Microsoft admits that April's Windows update can potentially cause VPN connection failures in both Windows 10 and 11.

The issue affects both the April 2024 security (KB5036893 for Windows 11, KB5036892 for Windows 10) installations and non-security preview updates.

The security update was released on April 9, and Microsoft admitted that VPNs might malfunction for some users late on April 30. The company did not elaborate on the cause of the issue, stating only that "Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update or the April 2024 non-security preview update" and it was "working on a resolution."

The update has not been the smoothest experience for some users. Another known issue in KB5036893 is a problem with changing an account profile picture, which might result in error code 0x80070520. Microsoft said it was working to fix it, but the issue is still present in KB5036980, released on April 23.

Admittedly, being unable to change a profile picture is less annoying than a potentially broken VPN.

Microsoft is no stranger to problems with VPNs after an update. Some users found KB5025305 caused mystery VPN slowdowns, which were mostly dealt with by enabling the Routing and Remote Access Service. While Microsoft did not feel the need to add that issue to its release health dashboard, it did note problems with some Wi-Fi adapters caused by KB5032288 and KB5033375.

No workaround has been published for the issue. We contacted Microsoft for more details and an ETA for the fix but have yet to receive a response.

Microsoft noted that the problem might also occur on its server platforms, from Windows Server 2008 up to the latest Windows Server 2022, as well as Windows 11 (23H2, 22H2, and 21H2), and Windows 10 (22H2 and 21H2). Windows Server 2008 dropped out of extended support in 2020, and Windows Server 2012's extended support ended in October 2023.

The extra cost option (unless a customer migrates to Azure) of Extended Security Updates (ESU) finally ended on January 10, 2023, for Windows Server 2008 and R2 - although Microsoft kept the lights on until January 9, 2024, for customers running workloads in Azure. ESU will end for Windows Server 2012 and R2 on October 13, 2026. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/05/01/microsoft_windows_vpn_problems/