Microsoft has suddenly issued a just-in-time update for Windows 10 users hit by an awkward failure that has stopped “essential security updates” installing on their PCs. There was no warning this emergency update was coming, and it has been released the same day as November’s critical security vulnerabilities are confirmed.
The out-of-band update affects Windows 10 users unable to enroll for the extended security updates that Microsoft has made essentially free following Windows 10’s controversial end-of-life last month. The flaw only came to light recently.
Microsoft says this “security update for devices that are not enrolled in the Windows 10 consumer ESU resolves an issue that was preventing affected customers from receiving essential security updates.” The update “is cumulative and includes security fixes and improvements from the October 14, 2025, security update.”
To install the emergency update, Microsoft tells users: “Navigate to the Windows Update settings page and select Check for updates. Install this out-of-band (OOB) update (KB5071959) and restart your device to complete the installation.”
The Windows-maker also confirms “to continue receiving updates as part of the Windows 10 Consumer ESU program, you will need to enroll your device using the ESU enrollment wizard. After you have successfully enrolled your device, you will begin receiving Extended Security Updates via Windows Update.”
Windows Latest first reported the issue that “Windows 10 ESU won’t work on some PCs, leaving Windows 11 as the only update path,” explaining that “first, it looks like ESU is still ‘temporarily unavailable’ for some users, especially if you are based in Europe. Second, there’s a bug where Windows 10 ESU setup throws an error, ‘Something went wrong’, without any explanation.”
This emergency update has turned up the same day as November’s “Patch Tuesday” security updates. “Microsoft has only fixed it on November 11,” Windows Latest says, “the same day when it’s also releasing the critical security updates that require ESU.”
Clearly, you should install the update immediately.