Emergency Windows 11 Updates Are Out to Address Shutdown and Remote Connection Issues

Microsoft has released two emergency Windows 11 updates to address two issues in the January 2026 Patch Tuesday updates released last week. The two updates, KB5077744 (versions 25H2 & 24H2) and KB5077797 (version 23H2), should fix sign-in failures that some users experienced when using Remote Desktop applications.

“After installing the January 2026 Windows security update, some users experienced sign-in failures during Remote Desktop connections. This issue affected authentication steps for different Remote Desktop applications on Windows such as the Windows App,” Microsoft explained in the release notes.

On devices still running Windows 11 version 23H2, the KB5077797 update also fixes an issue causing some PCs with Secure Launch enabled to restart instead of shutting down or entering hibernation. This only affects Enterprise and Education devices, as the Home and Pro versions of Windows 11 version 23H2 are no longer supported.

It’s not uncommon for Microsoft to ship buggy updates, and that has to be expected for an OS running on so many different devices. It also doesn’t help that due to the holiday break, Microsoft didn’t release optional preview updates in December, which may have allowed the company to identify the issues earlier.

Anyway, if you have already installed the January 2026 updates released last week, make sure to check out Windows Update again to install these emergency patches.