Microsoft Issues Emergency Fixes After Massive Patch Tuesday Informa TechTarget|Cybersecurity DiveInformationWeekChannel DiveTechTarget: CybersecurityExplore our brandsAn Informa TechTarget PublicationDark Reading Resource LibraryBlack Hat NewsOmdia CybersecurityAdvertiseNewsletter Sign-UpNewsletter Sign-UpCybersecurity TopicsRelated TopicsApplication SecurityCybersecurity CareersCloud SecurityCyber RiskCyberattacks & Data BreachesCybersecurity AnalyticsCybersecurity OperationsData PrivacyEndpoint SecurityICS/OT SecurityIdentity & Access Mgmt SecurityInsider ThreatsIoTMobile SecurityPerimeterPhysical SecurityRemote WorkforceThreat IntelligenceVulnerabilities & ThreatsRecent in Cybersecurity TopicsApplication SecurityMicrosoft Issues Emergency Fixes After Massive Patch TuesdayMicrosoft Issues Emergency Fixes After Massive Patch TuesdaybyRob WrightSep 15, 20263 Min ReadVulnerabilities & ThreatsBlack Hat USA 2026 | The 'Breaking' News: The OpenAI–Hugging Face IncidentBlack Hat USA 2026 | The 'Breaking' News: The OpenAI–Hugging Face IncidentSep 15, 2026World Related TopicsDR GlobalAsia PacificEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSee AllThe EdgeDR TechnologyEventsRelated TopicsUpcoming EventsPodcastsWebinarsSEE ALLResourcesRelated TopicsResource LibraryWhite PapersReportsWebinarsNewslettersPodcastsHeard It From a CISOReporters' NotebookDark Reading's 20thVideosDark Reading PollsPartner PerspectivesMeet the EditorsAdvertise With Us About UsDark Reading Resource LibraryApplication SecurityCyber RiskVulnerabilities & ThreatsCybersecurity OperationsNewsMicrosoft Issues Emergency Fixes After Massive Patch TuesdayYou can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and you can't patch nearly 1,000 CVEs without a few glitches.Rob Wright,Senior News Director,Dark ReadingSeptember 15, 20263 Min ReadSource: da-kuk via Getty ImagesMicrosoft on Monday issued out-of-band updates to address several issues caused by this month's massive, record-setting Patch Tuesday.The emergency patches fix problems with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) that came to light last week, as well as unintended side effects for Hyper-V virtual machines and USB audio devices following the historic update last week.September's Patch Tuesday addressed a whopping 974 unique CVEs, smashing the previous record set earlier this year; by comparison, Microsoft patched 909 CVEs in all of 2023. The release clearly illustrates how AI has supercharged vulnerability reporting and led to an alarming number of CVEs. And it may also indicate that faulty patches could become more common with increasingly large updates for software vendors."I think we should expect this risk to increase as patch volumes continue to grow, but the relationship is not simply that more patches automatically mean more broken systems," Ensar Seker, chief information security officer (CISO) at threat intelligence vendor SOCRadar, tells Dark Reading.Related:Mythos Vulnerability Firehose Hits a Human BottleneckThe bigger issue, Seker says, is the complexity of the modern technology landscape, with increasingly interconnected operating systems, cloud services, virtualization platforms, drivers, identity components, and legacy technologies. "Every additional dependency and supported configuration expands the testing matrix, and it becomes extremely difficult to reproduce every enterprise environment before a patch is released," he says.Fixing September Patch Tuesday IssuesMicrosoft flagged the RDS issues on Friday, noting that some organizations may experience issues after installing the Patch Tuesday update."In some environments, RDS might become unstable, resulting in RDP connections failing after several minutes, sign-in issues, or servers hanging at 'Please wait for the Remote Desktop Configuration,'" Microsoft said in a health status update. "Related tools, including Microsoft Management Console (MMC), RDS Licensing Diagnoser, and File Explorer might also become unresponsive."Microsoft also said the Windows Update page may stop responding and continuously display a loading indicator. Additionally, September's Patch Tuesday created issues for Hyper-V, as some host folder shares were suddenly unavailable in Hyper-V-based Linux VMs, as well as some USB audio devices in multichannel mode, which either failed to start or produce any sound.Seker notes that with the increasingly rapid exploitation of vulnerabilities, organizations are under enormous pressure to patch faster, which creates "an unavoidable tension between security urgency and regression testing."Related:US Government Accuses Chinese AI Firms of Distilling Frontier Models"What happened with Remote Desktop Services and Hyper-V is a good example of why patch management has effectively become part of operational resilience," he says. "Delaying patches can leave organizations exposed to active exploitation, but deploying a problematic update directly into production can disrupt critical services."The best approach, Seker says, is not to deploy everything immediately and instead apply risk-based patching, using staged deployment rings, representative test environments, rollback capabilities, and enhanced monitoring."As patch volumes and software complexity increase," he says, "organizations need to become better at safely deploying patches rather than assuming vendors will be able to eliminate every unintended side effect before release."Tyler Reguly, associate director of security R&D at Fortra, agrees and says security teams need to even more diligent about verifying patches before wide-scale deployment, because there are no independent bodies or regulatory agencies that will do that for them."This lack of external safeguards is why testing patches as they roll out is so critical and why we should never let ourselves get to the point of immediately pushing updates without proper testing," Reguly says.Related:AI's Vulnerability Surge May Be More Manageable Than First FearedAbout the AuthorRob WrightSenior News Director, Dark ReadingRob Wright is a longtime reporter with more than 25 years of experience as a technology journalist. Prior to joining Dark Reading as senior news director, he spent more than a decade at TechTarget's SearchSecurity in various roles, including senior news director, executive editor and editorial director. Before that, he worked for several years at CRN, Tom's Hardware Guide, and VARBusiness Magazine covering a variety of technology beats and trends.Prior to becoming a technology journalist in 2000, he worked as a weekly and daily newspaper reporter in Virginia, where he won three Virginia Press Association awards in 1998 and 1999. At TechTarget and Dark Reading, he has won several Azbee awards, including the 2026 National Silver Award for a series on vibe coding.At Dark Reading, Rob currently covers security operations, cloud security, and Internet infrastructure. He has a keen interest in malvertising activity and the certificate authority industry, and has written extensively on both topics. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1997 with a degree in journalism and English. A native of Massachusetts, he lives in the Boston area.See more from Rob WrightWant more Dark Reading stories in your Google search results?Add Us NowMore InsightsIndustry ReportsThe State of Cloud Security: The Latest ChallengesHow Organizations Are Managing Incident ResponseHow Enterprises Are Developing Secure ApplicationsInside RSAC 2026: security leaders reveal the risks redefining your defense strategyEssential News & Insights from Black Hat USA 2025Access More ResearchWebinarsCybersecurity Outlook 2027Threat Exposure Analytics: Measuring and Communicating Security RiskBenchmark Scores Are a False FlagBuilding an Effective Red Team: Beyond Penetration TestingHow to Leverage Threat Intelligence Without Drowning: The Zero Noise ApproachMore WebinarsFeaturedCheck out the Black Hat USA 2026 Conference Guide for coverage and intel from — and about — the show!Editor's ChoiceCyber RiskAnthropic CEO: Time to Shift From Improving to Controlling AIAnthropic CEO: Time to Shift From Improving to Controlling AIbyElizabeth MontalbanoSep 14, 20266 Min ReadCyber RiskWhy AI Is So Good at Scamming HumansWhy AI Is So Good at Scamming HumansSep 11, 2026Want more Dark Reading stories in your Google search results?How Organizations Are Managing Incident ResponseNearly every organization faced a critical security incident last year, but most weren't equipped to contain it. 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Microsoft issued out-of-band updates to address several issues that arose following the massive Patch Tuesday release, which resulted in complications across various systems. These emergency patches were necessary to fix problems encountered with Remote Desktop Services (RDS), as well as to mitigate unintended side effects that impacted Hyper-V virtual machines and specific USB audio devices following the historic update. The September rollout addressed a substantial number of vulnerabilities, encompassing 974 unique CVEs, highlighting the role that artificial intelligence plays in vulnerability reporting. This event underscores a critical tension within cybersecurity operations between the urgent need to apply security updates and the necessity of thorough regression testing to prevent system disruption.

The complexity of the modern technological environment exacerbates this tension. As systems become increasingly interconnected, involving operating systems, cloud services, virtualization platforms, drivers, identity components, and legacy technologies, the testing matrix for potential patch failures expands significantly. As Ensar Seker, Chief Information Security Officer at threat intelligence vendor SOCRadar, points out, it becomes exceptionally difficult to accurately reproduce every enterprise environment before a patch is released, complicating the process of ensuring stability.

Microsoft documented specific functional issues arising from the September updates, including potential instability in RDS environments, wherein RDP connections might fail after several minutes, sign-in issues occur, or servers may become unresponsive. Furthermore, problems were noted with related tools such as the Microsoft Management Console, RDS Licensing Diagnoser, and File Explorer, which could become unresponsive. Additionally, the patching process caused disruption in Hyper-V environments, leading to the unavailability of some host folder shares in Linux VMs, and functional failures in multichannel USB audio devices.

Seker suggests that the challenges encountered with RDS and Hyper-V exemplify why patch management has become fundamental to operational resilience. While delaying patches exposes organizations to active exploitation, deploying a flawed update directly into production can lead to critical service disruption. Therefore, Seker advocates for a risk-based patching strategy. This strategy involves employing staged deployment rings, utilizing representative test environments, ensuring rollback capabilities, and implementing enhanced monitoring. This approach shifts the focus from simply deploying updates quickly to safely managing the risk associated with each deployment.

Tyler Reguly, associate director of security R&D at Fortra, concurs with this assessment, emphasizing the necessity for security teams to exercise greater diligence in verifying patches before wide-scale deployment. He notes that the absence of independent regulatory agencies means that testing patches during the rollout phase is critical to mitigating risks, making it imperative never to push updates without proper verification. Ultimately, the increasing volume and complexity of software necessitate that organizations develop superior methods for safely deploying patches rather than simply assuming vendors can eliminate all unintended side effects prior to release.