WSUS chaos: Preview updates for Windows and Net withdrawn as superseded on 9/21/2022

Update[German]Small addendum from this week. Microsoft had released several preview updates for Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2019/2022 as well as .NET Framework on September 20, 2022. However, it looks like Microsoft withdrew these updates from WSUS (and also in ConfigMgr) as Superseded shortly after they were released back on September 21, 2022. Addendum: Microsoft has now confirmed the issue.


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September 2022 Preview updates

As of September 20, 2022, Microsoft released the preview updates for Windows Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022 described in subsequent blog posts.

Windows 10 20H2-21H2 Preview Update KB5017380 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows 10/Sever v1909 Preview Update KB5016690 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows 11: Preview-Update KB5017383 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows Server 2022 Preview Update KB5016693 (Sept. 20, 2022)

In addition, blog readers reported other preview updates for .NET frameworks in the German comments here.

Another WSUS chaos month

An anonymous German blog reader reached out in this comment to report preview updates for the .NET Framework suddenly showing up at his WSUS on the morning of Sept. 21, 2022.

slightly OT
WSUS servers got "preview" .NET and W10 updates tonight.
Although no preview category is unlocked

e.g. KB5017380

The user was surprised that this happened, because there are no preview categories unlocked on WSUS. Then at noon came the addendum that these updates had been recalled. In another comment thread René reports here (I've translated the German comments):


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Hello everyone,

this morning I see again new updates in WSUS:
KB5017380 for Windows 10 21H2.
KB5017379 for Server 2019 (this one is probably to disable TLS 1.0 and 1.1 in the browser).

2 preview updates for .Net are also still there….

Do you guys have this as well? All updates were released yesterday on 09/20….

@ Günter: I guess these are not Insider Channel updates anymore, or is WSUS going crazy again? thx.

and Kay B. adds 9/21/2022 AM:

Hello,

have today also
KB5017380 for Windows 10 21H2 and
KB5017321 for Windows 11 22H2 found in WSUS.

The KB5017380 was not offered to me in WSUS last week.
I assume that this is a revised version compared to the one from
compared to the one from 13.09.22, because also on MS support page as
Release date is the Sept. 20, 22.

Can anyone confirm this ?

M. Winkler then states in a follow up comment that the updates disappeared after a synchronization of WSUS.

the KB5017380 did not fix the problem either. After resynchronizing the WSUS server, the update has been rolled back..

and Rene' writes in the same thread:

bei mir sind die Win10/Server 2019 Updates nach dem neuen WU for me the Win10/Server 2019 updates are also gone after the new WU Sync… Only the .Net Preview updates are still available…but we don't install previews anyway, they are always rejected directly…

Seems to be total chaos at Microsoft again – at least when it comes to providing preview updates for WSUS. User MOM20xx brings it to the point in this comment:

Now it's getting bad. Since today preview updates for various Windows and .NET versions in WSUS. Classified as updates. Are they thinking something? Why don't they make their own classification preview?

Other administrators confirm in follow-up comments the observations that preview updates do not show up as preview on WSUS (see also this comment thread opened by Gregor). And 1ST1 mentions here that Windows Server 2012 R2 reports a 96kb update KB3172729 from April 8, 2021 as newly available. So Microsoft seems to have big problems with its infrastructure again.

In addition, I refer at this point to my blog post Windows 10 22H2: Already distributed via WSUS in August 2022; Clients no longer find updates. In August 2022, some WSUS administrators seem to have received the upgrade to Windows 10 22H2 for their clients (without it being released). Now clients can no longer pull September 2022 updates because version 22H2 has not yet been released.

Updates on WSUS pulled

There are a number of posts on patchmanagement.org since September 21, 2022 dealing with preview updates withdrawn at WSUS – here is a screenshot of the posts.

WSUS: Pulled cumulative update for Sept. 2022

lfehlman writes on the mailing list: I am seeing in ConfigMgr con that KB5017308 for Windows 21H2 and KB5017500 for .NET Framework are Superseded? Are there updated cumulatives in place that anyone is aware of? and posted the following screenshot.

Superseded updates

And another user writes:

I noticed last night in WSUS that the .Net CUs were superseded by the Preview CU that came out a few days ago. Not sure if that's a new thing or if previews have always superseded the Patch Tuesday CU. I found it kind of annoying. A preview should very much be optional, so it seems to me that it shouldn't supersede anything.

Another user states that the updates have also been removed from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Microsoft says it's an error

Addendum: Microsoft has now confirmed the issue on the Windows Health status page of Windows Server 2022. Since September 22, 2022, there is a post The September 2022 preview release is listed in Windows Server Update Services that sheds some light on the matter. Microsoft writes about it:

IT administrators who utilize Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) might notice that the Windows September 2022 preview update, known as the 'C' release, is listed among the updates available from WSUS. This listing is an error. Preview updates are generally available for manual importing via the Microsoft Update Catalog and Windows Updates.

This issue may also affect the installation of the September 2022 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework, which is also available through Windows Update and the Microsoft Update Catalog.

This listing is an error.

This is because Microsoft states that preview updates are usually available for manual import via the Microsoft Update Catalog and Windows Updates, so they should never show up in WSUS. Microsoft then withdrew the updates in WSUS. Those who want to install the updates should obtain them via the Microsoft Update Catalog and then import them, Microsoft says. Affected are:

  • Client: Windows 11, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 21H2; Windows 11, version 21H1; Windows 10, version 20H2; Windows 10, version 1809.
  • Server: Windows Server 2022; Windows Server, version 20H2; Windows Server, version 1809.

The Windows September 2022 preview release has been removed from WSUS and Microsoft is working on a solution to help customers who accidentally imported updates through WSUS. Microsoft expects a solution to be available in the next few days.

Similar articles:
Microsoft Office Updates with fix for Excel bug (September 6, 2022)
Microsoft Security Update Summary (September 13, 2022)
Patchday: Windows 10-Updates (September 13, 2022)
Patchday: Windows 11/Server 2022-Updates (September 13, 2022)
Windows 7/Server 2008R2; Windows 8.1/Server 2012R2: Updates (September 13, 2022)
Patchday: Microsoft Office Updates (September 13, 2022)
Windows 10 20H2-21H2 Preview Update KB5017380 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows 10/Sever v1909 Preview Update KB5016690 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows 11: Preview-Update KB5017383 (Sept. 20, 2022)
Windows Server 2022 Preview Update KB5016693 (Sept. 20, 2022)


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