Is KB5026372 causing an issue with VPN connections?

Anonymous
2023-05-19T12:42:04+00:00

We have a number of users that have had recent updates of KB5026372 and this has seemingly stopped their VPNs from connecting (loses connection instantly as soon as VPN connected, no more internet access), we use L2TP/IPsec with pre shared key. We have troubleshooted this with the network team, but nothing has changed and they are confident its not an issue caused by us. I have uninstalled KB5026372 on my machine, which had the issue also and then VPN works. Issue we have here is that our updates are handled automatically and it will pull down the updates again and install. Only solution is to pause updates for a set period of time in the hope that this gets resolved in a future update.

Has anyone else reported these issues? I have seen a few articles online regarding this and slowness of some VPNs after the update (which i had before it eventually just stopped working), but no solution other than uninstall.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Windows update

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Anonymous
2023-05-19T13:20:43+00:00

Hello! My name is Mostafa, and I will try my best to assist you with this so that you find a satisfactory solution.

I’m sorry that you are experiencing this issue. Yes, many users have been reports of VPN connection issues after installing KB5026372. The update is causing problems with VPN connections, especially L2TP/IPSec VPNs.

If your updates are handled automatically, and it will pull down the updates again and install, you can pause updates for a set period in the hope that this gets resolved in a future update.

Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update to pause Windows Update. You can click Pause updates for seven days to block updates for a week; extending this time by clicking again later is possible.

Review the below article.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2023/05/13/window...

If the above steps do not help, reach out to me, and I will be happy to help and try my best to resolve your issue. Thank you.

Best,

Mostafa

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-05-19T19:27:28+00:00

    Hello Mostafa,

    ***Need help***

    I uninstalled the KB5026372 yesterday morning, then rebooted; VPN ran fine for a few hours after that, but the KB5026372 downloaded again and got reinstalled automatically.

    Then, I did the following yesterday late afternoon:

    1. Uninstalled the KB5026372, rebooted and tried VPN, but VPN exhibited all the issues with constant disconnections and extremely slow speed.
    2. Followed instructions on the Internet to use a Microsoft tool to uninstall and then hide the update. This doesnt work the way one expects it to work. Even though the tool stated that it has removed the KB5026372, it remained in the Windows update list and the Windows Update UNINSTALL option did not show it as installed. Weird. VPN did not work either.
    3. So, I took the last resort approach. I saved all my data and then RESET my Surface Laptop 3 by downloading the Recovery image file from Microsoft. Chose the option to wipe all data on the disk.
    4. Process took an hour or so and then as part of the process KB5026372 got installed again automatically.
    5. After completion of reset, I uninstalled the KB5026372 again, rebooted, and then Stopped and Disabled the Windows Update and Update Orchestration services.
    6. VPN ran fine during the testing afterwards.
    7. However, this morning I started having the issues again even though the patch was not installed and the two services remained Disabled.
    8. I enabled the disabled services and now the KB5026372 has again downloaded and installed itself.

    I am utterly confused and frustrated and do not know what to do?

    Can anyone recommend a true workaround that can sustain me till the fix from Microsoft?

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-05-24T07:36:34+00:00

    Hi Mostafa,

    Thanks for the reply. Do you know if there is a fix for this yet and when it will be released?

    Thanks

    Steven

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-05-30T10:41:20+00:00

    We have the same problem and MSFT don´t know when they have a resolution to this situation.

    We have a cmd / powershell with:

    • kill all PID process with windows update
    • disable windows update service
    • uninstall Remove-Windows package (dsim online...)
    • add entries in regedit to pause defer quality updates for 30 days (proposed by MSFT)
    • message to user, that machine will restart, with deadline time (shutdown /r /t 300 "MESSAGE")

    And this situation is working well.

    I hope MSFT resolve this issue soon

    Regards

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-30T10:55:32+00:00

    I Had deferred the update for 5 weeks yet it was still installing again and breaks IPSEC vpns again.

    Currently, I have to uninstall the update each time it's added (50+ machines every couple of days) or if I cannot uninstall KB5026372. Switch back to Windows 10 by wiping the hard disk and installing it from scratch

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