Microsoft Releases Out-of-Band Updates to Address Policy Display Issues

Microsoft has announced the release of out-of-band Windows updates aimed at rectifying display errors related to group policy statuses.

The updates, which are not security-related, were made public through the Windows Message Center. They specifically address a malfunction where audit and logoff events in the local policy of Active Directory group policies on devices might not appear as enabled, despite being functional. This issue is particularly noted in the Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2, where users may see the local policy editor or local security policy displaying the setting for 'Audit logon events' as 'No auditing.'

According to Microsoft, users of Windows Home editions are unlikely to experience these group policy issues. However, organizations with managed systems are urged to take action. The updates are available for multiple operating systems, including Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2, Windows Server 2022, Windows 10 LTSC 2019, and others.

Unlike typical updates, these patches are not being distributed through the automatic Windows Update feature. Instead, IT administrators must access the Windows Update Catalog to find the appropriate KB numbers for their respective operating systems and processor architectures:

• Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2 (KB5058919)
• Windows Server 2022 [22H2 and 21H2]; Azure Stack HCI 22H2 (KB5058920)
• Windows 10 LTSB 2016 and Server 2016 (KB5058921)
• Windows 10 LTSC 2019 and Server 2019 (KB5058922)

This announcement follows the regular Windows security updates released last week, indicating that IT administrators will need to further manage and distribute these recent updates to their systems.