Today is the second Tuesday of the month, which is when Microsoft releases new “Patch Tuesday” updates for all supported versions of Windows. If you are already running Windows 10 version 1809, you should be seeing the build 17763.253 (KB4480116) in Windows Update today.
This new build brings a fix for a security vulnerability in Powershell, as well as another fix for an issue related to Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) databases. You can get more details in the release notes below:
- Addresses a security vulnerability in session isolation that affects PowerShell remote endpoints. By default, PowerShell remoting only works with administrator accounts, but can be configured to work with non-administrator accounts. Starting with this release, you cannot configure PowerShell remote endpoints to work with non-administrator accounts. When attempting to use a non-administrator account, the following error will appear: “New-PSSession: [computerName] Connecting to remote server localhost failed with the following error message: The WSMan service could not launch a host process to process the given request. Make sure the WSMan provider host server and proxy are properly registered. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.”
- Addresses an issue in which using esentutl /p to repair a corrupt Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) database results in a mostly empty database. The ESE database is corrupted and cannot be mounted.
- Security updates to Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows MSXML, Windows Kernel, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Wireless Networking, Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Linux, Windows Virtualization, and the Microsoft Scripting Engine.
Microsoft also indicated a single known issue causing third-party applications to have difficulty authenticating hotspots. The company is expected to provide a fix in a future update later this month.
If you’re still running Windows 10 version 1803 (like the majority of Windows 10 users), you can now download the build 17134.523 (KB4480966) from Windows Update. This build brings the same security fix for PowerShell, along with the regular security updates for Microsoft Edge, the Windows kernel, and other core OS components. You can find the release notes below:
- Addresses a security vulnerability in session isolation that affects PowerShell remote endpoints. By default, PowerShell remoting only works with administrator accounts, but can be configured to work with non-administrator accounts. Starting with this release, you cannot configure PowerShell remote endpoints to work with non-administrator accounts. When attempting to use a non-administrator account, the following error will appear: “New-PSSession: [computerName] Connecting to remote server localhost failed with the following error message: The WSMan service could not launch a host process to process the given request. Make sure the WSMan provider host server and proxy are properly registered. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.”
- Security updates to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Windows App Platform and Frameworks, the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Kernel, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Virtualization, Windows Linux, Windows MSXML, and the Microsoft JET Database Engine.
Be aware that this new build comes with the same known issue related to hotspots, as well as another bug that may prevent users from pinning web links on the Start menu or the taskbar. For the latter, Microsoft says that it will provide an update in an “upcoming release,” with no clear ETA. Lastly, Microsoft also released Patch Tuesday updates for Windows 10 versions 1709, 1703, and 1607 today, and we invite you to check the different links for more details. As usual, let us know in the comments if you experience any issues with these new builds.
