Microsoft Releases Emergency Patch for Latest Windows Bugs

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways The January Windows update introduced a couple of new bugs. The glitches affect Windows 11 and 10 and Windows Server. Microsoft has issued emergency patches to resolve the problems. Ah, Microsoft. What would the new year be without a couple of new Windows bugs to plague your users? Yep, that's what we got with the January Patch Tuesday update. Fortunately, Microsoft now has a patch for the patch. Here are the details. Rolled out on Jan.13 (hmm, an ominous date), the first Patch Tuesday update of the year resolved more than 110 security vulnerabilities, with several of them critical and one already exploited in the wild. The update also fixed a few outstanding issues in Windows itself. Sounds good so far. But the monthly update also introduced a couple of bugs to Windows 11 and 10, as well as Windows Server. Also: Your Windows PC needs this patch to ward off nasty bootkit malware - update now In the first glitch, some people have bumped into sign-in problems when trying to remotely connect to a Cloud PC using Microsoft's Remote Desktop. The issue has impacted the authentication required for different Remote Desktop apps, such as the Windows app. This one affects Windows 11 25H2, Windows 10 22H2 ESU, and Windows Server 2025. "After installing the January 2026 Windows security update, credential prompt failures might occur in some remote connection applications," Microsoft said, according to Bleeping Computer. "This includes remote desktop connections using the Windows App on Windows client devices, on Azure Virtual Desktop, and Windows 365. The Windows App is affected by this issue on specific Windows builds and can experience sign-in failures." In the second glitch, some systems with Secure Launch enabled would restart instead of shutting down or going into hybernate mode. Similar to Secure Boot, Secure Launch protects your PC from bootkit malware and other threats that try to infect your system before Windows loads. But whereas Secure Boot is intended for both personal and work computers, Secure Launch is designed for managed PCs in an organization. This one impacts only Windows 11 23H2. Also: After setting up Windows 11, these 9 steps are non-negotiable for me "After installing the January 13, 2026, Windows security update for Windows 11, version 23H2, some PCs with Secure Launch are unable to shut down or enter hibernation," Microsoft explained. "Instead, the device restarts. Secure Launch uses virtualization-based security to protect the system from firmware-level threats during startup." You need to install the out-of-band patches only if your PC qualifies and is affected by the specific glitches. In that case, they should automatically pop up in Windows Update for you to snag. To check, head to Settings and select Update & security in Windows 10 and Windows Update in Windows 11. Click the button to check for updates and install the patches. Those of you in an organization with managed PCs will need to wait for your IT admins to push out the fixes. Here are the affected versions and the support pages with the described patches: