Microsoft has released KB3097877 on last November 2015 patch day. Some users are reporting crashes in Microsoft Outlook 2010/2013 with error code C0000374.
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Some of my German blog readers notified me about the problem (November 2015-Patchday mit Updates für Office und Windows). Searching the web, I found a few places, where users are reporting the same error.
Outlook issues after Windows update (11/11) (reddit.com)
Crashes since 11/11/15 Updates in both Outlook 2010 and 2013… (Technet)
KB3097877 causing severe difficulties for some Windows 7
Facebook-Diskussion
Update KB3097877 is closing a Remote Execution vulnerability, if an attacker convinces a user to open a specially crafted document or to go to an untrusted webpage that contains embedded fonts.
A quick fix for the Outlook crash
The crash occurs, if Outlook tries to load embedded images in HTML mails. This auto load can be set in options, but due to the crash, it's not possible to access Outlook options.
Solution: Disable your machine's Internet connection and launch Outlook. Now Outlook isn't able to automatically download embedded images in HTML mail. Then go to Outlook options and disable the image auto download option in security settings.
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The screenshot shown above is from a German Outlook. Afterward, you should be able to read HTML mails in Outlook.
Temporary fix: Uninstall update KB3097877
A more radical solution is, to open control panel, go to Programs and features, show Installed updates and uninstall KB3097877. Then go to Windows Update, searches for neu updates. Uncheck update KB3097877, right click on this entry and select Hide update, to prevent a further install.
Other damages from update KB3097877
In a German blog post I've collected other collateral damages probably caused by update KB3097877.
- Windows 7 sidebar and gadgets are failing to work – the sidebar drops error 0xc0000374 – so uninstalling KB3097877 fixes this issue.
- 32 Bit applications like RocketDock or Teamviewer seems to fail after installing update KB3097877.
- Some users are no more able to log in after applying security updates issued on November 2015 patch day. It seems also that update KB3097877 is the root cause.
Some incidents are also reported here. Let's hope, that Microsoft will fix this issues soon and re-release update KB3097877.
Update: Microsoft has re-released Update KB3097877 – so the problem should be fixed.