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Microsoft: Windows Server 2025 changes causing app crashes

Recorded: Sept. 8, 2026, noon

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Microsoft: Windows Server 2025 changes causing app crashes

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HomeNewsMicrosoftMicrosoft: Windows Server 2025 changes causing app crashes

Microsoft: Windows Server 2025 changes causing app crashes

By Sergiu Gatlan

September 8, 2026
07:57 AM
0

Microsoft warned customers last week that they may experience application crashes on some Windows Server 2025 due to recent memory management changes.
This known issue affects apps that use Address Windowing Extensions (AWE), a set of extensions that lets an application use more than 4GB of physical memory within a 32-bit virtual address space.
"Applications running on Windows Server 2025 might experience access violations, memory corruption, or unexpected termination," Microsoft said in a service alert first spotted by Microsoft MVP Susan Bradley.
"This issue is caused by a Windows Server 2025 memory-management change that can affect certain applications using Address Windowing Extensions (AWE) that rely on memory-management behaviors present in earlier Windows Server releases."
The list of affected applications includes SQL Server when running with the Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) Windows policy enabled to boost performance in scenarios where paging memory to disk is expected.
On impacted systems, users may see memory corruption errors, access violation exceptions (with 0xC0000005 error codes), failures during database maintenance operations (e.g., DBCC CHECKDB), SQL Server crash dumps, and SQL Server services stopping or restarting unexpectedly.
Affected users are also seeing "Using locked pages in the memory manager." alerts in the error log during system startup.
Workaround available
While a permanent fix isn't available yet, Microsoft shared a temporary workaround that requires admins to disable the LPIM policy for the SQL Server service account.
"Customers should evaluate this workaround in their environment, as disabling LPIM can affect SQL Server performance and memory-management behavior. [..] For other applications encountering this issue, check to see if AWE can be disabled," Microsoft added.
"We are working on a resolution for this issue in a future Windows update and will provide more information when it is available."
In April, Microsoft also released emergency updates to fix a known issue causing the KB5082063 security update to fail to install on some Windows Server 2025 systems.
More recently, in June, it fixed a bug causing some Windows Server 2025 devices to boot into BitLocker recovery after installing the April 2026 security update.

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Known Issue
Microsoft
Microsoft SQL Server
SQL Server
Windows
Windows Server
Windows Server 2025

Sergiu Gatlan
Sergiu is a news reporter who has covered the latest cybersecurity and technology developments for over a decade. Email or Twitter DMs for tips.

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Microsoft issued a warning to customers regarding potential application crashes on certain Windows Server 2025 installations stemming from recent memory management changes. This known issue specifically affects applications that utilize Address Windowing Extensions (AWE), a capability that allows an application to access more than four gigabytes of physical memory within a three twenty-bit virtual address space. The problem arises because the Windows Server 2025 memory management alteration interferes with specific memory behaviors leveraged by certain applications that depend on the memory management characteristics present in previous Windows Server releases while employing AWE.

The consequences of this instability are severe, including potential access violations and memory corruption for affected applications. Users encountering this issue may observe error codes such as 0xC0000005 access violation exceptions, memory corruption errors, and failures during critical database maintenance operations like DBCC CHECKDB. For systems running SQL Server with the Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) Windows policy enabled to enhance performance, impacted systems exhibit SQL Server crash dumps and unexpected stopping or restarting of SQL Server services. Furthermore, affected users are alerted via error logs during system startup with messages indicating "Using locked pages in the memory manager."

The scenario is particularly relevant for applications that rely on specific memory behaviors from earlier operating systems when running under Windows Server 2025. While a permanent resolution is pending, Microsoft provided a temporary workaround. This involves administrators disabling the LPIM policy specifically for the SQL Server service account. However, Microsoft cautioned that this workaround must be evaluated in context, as disabling LPIM could negatively influence SQL Server performance and overall memory management behavior. For other applications experiencing similar issues, users are advised to investigate whether AWE can be disabled.

In addition to the memory management concerns, Microsoft has deployed emergency security updates addressing other known issues on Windows Server 2025. In April, updates were released to resolve a problem where the KB5082063 security update failed to install correctly on some systems. More recently, in June, a bug was fixed that prevented some Windows Server 2025 devices from booting into BitLocker recovery mode after successfully installing the April 2026 security update. Overall security posture concerning credentials is also noted, as analysis from the Blue Report 2026 indicates that once attackers possess valid credentials, the effectiveness of prevention measures drops significantly, as only thirty-seven percent of actions are blocked, highlighting that defenses must account for post-initial access activities.