Microsoft's Emergency Update Breaks Audio on Some PCs

Microsoft released an emergency update, KB5129195, to address issues caused by its September Patch Tuesday update. However, this new update has itself introduced a host of problems, including broken audio on some PCs.

The update broke RDP connections and made host folder shares unavailable in Linux VMs used by apps such as Claude Cowork. Microsoft confirmed that the issue was tied to Windows 11's update and that it would not be fixed until October Patch Tuesday, scheduled for October 13.

Despite the problems with KB5129195, Microsoft says it is investigating the root cause of the audio issues and will share more details when it can. In its investigation, Microsoft found that only USB audio devices are affected, but reports from users suggest otherwise.