Microsoft Edge 105.0.1343.25 (September 1, 2022) – fail to start after update

[German]Microsoft has updated the Edge browser in the stable channel to version 105.0.1343.2 as of September 1, 2022. It is a new development branch that includes some new features for corporate customers, but most importantly fixes a vulnerability in Edge, as well as other Chromium base vulnerabilities. Thanks to the anonymous reader for pointing this out. Addendum: Some German readers reported, that Edge 105 can't start after update. A solution isn't known – only a trick to switch back to Edge 104. What a mess! Addendum2: Registry-Fix is available, Edge developers says, workaround is ok and fix will come next weet.

According to the release notes, the update only contains a fix for the vulnerability CVE-2022-38012, no further details are given about the update. But it also fixed the vulnerabilities from Chrome 105.0.5195.5x. According to this Microsoft page, there are the following new features:

Feature updates

• Enhanced security mode improvements. Enhanced security mode now supports WebAssembly for x64 Windows. Additional cross-platform support is expected in the future. For more information, see Browse more safely with Microsoft Edge.
• Improvement to the Cloud Site List Management experience for IE mode.
  • You can restore to one of the last 3 published versions of your site list in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. For more information, see Restore a previous version of a site list.
  • You can identify gaps in your enterprise site list by configuring reporting of site feedback with the InternetExplorerIntegrationCloudUserSitesReporting and InternetExplorerIntegrationCloudNeutralSitesReporting policies. You can view local site list URLs from users and potentially misconfigured neutral site URLs in the Microsoft Edge site lists experience in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. To learn more, see View site feedback on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
  • You can configure session cookie sharing between Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer for IE mode on your site list in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. To learn more, see Cookie sharing between Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.
• Improvements to the Cloud Site List Management experience for IE mode now available in GCC. GCC customers can now utilize the full Microsoft Edge site list experience in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Policy updates

New policies

• ExemptFileTypeDownloadWarnings – Disable download file type extension-based warnings for specified file types on domains
• InternetExplorerIntegrationAlwaysWaitForUnload – Wait for Internet Explorer mode tabs to completely unload before ending the browser session
• MicrosoftEditorProofingEnabled – Spell checking provided by Microsoft Editor
• MicrosoftEditorSynonymsEnabled – Synonyms are provided when using Microsoft Editor spell checker
• PrintPdfAsImageDefault – Print PDF as Image Default
• UnthrottledNestedTimeoutEnabled – JavaScript setTimeout will not be clamped until a higher nesting threshold is set
• Deprecated policies
• ExemptDomainFileTypePairsFromFileTypeDownloadWarnings – Disable download file type extension-based warnings for specified file types on domains

Additional policy changes

• GuidedSwitchEnabled – Add Linux platform support

Reports say Edge 105 won't start

Addendum: Some German readers reported within my blog, that Edge 105 can't start after update. Also readers at deskmodder.de reported a similar experience. One user reported, that syslog brings an error in Edge.dll:

Name of the malformed application: msedge.exe, version: 105.0.1343.25, timestamp: 0x630ff9ce
Name of the corrupt module: msedge.dll, version: 105.0.1343.25, timestamp: 0x630ff9ce
Exception Code: 0xc0000005
Fehleroffset: 0x0000000002c07f9a
ID of the faulty process: 0x1ef8
Start time of the faulty application: 0x01d8bea789a3a44c
Path of the malformed application: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe
Path of the corrupted module: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\105.0.1343.25\msedge.dll
Berichtskennung: 5bad1f59-922a-4103-abb1-a4029cb5448a
Full name of the corrupted package:
Application ID relative to the corrupted package:

Some users wrote, they have copied the Edge program folder from a system (or backup), that hasn't been updated, to the broken system. My collegue at deskmodder.de has outlined the steps for this workaround (I've translated the text):

There is a workaround to get back to the old version 104 without updating the Edge. This is because the 105.0.1343.25 is still entered in the system. A new update will not be installed again until Microsoft provides another update. And this is how it works:

• If you have a backup from yesterday or before, you can mount it (depending on the backup program) and copy out the Edge folder under Programs x86\Microsoft.
• Then delete under C:\Programs (x86)\Microsoft the Edge folder. If deletion is refused, terminate Microsoft Edge in the task manager.
• Copy the "old" Edge folder into C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft.

Then Edge should start again and show build 104 as the current version, even if you check for updates.

Hope that helps to enable the old build again.

Addendum 2: A user mentioned at deskmodder.de a 2nd simpler workaround. Just launch registry editor and search for MetricsReportingEnabled. Delete all entries with this name. Should be sufficient to use the following command in command prompt window:

Reg DELETE HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge /v MetricsReportingEnabled /f

The deletes entry is an old (user) policy that hasn't been deleted and that's conflicting with Edge 105. After deleting the entry, the browser should start again.

Microsoft confirmed workaround, prepares fix

Addendum 3: I've been in contact via private channels with Patch Lady Susan Bradley (askwoody.com, patchlist.org) about the bug. She informed the Edge developers. Just got mpw the hint from Susan on the following tweet (thanks for that).

The developers confirmed that a fix is coming next week and that deleting the key in the above branch will suffice as a workaround.

Addendum 3: At askwoody.com I had added this forum post about the issue and informed Susan Bradley on my private Twitter channel. The issue has been confirmed also by other users. Susan had then contacted the Edge developers.

In addition, Lawrence Abrams was notified of the problem via our private Twitter channel last week. He neatly rehashed the whole thing as of September 3, 2022 in the post Microsoft Edge 105 won't start due to old group policy – How to fix.