Microsoft's September 2026 cumulative updates are reportedly causing Remote Desktop Services (RDS) session hosts on Windows Server 2019, 2022, and 2025 to hang several hours after deployment or after user logoffs. Affected environments report RDP clients stuck at "Connecting," dropped or stalled sessions, blocked logoffs, unresponsive applications and Task Manager, and reboots requiring hard resets. Reports identify KB5122871 for Windows Server 2025 and KB5122882 for Windows Server 2022; administrators have also observed Event ID 20498 and Winlogon Event ID 6005.
Administrators report that removing the affected cumulative update restores RDS functionality, but doing so also removes September security fixes, including patches for actively exploited zero-days and a critical RDS remote-code-execution vulnerability. Independent debugging has suggested a possible deadlock in RDPSERVERBASE!WDLIB_Close during session teardown, though this remains unconfirmed. Microsoft had not acknowledged the issue, determined a root cause, or published a mitigation at the time of reporting.

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Microsoft stated that it is aware of reports that the September 2026 Windows Server cumulative updates disrupt Remote Desktop Services and is investigating the issue. It had not confirmed the suspected RDP–Local Session Manager deadlock, provided a remediation timeline, or announced an official workaround.
Administrators reported that removing the September cumulative updates restored RDS functionality, but also removed that month's security fixes; some organizations tested rollback on selected hosts while retaining updated systems as controls. Other reported mitigations included disabling a feature flag associated with audio redirection or forcing RDP to use TCP only, with varying results.
Administrator debugging suggested a possible deadlock involving Remote Desktop and the Local Session Manager at RDPSERVERBASE!WDLIB_Close during session teardown. The suspected condition could queue later session-state operations, though Microsoft had not confirmed it as the cause.
Affected administrators reported TerminalServices-RemoteConnectionManager Event ID 20498 and Winlogon Event ID 6005, indicating delayed RDP connection completion and SessionEnv handling of disconnect notifications. Task Manager, Settings-related functions, and normal restarts could also hang, sometimes requiring a hard reset.
Administrators reported that RDS session hosts running Windows Server 2019, 2022, and 2025 began freezing after the September cumulative updates, often after several hours of operation or a user disconnect or reconnect. New RDP sessions could stall at Connecting or login, while existing sessions could not log off or disconnect cleanly.
Microsoft released September 2026 cumulative updates including KB5122876 for Windows Server 2019, KB5122882 for Windows Server 2022, and KB5122871 for Windows Server 2025. The release reportedly addressed roughly 973 vulnerabilities, including actively exploited CVE-2026-81963 and CVE-2026-85880 and critical RDS RCE flaw CVE-2026-69525.
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