Microsoft Windows Server 2025: Critical Updates Leading to Application Crashes

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Microsoft has issued a service alert regarding potential application crashes on Windows Server 2025 systems caused by modifications to the operating system’s memory management framework.

Microsoft’s Service Alert on Windows Server 2025

The issue specifically impacts software utilizing Address Windowing Extensions (AWE), which enables 32-bit applications to access more than 4GB of physical memory within a constrained virtual address space. The company reported that applications relying on AWE may encounter access violations, memory corruption, or abrupt termination.

Impact of Memory Management Changes

This problem stems from a change in how Windows Server 2025 handles memory management, disrupting behaviors previously present in earlier server versions. The alert was first identified by Microsoft MVP Susan Bradley.

Affected Applications and Symptoms

SQL Server is among the affected applications, particularly when the Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) policy is enabled to enhance performance in environments where disk paging is anticipated. Users on impacted systems may observe memory corruption errors, access violation exceptions with 0xC0000005 error codes, failures during database maintenance tasks such as DBCC CHECKDB, SQL Server crash dumps, and unexpected service restarts.

System Logs and Error Indicators

System startup logs may also display “Using locked pages in the memory manager” alerts. These symptoms indicate instability caused by the updated memory management framework.

Temporary Mitigation Measures

Temporary mitigation measures have been outlined by Microsoft. Administrators are advised to disable the LPIM policy for the SQL Server service account as a workaround. The company cautioned that this adjustment could impact SQL Server’s performance and memory management characteristics.

Recommendations for Affected Applications

For other affected applications, disabling AWE is recommended. A permanent resolution is under development and will be communicated through future updates.

Previous Microsoft Interventions

This follows earlier Microsoft interventions to address critical issues. In April, emergency updates were released to resolve failures with the KB5082063 security patch on certain Windows Server 2025 deployments. More recently, a bug causing devices to enter BitLocker recovery mode after the April 2026 security update was corrected.

Blue Report 2026 Insights

The Blue Report 2026 highlights that 37% of attacker activities are blocked when valid credentials are compromised, analyzing defense mechanisms across 338 million simulations in production environments.

Microsoft’s Ongoing Stability Efforts

Microsoft continues to monitor and address stability concerns in its server operating systems, emphasizing the importance of evaluating workarounds in controlled environments before implementation.

“The alert was first identified by Microsoft MVP Susan Bradley.”