
Issues Arising from August 2024 Patch Tuesday Updates
The annual incident known as Patch Tuesday can sometimes lead to considerable complications for users, and a significant event occurred last year in August. The security update released by Microsoft disrupted the dual-boot configurations of Windows 11 alongside various Linux distributions. Notably affected systems included popular GNU/Linux distros such as Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, and Puppy Linux.
The Response from Microsoft
In response to these challenges, Microsoft issued a somewhat convoluted workaround just a few days later. This solution required users to adjust several settings in the policies and make changes to the Registry in order to alleviate the booting problems. The company identified the underlying cause as a defect within the SBAT (Secure Boot Advanced Targeting) system, which was part of the Windows 11 August Patch Tuesday update known as KB5041585.
Understanding Secure Boot Advanced Targeting (SBAT)
For those unfamiliar, SBAT plays a critical role in maintaining system security by preventing the use of outdated and potentially vulnerable bootloaders through verification against the Secure Boot DBX. This database contains a list of blacklisted UEFI executables designed to protect users from security threats. Microsoft provided further clarification on the issue:
After installing the August 2024 Windows security update (KB5041585), or the corresponding preview update, issues with booting Linux may arise for users with dual-boot systems. It appears that something has seriously malfunctioned: “SBAT self-check failed: Security Policy Violation.” This set of updates implements an SBAT setting for Windows devices to block legacy, insecure boot managers. However, this setting was not intended for devices detected to be dual-booting. Unfortunately, on some configurations, the dual-boot detection failed to recognize custom installation methods, erroneously applying the SBAT restriction.
Resolution in the Latest Patch
Good news emerged this week as Microsoft rolled out the May 2025 Patch Tuesday update, designated as KB5058405, which effectively resolved the aforementioned issues. This update also represents the inaugural Hotpatch for Windows 11, making it a noteworthy milestone for users affected by this long-standing bug.
For further details on this resolution, you can visit the original source here.
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