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.