Security update KB5034441 is turning into a disaster for Microsoft

Update the security-related recovery environment KB5034441 For Windows 10, released on January 9, 2024, it is slowly but surely turning into a disaster for Microsoft, because even weeks later, the update is still severely flawed and cannot be installed on a large number of systems. Microsoft clearly has no control over the issue, as is the case with the website WindowsLatest mentioned.

A vulnerability in WinRE forces Microsoft to take action

KB5034441 is a secure operating system dynamic update for computer systems with a Windows Recovery Environment (“WinRE”) and a recovery partition. Microsoft said this is an important release because it addresses a security issue that allows attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption for other partitions by exploiting the WinRE vulnerability.

This update automatically applies the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) Dynamic Secure OS Update to a running computer to address a vulnerability that could allow attackers to bypass BitLocker encryption using the recovery environment (WinRE).

For more information, see CVE-2024-20666.

-Microsoft-

It doesn't matter if your Windows installation uses BitLocker encryption. As long as the affected system has a recovery partition, the operating system will attempt to download and install security update KB5034441 automatically.

Installation fails in many cases

In many cases, the update using the security update fails, and then the error code appears “0x80070643 – ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE” Out of place. Microsoft has now also noticed this issue and claims to have already found the cause, according to WindowsLatest. Meanwhile, Redmond also added a corresponding note.

Important

This update requires 250 MB of free space in the recovery partition to install successfully. If the recovery partition does not have enough free space, this update will fail. In this case, you will receive the following error message:

0x80070643 – Installation error_failed

To avoid this error or fix this error, follow Instructions on how to manually resize your partition to install the WinRE updateThen try installing this update.

If you want to use a sample script to increase the size of your WinRE recovery partition, read on Extend the Windows RE partition.

-Microsoft-

The issue affects systems running Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 that have a Windows recovery partition with WinRE. According to WindowsLatest, Microsoft is working on an automated fix for this issue.

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source: Microsoft, Windows latest