Patchday issues with updates & WSUS (September 11, 2018)

[German]As of September 11, 2018, Microsoft has released a new batch of updates for Windows and other products. Update KB4457144 for Windows 7 SP1 may issue error 0x8000FFFF. Addendum: The reason for this error and a simple fix has been found. KB4457128 for Windows 10 version 1803 is installed twice if necessary, and WSUS has detection problems.

Here's an overview of what I've seen so far. The article will be updated if necessary.

Error 0x8000FFFF (Update KB4457144; Windows 7 SP1)

Update KB4457144 (Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1) addresses some bugs and updates the shell, kernel, Hyper-V, network components and more.

Woody Leonhard reported at askwoody, that this update triggers the error 0x8000FFFF during installation. The error does not occur on all systems, but I found several confirmations at askwoody.com.

Error code 0x8000FFFF stands for E_UNEXPECTED, an unspecified but serious error, that leads to the installation abort. Within my old German blog post Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Troubleshooting-Tipps I had mentioned malware infections as a root cause. So my advice is, the system should be checked with external scanners as a precaution. But also damaged system files can be the cause for this error. Here I recommend to check the system for corrupted system files with sfc /scannow (see that part within my blog post Check and repair Windows system files and component store).

Root cause: Missing Servicing Stack Update KB3177467

It's fascinating how sometimes the pictures fall into a puzzle. Within my German blog I got today a comment:

und hier wurde plötzlich, win7, nach Install monthly-roll KB4457144, das KB3177467 (Servicing stack update for Win 7, September 20, 2016) angeboten. hä? afaik war das bereits seit Monaten/Jahren installiert, noch jemand mit sowas?

Translation: and here suddenly, win7, after install monthly-roll KB4457144, the KB3177467 (Servicing stack update for Win 7, September 20, 2016) was offered. huh? afaik was that already installed for months/years, anyone else with something like that?

Windows Update noticed that a Servicing Stack Update from September 2016 is missing. At Askwoody there is this post in the forum in which a user writes:

Patch KB4457144 will be installed after installing Stack Update "Servicing stack update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 – Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 – KB3177467 (x64)" for 2008 R2 OS

And there is a feedback from Microsoft Premier Support with the hint to install the SSU:

install Servicing Stack KB3177467 (September 2016), restart computer, install KB4457144.

KB3177467 ist pre-requisite for KB4457144

This is now also mentioned in the comments given within my German blog. Thank you to everyone who participated in finding a solution.

WSUS: .NET updates detection errors

Woody Leonhard pointed out to Twitter that he has received reports of detection problems for .NET framework updates in WSUS.

Detection logic problems on WSUS servers for .NET patches KB 4457914, 4457915, 4457916, 4457917 and 4457919. Showing as installed, when they are definitely not installed. https://t.co/vUEoUUvOKM

— Woody Leonhard (@woodyleonhard) 11. September 2018

Affected are probably several .NET framework updates KB4457914, KB4457915, KB4457916, KB4457917 and KB4457919. The source is this forum post at askwoody.com Someone else who has these issues?

Update KB4457128 installed twice

Update KB4457128 for Windows 10 version 1803 seems to be installed twice for some people – but only one installation is left. A German blog reader points this out in this comment. Also at reddit.com this behavior is discussed here.

Installed fine, but for some reason it shows up as installed twice when checked through the Update History or Reliability Monitor.

There is an explanation for this behavior. I pointed out within my blog post Patchday Windows 10-Updates (September 11, 2018), that the cumulative update (CU) KB4457128 requires the previous installation of the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) KB4456655 for Windows 10 Version 1803. This update is not part of KB4457128 this time. If the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) KB4456655 is missing, last cumulative update (LCU) KB4457128 can't be installed. So KB4457128 is scheduled for installing, but fails – without an error, and Servicing Stack Update (SSU) KB4456655 is installed first. The KB4457128 is installing again – so users can see two installs in Update History or Reliability Monitor.

This has also been pointed out within a comment within my German blog. And also this post at reddit.com confirmed, that SSU install drops an install error 0x800f0816 and tried another install attempt. The odd thing is, that Windows Update probably doesn't manage to keep the correct order of the SSU and LCU update installation (and is then forced to install the LCU twice).

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