Microsoft has released emergency, out-of-band updates for Windows 10 and 11 to fix a critical bug introduced by the August 2025 security updates. This issue, which Microsoft acknowledged on Monday, breaks system reset and recovery functions. Users attempting to reinstall their systems while keeping their files via the “Reset my PC” tool or the “Fix problems using Windows Update” tool would find the process failing. The company has urged users who haven’t installed the faulty updates to install these new emergency updates instead.
The problematic updates, which caused the recovery issue, include KB5063875 for Windows 11 (versions 23H2 and 22H2), KB5063709 for Windows 10, and KB5063877 for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019. This bug not only affected individual users but also posed a significant problem for IT professionals who rely on the RemoteWipe configuration service provider (CSP) to remotely reset devices. The failure of these core recovery features could be a major inconvenience, leaving users without a straightforward way to resolve system issues without a clean installation.
On Tuesday evening, Microsoft released the following emergency updates to fix the bug: KB5066189 for Windows 11, KB5066188 for Windows 10, and KB5066187 for older Windows 10 LTSC versions. These are cumulative updates, meaning they contain all previous fixes and can be installed without needing to apply any prior updates. Microsoft’s swift response, within a day of confirming the issue, highlights the severity of the bug and its potential impact on user and enterprise systems.
For users and IT administrators, these emergency updates are available as optional updates through Windows Update and Windows Update for Business. They can also be manually downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog, offering a quick way to patch affected systems. The company stated that users whose devices aren’t affected by the bug don’t need to install the new updates, but those who have yet to install the August 2025 security updates should apply these fixes instead.
This is not the only issue Microsoft has had to address recently. The company also rolled out a Known Issue Rollback (KIR) fix for a bug that caused Windows update failures when installed from a network share. Additionally, a separate issue that caused the August 2025 security updates to fail with 0x80240069 errors on Windows 11 24H2 systems has also been resolved. These successive fixes underscore the challenges in maintaining a vast and complex ecosystem of operating system updates.
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