Update 11-11-2024 (Erik van Klinken): Microsoft has taken steps to clarify its update policies following an unintended push of Windows Server 2025 to systems running Windows Server 2019 and 2022. The tech giant emphasized that the upgrade was meant to be optional; however, certain third-party products may have inadvertently triggered automatic updates due to their configurations. This situation has led to some confusion, particularly with Heimdal, a vendor associated with one of these third-party products, which pointed fingers at Microsoft. The controversy centers around a common update known as KB5044284.
Microsoft firmly asserts that it should not bear the brunt of the blame. The company introduced a classification for the upgrade as optional, suggesting that patch management tools should recognize the metadata of feature updates as non-mandatory rather than ‘Recommended’.
Original post 06-11-2024:
Windows updates are notorious for bringing unexpected challenges, and the recent rollout of Windows Server 2025 is no exception. System administrators have expressed frustration as their Windows Server 2022 installations are being upgraded to Windows Server 2025 without prior notification.
The source of this perplexing issue appears to be KB5044284, an update released on October Patch Tuesday. Interestingly, this update is associated with Windows 11 rather than Windows Server. However, certain patch management systems misclassified it, leading to unintended operating system upgrades in environments where they were not warranted.
Cause unclear
A system administrator utilizing solutions from Denmark-based Heimdal Security was among the first to raise concerns on Reddit, detailing how their company’s Asset Management Module (AMM) mistakenly identified KB5044284 as an operating system update. In response, Heimdal promptly blocked the patch and attributed the misclassification to a Microsoft error. However, other users have contested this viewpoint, suggesting that the fault lies with Heimdal, which would imply a more limited scope of the issue.
A Heimdal employee confirmed that the GUID for the Windows Server 2025 upgrade does not reference the KB5044284 Patch Tuesday update. This indicates that the upgrade was applied to a system for which it was not intended. Notably, Microsoft did not assign a KB number to Windows Server 2025, which is identified by build 26100.1742.
Unscheduled upgrades are risky
The incident has sparked significant concern among system administrators across relevant forums, as the combination of server environments and unplanned upgrades can lead to disruptions in services and various licensing complications.
Windows Server 2025 has already faced its share of challenges since its launch. Microsoft has acknowledged at least three significant issues, including incorrect English text display during installation, startup errors in iSCSI environments, and compatibility problems with CPUs exceeding 256 threads. These complications have resulted in prolonged installation times, sluggish restarts, and, in severe cases, blue screen errors when certain applications are executed.
Also read: Windows Server IoT 2025 is all about that speed.
