April 12, 2022—KB5012649 (Security-only update)

Summary

Learn more about this security update, including improvements and fixes, any known issues, and how to get the update.

IMPORTANT Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Embedded Standard 7, and Windows Embedded POS Ready 7 have reached the end of mainstream support and are now in extended security update (ESU) support. Windows Thin PC has reached the end of mainstream support; however, ESU support is not available.

Starting in July 2020, there will no longer be optional, non-security releases (known as "C" releases) for this operating system. Operating systems in extended support have only cumulative monthly security updates (known as the "B" or Update Tuesday release).

Verify that you have installed the required updates in the How to get this update section before installing this update.

Customers who have purchased the Extended Security Update (ESU) for on-premises versions of this OS must follow the procedures in KB4522133 to continue receiving security updates after extended support ended on January 14, 2020. For more information about ESU and which editions are supported, see KB4497181.

Because ESU is available as a separate SKU for each of the years in which they are offered (2020, 2021, and 2022)—and because ESU can only be purchased in specific 12-month periods—you must purchase the third year of ESU coverage separately and activate a new key on each applicable device for your devices to continue receiving security updates in 2022.

If your organization did not purchase the third year of ESU coverage, you must purchase Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 ESU for your applicable Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 devices before you install and activate the Year 3 MAK keys to receive updates. The steps to install, activate, and deploy ESUs are the same for first, second, and third year coverage. For more information, see Obtaining Extended Security Updates for eligible Windows devices for the Volume Licensing process and Purchasing Windows 7 ESUs as a Cloud Solution Provider for the CSP process. For embedded devices, contact your original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

For more information, see the ESU blog.

For information about the various types of Windows updates, such as critical, security, driver, service packs, and so on, please see the following article.

To view other notes and messages for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, see the following update history home page.

Improvements and fixes

This security update includes quality improvements. Key changes include:

Addresses an issue in Windows Media Center where some users might have to reconfigure the application on each start.
Addresses a memory leak that was introduced by the PacRequestorEnforcement registry key in the November 2021 Cumulative Update that causes a decrease in performance on domain controllers.
Addresses an issue in which Event ID 37 might be logged during certain password change scenarios.
Addresses an issue that occurs when you try to write a service principal name (SPN) alias (such as www/contoso) and HOST/NAME already exists on another object. If the user has the RIGHT_DS_WRITE_PROPERTY on the SPN attribute of the colliding object, you receive an “Access Denied” error.
Addresses an issue in which domain joins may fail in environments that use disjoint DNS hostnames.

For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the new Security Update Guide website and the April 2022 Security Updates.

Known issues in this update

Symptom

Workaround

After installing this update and restarting your device, you might receive the error, “Failure to configure Windows updates. Reverting Changes. Do not turn off your computer,” and the update might show as Failed in Update History.

This is expected in the following circumstances:

If you are installing this update on a device that is running an edition that is not supported for ESU. For a complete list of which editions are supported, see KB4497181.
If you do not have an ESU MAK add-on key installed and activated.
If you have purchased an ESU key and have encountered this issue, please verify you have applied all prerequisites and that your key is activated. For information on activation, please see this blog post. For information on the prerequisites, see the How to get this update section of this article.

Certain operations, such as rename, that you perform on files or folders that are on a Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) may fail with the error, "STATUS_BAD_IMPERSONATION_LEVEL (0xC00000A5)". This occurs when you perform the operation on a CSV owner node from a process that doesn’t have administrator privilege.

Do one of the following:

Perform the operation from a process that has administrator privilege.
Perform the operation from a node that doesn’t have CSV ownership.

Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

How to get this update

Before installing this update

IMPORTANT Customers who have purchased the Extended Security Update (ESU) for on-premises versions of these operating systems must follow the procedures in KB4522133 to continue receiving security updates. Extended support ended as follows:

For Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, extended support ended on January 14, 2020.
For Windows Embedded Standard 7, extended support ended on October 13, 2020.
For Windows Embedded POS Ready 7, extended support ended on October 12, 2021.
For Windows Thin PC, extended support ended on October 12, 2021. Note that ESU support is not available for Windows Thin PC.

For more information about ESU and which editions are supported, see KB4497181.

Note For Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) must be enabled to get updates from Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services.

Prerequisite:

You must install the updates listed below and restart your device before installing the latest Rollup. Installing these updates improves the reliability of the update process and mitigates potential issues while installing the Rollup and applying Microsoft security fixes.

The March 12, 2019 servicing stack update (SSU) (KB4490628). To get the standalone package for this SSU, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog. This update is required to install updates that are only SHA-2 signed.
The latest SHA-2 update (KB4474419) released September 10, 2019. If you are using Windows Update, the latest SHA-2 update will be offered to you automatically. This update is required to install updates that are only SHA-2 signed. For more information on SHA-2 updates, see 2019 SHA-2 Code Signing Support requirement for Windows and WSUS.
To get this security update, you must reinstall the "Extended Security Updates (ESU) Licensing Preparation Package" (KB4538483) or the "Update for the Extended Security Updates (ESU) Licensing Preparation Package" (KB4575903) even if you previously installed the ESU key. The ESU licensing preparation package will be offered to you from WSUS. To get the standalone package for ESU licensing preparation package, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog.

After installing the items above, Microsoft strongly recommends that you install the latest SSU (KB5011649). If you are using Windows Update, the latest SSU will be offered to you automatically if you are an ESU customer. To get the standalone package for the latest SSU, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog. For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

REMINDER If you are using Security-only updates, you will also need to install all previous Security-only updates and the latest cumulative update for Internet Explorer (KB5011486).

Install this update

Release Channel	Available	Next Step
Windows Update and Microsoft Update	No	See the other options below.
Microsoft Update Catalog	Yes	To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)	Yes	This update will automatically sync with WSUS if you configure Products and Classifications as follows: Product: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack 1, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 Classification: Security Updates

File information

For a list of the files that are provided in this update, download the file information for update 5012649.

April 12, 2022—KB5012649 (Security-only update)

Summary

Improvements and fixes

Known issues in this update

How to get this update

File information

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