Microsoft pulls Windows 8.1 Update from WSUS servers

Microsoft released the Windows 8.1 Update to the general public on Tuesday, but an issue has since been discovered with the download that affects some clients connected to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) servers.

In a blog post, Microsoft said the problem affects some PCs which caused them to stop scanning against WSUS 3.0 SP2 or WSUS 3.2 servers which are configured to use SSL and have not enabled TLS 1.2. The blog does offer a workaround for WSUS 3.2 running on Windows Server 2003 and 2008 that involves disabling HTTPS on WSUS. Windows Server 2008 R2 servers can also enable TLS 1.2 as another workaround for this problem.

Microsoft added:

You may still obtain the Windows 8.1 Update (KB 2919355) from the Windows Update Catalog or MSDN. However, we recommend that you suspend deployment of this update in your organization until we release the update that resolves this issue.

The Windows 8.1 Update is supposed to be mandatory for current Windows 8.1 users but this bug actually prevents clients that use WSUS from getting any further updates. Microsoft says they are working on a patch that will fix this issue and will release it "as soon as possible".

Thanks to Neowin reader "Top Qat" for the tip!

Source: Microsoft

Note: This does not affect consumers who update via Windows Update.