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Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems. |
KB4556799 I’ve got it installed here with no issues. But I’m seeing forum posts about issues…but like last month… nothing widespread… nothing t
[See the full post at: Patch Lady – are you seeing issues with KB4556799?]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Have installed KB4556799 on two PCs – a Toshiba laptop and a custom built desktop, both running 64 bit 1909, Pro. No issues whatever on either one. Installation was routine, and none of the effects described has happened. No BSODs, no video symptoms, Realtek audio is fine. But when you think about it, the number of different hardware/software combinations out there must be huge, and it’s really not surprising if a minority of such combinations don’t like what they are given. It’s easy to condemn Microsoft for a bad fix, but it must be very difficult for them to cover every possible permutation of hardware, system software and application software when addressing a particular issue.
Windows 10 Pro 64 bit 20H2
I have a rock solid HP computer that has never given me a Blue Screen…. until about the 13th of May 2020, when I got one with the KMODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error and no other information (no error codes, etc.). Since then this has occurred repeatedly, sometimes immediately after booting up and reaching the desktop, sometimes when I am selecting an application, and often when I am doing nothing on the computer.
I “reset” the computer with an entirely new installation of Windows 10. Have not yet installed any of my programs. Still get the same failures, about once every hour. I hope to get this report typed and sent off to AskWoody before another failure!
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4556799/windows-10-update-kb4556799
We have seen social media and news reports related to various issues with KB4556799.
We are actively engaged with customers who are reporting issues. To date, we have not seen widespread issues reflected<span class=”x-hidden-focus”> in telemetry, support data, or customer feedback channels. We continuously investigate all customer feedback and are closely monitoring this situation.
That’s the MS “investigating” post.
We recently turned off driver updates across our company through WSUS because of some problems with video drivers and we don’t need that during Covid Times™. Last week, about the same time as this release, we had 4 users with audio problems reported. What we ended up finding was that HP Support Assistant had rolled out an updated driver to deal with a vulnerability:
But what was interesting was that all 4 of our laptops with issues were zBook 14u/15u G5’s. G5’s aren’t on the list of who was supposed to get this fix, except for the 15v, which is TOTALLY different hardware from the ‘u’ models.
Needless to say, we’re uninstalling HPSA agency-wide so we don’t have remote broken laptops en masse. Either way, wake me when someone’s determined that this was all Mfgr driver pushes to deal with the vulnerability that I linked to, and nothing to do with that patch.
That’s the same notice MS posted last month….
The Windows Release Status information page refers to last month’s cumulative update – doesn’t appear to be updated.
I’ve used PC’s for decades, back when drivers were manually installed, software typically did not auto updates and Windows certainly didn’t just install them automatically. I think it was good experience because back then we knew a bit about the OS, our devices and how to maintain them. Now it seems many are not able to install a driver, or uninstall a broken update let alone run system scans. Obviously I think Microsoft made a mistake telling us all that “we got this” so we don’t have to do anything. Yet when it does go wrong, many don’t know what to do? For myself I would gladly go back to installing my own updates, drivers, and app updates.
Microsoft needs to actively engage with him.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
The Outlook search issue mentioned at Windows Central is not related to KB4556799.
It was an Exchange service issue, only affecting on-premises users using non-modern authentication, which has just been fixed for most users:
Reports that this month’s Outlook update knocks out Search via Exchange Server
I’m an HP Obelisk desktop owner and have been fighting KMODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLE BSODs for the past two weeks. Started the weekend of May 9. At that time I blamed recently-installed Intel updates to their eXtreme Tuning Utility (XTU). Uninstalling that didn’t fix the issue, but a System Restore to a point before the XTU update did.
My system remained stable for 6 days, then starting the same BSOD loop as before. Another System Restore kept me stable, but this time only for about 36 hours before commencing the crash loop again.
For me anyway, the problem appears to be a conflict between HP software/drivers and Windows Defender. In the HP support forums there’s a mega-thread of desktop and laptop owners encountering the issue. Some of the posts there have instructions on how to disable Defender via registry edits, pushed in via the Recovery Console. I ran those steps on Tuesday, and have been stable since. The only downside is finding an alternative antivirus solution.
When the BSODs happen, I can’t even get in to Safe Mode. Once the Windows login screen appears, even moving the mouse appears to trigger a crash.
My computer is an HP Omen. I did a reset with a “clean” installation of Windows 10, which then went back to HP’s initial setup as well. This reinstalled the trial version of McAfee. So I am not using Windows Defender at the moment yet I continue to get the same BSOD occasionally and randomly. From other comments, I suspect that HP computers are a major target.
From Mayank Parmar on Twitter:
HP BSOD appears to be Windows Defender related and turning off Defender resolves the problem. Interesting.
Three common problems I noticed:1. BSOD 1E with HP machines running Windows Security2. Mysterious deactivation of Windows3. Error code 0x8024a105
Mayank Parmar has tracked down the Blue Screen:
If you just hit “KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED” Blue Screen of Death error on your HP computer with Windows 10, don’t worry, it’s not a hardware issue and it’s not just you.
Looks like it’s a conflict between some HP software (not clear to me what) and Windows Defender. Details in Parmar’s post.
already deployed it to more than 500 users since 15th, no issue so far. the only problem i encountered is downloading cumulative for 1803, 1809, 1903 and 1909 via SCCM so I needed to pull the source from msft cloud instead.
I don’t think Steve would recommend that you install the patches immediately. (Steve, if you’re watching, was that your intent?)
Every month MS releases patches for XXX CVEs, some percentage of which are Critical, and many of which involve RCEs (Remote Code Execution).
Every month, most of the patches work fine for most people. But, again, every month there’s a certain subset of Windows and Office customers who have problems. Some of the problems are trivial. Some most assuredly are not.
Our job, as crowdsourced beta testers, is to figure out where the problems are and, if possible, figure out how to work around them. Sometimes Microsoft acknowledges the bugs. Sometimes it actually fixes them. Many times we’re on our own.
The big question is whether there’s a risk in waiting to see where the bugs appear and how to deal with them. Some folks insist you should patch as soon as the patches are available. Others, like me, say you should wait until the dust has settled.
Looking back over the past two decades of Windows patches, I’ve found exactly one case where a patched security hole turned into a widespread threat in a couple of weeks — the Sasser infection — but that was 16 years ago. I’m still very much interested in hearing if anybody can find another situation where waiting a couple of weeks caused problems.
On the other hand, we’ve had problems with patches almost every month for years. I have month-by-month reports of those problems going back three years, starting here.
If you decide to install patches right away and get bit, please let us know! Otherwise, follow the MS-DEFCON warnings at the top of the page and make sure you get patched when things look stable.
I have installed the update on three machines (an old ASUS X51RL laptop – running Windows 10 Pro 32-bit, a custom built AMD Ryzen 5 APU based desktop and my daily driver HP 15 ay049nv). None of them had any issues. Only the daily driver had HP Support Assistant installed and HP Connection Optimizer. The only issue I’ve encountered with it is breaking when I’ve upgraded to the May 2020 Update (although the HP Support Framework still works. I can go to HP’s website and use the included batch download tool). All of them are prett much stock, with no tweaks applied.
KMODE Exception sound to me that there’s a bug with a kernel driver. I wouldn’t be surprised that Riot Vanguard (Valorant’s anti-cheat driver. Yes.)would cause issues as well (it’s beta, but does it really have to run every time the system starts?)
On a minor note, I noticed that the Windows Update offered a new driver for Realtek HD Audio (6.0.8940.1). Not sure if it’s due to me having an OEM driver or it’s due to Windows finding a compatible driver for 2004, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Sometimes, newer OEM drivers find themselves on Windows Update.
I don’t think the Realtek audio driver v6.0.8940.1 is available there yet on WU, AcecOfAces.
It’s definitely not showing up on MS Update Catalog as of today May 25.
But HP themselves DO have a v6.0.8940.1 Realtek HD audio driver package available from their support site [sp103828 – release notes]
Edit – I’ve actually installed the 8940 Realtek audio driver on my old HP pavilion m8417c desktop pc and it works.
Our IT guy told me last Friday that many of the computers at the office were experiencing issues, including BSODs and occasionally black screens. All of the computers which are affected are HP desktops. I already suggested uninstalling this KB. I will also suggest uninstalling HP Assistant.
On Sunday May 24th HP provided through Windows Update “HP Software Component 4.1.4.3079” for my OMEN desktop computer. With Windows Defender running and no other antivirus program, I am now encountering no problems; no BSOD’s. This update was not provided for my HP Envy laptop computer, which has shown no problems; in two plus years it has had no BSOD’s ever.
My guess is that this Software Component is a fix for the conflict that has plagued HP OMEN computers for past two weeks or so. I hope so and suggest that other HP desktop computer users look for this update.
OK, here it is!
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