Microsoft releases emergency patch for Windows 10 to fix Message Queuing problems

The situation for updates for Windows 10 remains quite confusing for many people. Now mainstream support has ended, those who are sticking with the older operating system need are reliant on the Extended Security Updates program to keep their computers safe.

But, breaking with the way things were meant to work out, Microsoft has now released an out-of-band update for Windows 10 to address an issue introduced by an earlier security patch. The KB5074976 update is a little unusual in that it needs to be manually installed. Here is what you need to know.

Despite the massive impact of the problem on those affected by the Message Queuing (MSMQ) issue, Microsoft has taken the decision to not roll out the patch automatically, but to force people to manually seek it out and install it themselves. The problem dates back to earlier this month when Microsoft released the December security update to ESU program subscribers, and it caused applications dependant on MSMQ to fail.

Microsoft describes the issue as follows:

[Message queuing (MSMQ) (known issue)] Fixed: After installing the Windows updates released on December 9, 2025, users experienced issues with the Message Queuing (MSMQ) functionality. This issue also impacts a clustered MSMQ environment under load. This issue might lead to message queues becoming inactive, messages about insufficient resources, applications unable to write to message queues, error messages about the message cannot be created, or messages about insufficient disk space or memory. Individuals using Windows Home or Pro editions on personal devices are very unlikely to experience this issue. This issue primarily affects enterprise or managed IT environments.

The newly released KB5074976 update is available for Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 10 22H2, with Microsoft saying of it:

This out-of-band update includes fixes and improvements that are a part of the following updates:

   •  December 9, 2025—KB5071546 (OS Builds 19045.6691 and 19044.6691)

The only way to get hold of the problem-fixing KB5074976 update is to download it from the Microsoft Update Catalog website. It is not clear quite why this is, as Microsoft has not explained this distribution decision. However, as the company pointed out that the issue primarily affected enterprise users, it may have not wanted to push the update to unaffected users.

It is curious to place such an onus on the user to fix a problem of Microsoft’s making – and this could mark a new approach.

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