[German]Microsoft confirmed issues with the latest Outlook version 2303 (build 16227.20212) last week. Users will not be able to view or access Microsoft 365 group calendars and email messages in Outlook Desktop after updating to this version, which will be rolled out in late March 2023.
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Microsoft released Microsoft 365 version 2303 (build 16227.20212) to the Current Channel on March 28, 2023, bringing a number of new features. On April 11, 2023, version 2303 (build 16227.20280) was released with security update.
Issues with version 2303 (Build 16227.20212)
On April 12, 2023, Microsoft then followed up with the support article Microsoft 365 group users may be unable to view or access group calendars and email messages in Outlook Desktop. In this post, Microsoft confirmed the issue that users may not be able to view or access Microsoft 365 group calendars and email messages in Outlook Desktop after Outlook version 2303 was upgraded to build 16227.20212. Affected users are part of a Microsoft 365 group.
Some users are only sporadically affected by this error. These users may experience problems with the following tasks in the Outlook desktop client:
- Adding or accessing the group mailbox
- Adding or accessing the group calendar
- Adding, removing, or editing group members
- Modifying email items, such as marking them as read, archiving them, or moving them to other folders
The Outlook team is working on a fix, and plans to update these issues with a corrected build (my reading is that build 16227.20280 does not yet clean up the bugs). Microsoft writes that Tenant Admins can check the Service Health Dashboard for updates to the EX540503 incident.
Workarounds suggested
In the support article, Microsoft suggests using Outlook Web Access (OWA) to use the group feature. Not every user will want to do this easily – after all, why have Outlook.
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The second workaround Microsoft suggests is to revert to the Outlook Desktop build before the problem occurred, build 16130.20332. The steps involved are described in the support post Microsoft 365 group users may be unable to view or access group calendars and email messages in Outlook Desktop. There is also a note that updates should be released again on May 9, 2023 – the hope is to roll out a patch earlier.
However, this second workaround conflicts with Microsoft 365 version 2303 (Build 16227.20280), which was released in the Current Channel on April 11, 2023. According to this article, this version fixes a number of vulnerabilities, including CVE-2023-28285 in Office. However, if you downgrade to build 16130.20332, these vulnerabilities would exist again – or I missed something. (via)
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