Windows Server: Freezes (Crashes) by ESET Server Security 10.x (Dec. 2023)

[German]Short alert to clarify who is affected and to warn that something is up. At the moment there seem to be massive problems with Windows Server and especially with RDS Server when ESET Server Security is installed. The systems with Windows Server simply crash when the relevant ESET Server Security is installed. Here is some information as far as I have it.

Blog reader Roger G. has just informed me in a private message on Facebook that there are currently an increasing number of cases in his environment in which Windows servers – and RDS servers in particular – crash as soon as ESET Server Security is installed (thanks for the tip).

Roger also sent me a link to the ESET Security Forum, where the post Windows server crashing after installing ESET Server Security can be found since November 9, 2023. The thread starter reports that ESET Server Security v10.0.12014.0 is being used in his environment. They have already experienced a system crash on two out of four Windows Server installations.

• The first Windows Server is a secondary domain controller running in a Hyper-V VM.
• The second case involves a physical server running Windows Server for VEEAM.

The affected person did not specify any versions of the Windows servers used in the original post. However, other affected persons have reported crashes and freezes under Windows Server 2022 on two VMware virtual machines in the last few days. Other affected persons observed the freezes on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019, where ESET Server Security v10.0.12014.0 is also mentioned.

One administrator writes that Eset constantly restarts services such as "ESET Firewall Helper" and at some point the server simply freezes. The ESET forum administrator asks those affected in the relevant thread for memory dumps, because ESET probably still has no idea what the problem could be.

According to those affected, the problems can only be resolved by uninstalling ESET Server Security v10.0.12014.0. Some administrators have uninstalled ESET Server Security v10 and installed v9 in order to have virus protection.

Addendum: A blog reader pointed me to the ESET support article [KB8062] Recommended settings for ESET Server Security for Windows Server installed on a terminal or Citrix server with additional recommendations.