Windows Update, surprise driver installations: Microsoft admits it's the cache's fault

Nothing to do, Windows Update still in the spotlight, and not in a positive way. Microsoft has patched a problem that caused the installation of drivers and even BIOS updates on an unspecified number of Windows devices, all without any warning and, most importantly, ignoring the configured policies to block automatic updates. A significant headache for system administrators.

The Redmond giant, via an incident report (MO1332784, reported by Bleeping Computer) and confirmations from the Intune support team on Twitter and Reddit, pointed the finger at a misconfiguration in the Windows Update caching service. Essentially, this service temporarily "lost" the enrollment information of devices, consequently bypassing the driver approval checks.

A bug in the Windows Update cache bypasses management policies.

Result? Drivers installed en masse, with admins forced to manage tens of thousands of devices that received unexpected updates, often with the unpleasant consequence of audio or video devices stopping functioning properly.

Microsoft promptly reassured: the installed drivers are "approved and signed by Microsoft" and "do not pose a security threat". A small relief, perhaps, for those who found themselves with non-functional hardware. The solution arrived on Wednesday: a cache service update and restoration of the enrollment status for the affected devices. Now, the company "continues to review how this caching service temporarily lost enrollment information to better inform how to detect, prevent, and respond to similar service issues in the future."

This is not an isolated incident, unfortunately. Already in April, Microsoft resolved a problem that caused Windows Server 2019 and 2022 systems to unexpectedly update to Windows Server 2025. Last month, another bug had pushed driver updates on Windows 11 devices managed with Autopatch in the European Union, ignoring restrictive policies. It seems that update management, especially in complex environments or with specific policies, is a recurring weak point for the Windows ecosystem.