Microsoft has confirmed that its September 2026 security patches are causing serious issues for Remote Desktop Services (RDS), leaving many enterprise devices and servers unable to establish or maintain remote connections. The reports emerged following the Patch Tuesday rollouts, when some systems began failing to connect via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) just minutes after connection, or became stuck at the “Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration” screen. Administrators are also seeing login failures and an inability to access critical tools.
What’s breaking and which systems are involved
The buggy update—specifically pull-no-punch KB5124008 on Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 (OS Build 26100.9445)—is part of Microsoft’s larger September patch suite. Besides that, analogous updates shipped this month are triggering similar breakdowns across affected versions of Windows.
A wide range of platforms are impacted. The client side includes Windows 11 versions 26H1, 25H2, 24H2, and 23H2, plus Windows 10 versions 22H2 and 21H2, along with Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC builds from 2016 and 2019. On the server side, the hit spans Windows Server versions 2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2, and 2012.
Side effects & recovery steps
Beyond just RDP issues, functionality in related system components is failing too. Tools like the Microsoft Management Console, the RDS Licensing Diagnoser, File Explorer, and even the Windows Update page have been reported unresponsive or frozen. These issues complicate routine maintenance and may block remote management efforts.
Microsoft officially marked the bug as “mitigated” on its release health dashboard on September 11, just a few days after the initial patch deployment on September 8. The company hasn’t yet revealed what caused the problem, but officials made clear this is not a security vulnerability being exploited, rather a reliability regression introduced by the September update.
For systems that lose all remote access, Microsoft recommends restarting or deallocating the affected virtual machine (VM) as a temporary measure. This may restore connectivity until the patch is fully addressed. Larger environments are urged to test the updates in smaller setups first, especially those that use RDS session hosts, licensing servers, and jump servers. Maintaining alternative access paths—like cloud consoles or hypervisor management tools—is strongly advised.
No fix is publicly available yet. Microsoft is working on a permanent solution but hasn’t announced a release date. Meanwhile, IT teams face a tough calculus: roll back critical security protections—or risk ongoing remote access instability.
What this means:The disruption underscores just how interconnected security updates are with infrastructure stability. Many organizations depend heavily on remote access for both administrative and operational purposes. Breakdowns in tools like RDP, MMC, and File Explorer aren’t just inconvenient—they can halt daily workflows and expose operational vulnerabilities. Going forward, it’s essential for IT teams to rigorously test monthly updates in environments that mimic production, keep disaster-recovery routes open, and stay tuned for Microsoft’s promised patch. Watch for when Microsoft delivers its fix and revalidates the reliability of remote services.
