GoKawiilMicrosoft confirms post-October Windows updates break SQL Server connections
Microsoft has acknowledged that Windows updates issued since the October 2026 Patch Tuesday cause SQL Server linked-server queries using OLE DB providers—including connections to Oracle and PostgreSQL—to leave database connections open after completion. These accumulate over time, degrading performance on both Windows 10/11 and Windows Server 2012 and later. Microsoft plans an out-of-band update within days and offers temporary support-based mitigations in the meantime.
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The bug could force enterprise database administrators to repeatedly restart SQL services as a stopgap, which Microsoft warns can disrupt active queries without permanently solving the issue. This follows a separate September bug affecting SQL Server on Windows Server 2025 tied to memory management changes, suggesting Microsoft's recent update cycles have created a pattern of SQL Server reliability problems that could erode trust among enterprise IT teams.
- Windows updates since October 2026 cause SQL Server linked-server connections to accumulate unexpectedly.
- Oracle and PostgreSQL connections via OLE DB providers are confirmed affected; both client and server Windows versions are impacted.
- Microsoft plans an out-of-band fix within days, following a separate September SQL Server crash issue on Windows Server 2025.
Source: bleepingcomputer.com, 2026-11-12
Published there as: “Microsoft: Recent Windows updates cause SQL Server performance issues”
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