by some. 

“Microsoft is releasing out-of-band (OOB) updates for some versions of Windows today, January 18, 2022,” the company said. “This update fixes issues related to VPN connectivity, Windows Server domain controller restarts, virtual machine startup failures, and ReFS-formatted removable media that fails to mount.”

Below are the updates can only be downloaded through the Microsoft Update Catalog:

• Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2: KB5010794
• Windows Server 2012: KB5010797

These are the updates for these Windows versions that are also available through Windows Update as an optional update:

• Windows 11, version 21H1 (original release): KB5010795
• Windows Server 2022: KB5010796
• Windows 10, version 21H2: KB5010793
• Windows 10, version 21H1: KB5010793
• Windows 10, version 20H2, Windows Server, version 20H2: KB5010793
• Windows 10, version 20H1, Windows Server, version 20H1: KB5010793
• Windows 10, version 1909, Windows Server, version 1909: KB5010792
• Windows 10, version 1607, Windows Server 2016: KB5010790
• Windows 10, version 1507: KB5010789
• Windows 7 SP1: KB5010798
• Windows Server 2008 SP2: KB5010799

Users that cannot immediately install these out-of-band updates can remove the following updates that could cause the above problems:

• KB5009624
• KB5009557
• KB5009555
• KB5009566
• KB5009543

Users should be aware that removing the above updates will also remove some patches for high-risk vulnerabilities. 

Impact

• Connectivity Issues
• Startup Failures

Affected Vendors

Microsoft

Affected Products

Windows Hyper-V
Microsoft Windows Domain Controllers
Microsoft Windows Server

Remediation

Download the OOB updates from the vendor website at:

Emergency out-of-band (OOB) updates through Windows Update are optional updates and have to be manually installed.