Microsoft Windows 11 Update Causes Issues with Veeam Recovery Media

• The latest Windows 11 update disrupted Veeam Recovery Media due to connection errors.
• Changes introduced in the KB5051987 February update affect systems running Windows 11 24H2.
• While a permanent fix is pending, Veeam has provided a workaround that can be implemented now.

A recent Windows 11 24H2 update has disrupted users relying on Veeam Recovery Media. Microsoft and Veeam have confirmed they are jointly investigating a known issue that prevents successful data recovery due to connection errors. 

The issue affects systems running Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100.3194 or higher), with the problem reportedly originating from changes introduced in the KB5051987 February update. 

When users attempt to restore data using Veeam Backup & Replication via Veeam Recovery Media, they encounter critical network connection failure messages that invoke the lack of valid IP addresses, inability to establish authenticated client-server connections, and failed SSPI calls. 

Additionally, efforts to recover data from SMB network shares result in the error, “The remote procedure call failed and did not execute.” Impacted users are advised to utilize Veeam Recovery Media generated on systems running older Windows 11 builds (build 26100.3037 or earlier). 

Veeam Recovery Media is built on Microsoft’s Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), and Veeam is unable to distribute pre-generated media. 

Recovery media created on one machine can work on another, but the proprietary drivers – like network, wireless, and RAID controller – might be absent if the hardware configurations differ.

The disruption is concerning for organizations relying on Veeam, which is used by over 550,000 customers worldwide.

This month, a Microsoft vulnerability under active exploitation was added to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.