Microsoft Releases January 2026 Patch Tuesday Updates for Windows 11

Microsoft just released the January 2026 Patch Tuesday updates for all supported versions of Windows 11. The new bits address a battery issue on devices with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), and they also remove some modem drivers from the OS.

The company usually makes new Windows features available for testing via an optional update released in the last week of the month, but that didn’t happen in December due to the holiday break. That’s why the KB5074109 update for Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2 only includes bug fixes, and you can find more details about what’s changed below:

Power management on devices with NPU: This update addresses an issue causing devices with an NPU to stay powered on when idle, which could affect power performance.

Modem drivers: This update removes the agrsm64.sys (x64), agrsm.sys (x86), smserl64.sys (x64) and smserial.sys (x86) modem drivers. Modems dependent on these specific drivers will no longer work on Windows 11.

Networking: This update addresses an issue where mirrored networking in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) could fail, causing “No route to host” errors and preventing access to corporate resources over VPN connections, even when the Windows host remained connected. It also fixes another issue causing RemoteApp connection failures in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environments.

On the security front, Microsoft fixed a total of 112 vulnerabilities this month, including one Desktop Window Manager bug that’s currently being exploited by attackers. For more information about Microsoft’s security patches for January 2026, you can check out the detailed report from the experts at the Zero Day Initiative.