The latest Windows 11 update breaks some important parts of some Trend Micro’s antivirus and security products, the company has advised.
This relates to a number of Trend Micro’s business security solutions, and the damage is caused by the optional update for Windows 11 (and Windows Server 2022) which has just been released (patch KB5014019).
Bleeping Computer (opens in new tab) spotted that Trend Micro warns (opens in new tab) that KB5014019 causes a compatibility bug with the User Mode Hooking (UMH) component of some products, and this derails ransomware protection, worryingly, among other ‘advanced’ features. Which is definitely very bad…
The affected Trend Micro products are as follows: Worry-Free Business Security Advanced 10.0, Worry-Free Business Security Services 6.7, Apex One 2019, Apex One as a Service 2019, Deep Security 20.0, Deep Security 12.0.
Analysis: A fix should be on the way
Even if you’re running one of the above-mentioned security solutions, not everyone may necessarily be affected by the Windows 11 preview update in question. Trend Micro observes that this is a ‘potential issue’ for those who install the update, not a definite problem, but still – it’s clearly risky to run that patch.
The good thing is preview updates like KB5014019 are optional, and still in testing, so you don’t have to install them. And if you’re using one of the affected Trend Micro offerings, we’d suggest steering clear – wait for the fully finished (and tested) patch next month, which will hopefully have cured this problem.
Indeed, the security firm notes: “Trend Micro is currently investigating this issue further in order to address it before the optional Windows patch becomes mandatory.”
In the meantime, if you’ve installed KB5014019 and are affected by the bug, you can simply remove the update for now, and contact the support department at Trend Micro for help if needed.