Microsoft has confirmed that last month’s Windows security updates broke SSH connections on some Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2 systems.

This newly recognized issue affects enterprise, IOT and education customers, but the company says only a “limited number” of devices are affected.

Microsoft is also investigating whether consumer customers using Windows 11 Home or Pro editions are affected.

“Following installation of the October 2024 security update, some customers are reporting that the OpenSSH (Open Secure Shell) service does not start, preventing SSH connections,” the company explained in support documents updated for October. Cumulative Tuesday Patch KB5044285 And Overview KB5044380 updates.

“The service is failing without detailed logging and manual intervention is required to run the sshd.exe process.”

Until a fix is ​​available, Redmond says affected customers can still temporarily resolve these SSH connection issues by updating the access control list (ACL) permissions on the affected directories by following the instructions. following steps:

1. Open PowerShell as administrator.

2. Update the permissions for the “C:\ProgramData\ssh and C:\ProgramData\ssh\logs” folder (and repeat these steps for “C:\ProgramData\ssh\logs”) to allow full control over the SYSTEM and the Administrators group. while allowing read access to authenticated users. If necessary, you can restrict read access to specific users or groups by modifying the permissions string.

3. Use the following Powershell script to update permissions:

   
   

   $directoryPath = "C:\ProgramData\ssh" $acl = Get-Acl -Path $directoryPath $sddlString = "O:BAD:PAI(A;OICI;FA;;;SY)(A;OICI;FA;;;BA)(A;OICI;0x1200a9;;;AU)" $securityDescriptor = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RawSecurityDescriptor $sddlString $acl.SetSecurityDescriptorSddlForm($securityDescriptor.GetSddlForm("All")) Set-Acl -Path $directoryPath -AclObject $acl

Microsoft is actively researching a fix that will be rolled out via an upcoming Windows update, and additional details regarding this known issue will be provided when a resolution becomes available.

On Friday, Redmond also revealed that the October Patch Tuesday updates had Fingerprint sensor freezing issues fixed after the affected Windows 11 24H2 devices have been locked.

A safeguard blocking Windows 11 24H2 upgrades on affected systems has also been removed once the fingerprint issues are resolved. The update should be available within the next 48 hours, but restarting the device should speed things up.

Last month, Microsoft fixed a known issue in the September Cumulative Update. prevent certain applications from starting on Windows 10 22H2 systems when launched from non-administrator accounts.

It also fixed another one that was causing Windows Servers issue. disrupt remote desktop connections in corporate networks after installing the July security updates.