Microsoft has released emergency out-of-band updates to fix a Windows Server bug that is causing screens to go blank, general slowness, slow sign-ins, and, in some cases prevents users from using Remote Desktop to reach the server. Users first started reporting issues after installing the KB5008218 update that was released on December 14, 2021.
The bug affects the following versions of Windows Server:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
Microsoft said the updates have not been made available through Windows Update, so they will not be automatically installed on affected systems. Instead, they are being made available through standalone updates.
Currently, Microsoft has only released updates to fix the bug in Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2012 R2, which are provided as cumulative updates – KB5010196 for Windows Server 2019 and KB5010215 for Windows Server 2012 R2, which means it is not necessary to apply previous updates before fixing the bug.
The updates do not fix any security issues. They only install updates to fix performance issues and to make quality improvements. The updates can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog on the above links, and instructions are available here.
Microsoft said it is still working on updates to fix the bug in Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2016 and expects to release updates for those Windows Server versions in the coming days.