Microsoft Addresses Restart Loop Issues with Out-of-Band Update
In a proactive move, Microsoft has rolled out an out-of-band update aimed at resolving the persistent restart loop that has affected certain Windows Server devices following the April 2026 update. This timely fix alleviates the burden on system administrators who faced the daunting prospect of forced server restarts after deploying the latest security enhancements.
The company acknowledged the complications arising from the April update, specifically noting that “after installing the April 2026 Windows security update (KB5082063) and rebooting, domain controllers (DCs) in environments with multiple domains in the forest that utilize Privileged Access Management (PAM) might experience LSASS crashes during startup.” This issue has led to repeated restarts of affected DCs, disrupting authentication and directory services, and potentially rendering entire domains inaccessible.
The ramifications of a Windows domain outage are significant, as any resources requiring authentication—such as network shares—may become unreachable. The problem was particularly concerning for users operating Windows Server versions 2016 through 2025, prompting Microsoft to issue an out-of-band update alongside hotpatches to rectify the situation. These updates also target failed installations, although the unexpected restarts of Domain Controllers are likely to be the primary source of urgent support requests from users locked out of essential resources.
It is noteworthy that only Windows Servers were impacted by this restart issue, allowing Windows devices to avoid this particular predicament. However, there remains a known issue with the April update that may require some enterprise devices with an unsupported BitLocker Group Policy configuration to enter their BitLocker recovery key upon the first restart following the installation.
Out-of-band updates, while intended to be rare occurrences, have increasingly become a routine aspect of life for Windows administrators. Just last month, Microsoft had to issue a similar out-of-band update to rectify issues with app sign-ins using Microsoft accounts. The frequency of these updates may lead some affected users to feel that “out-of-band” is beginning to resemble “out of control” in terms of the company’s quality assurance processes.