WSUS errors could disrupt Microsoft patch deployments

The software maker is expected to ship two bulletins today with patches for known security problems in Windows but the WSUS problem could block some users from accessing the admin interface that handles patch distribution.

"We have confirmed the cause of this issue and fixed it on our servers, which will automatically fix the issue for most customers on their next synchronization cycle, said WSUS product manager Bobbie Hardie.

In a blog entry, Hardie said the problem occurred on Sunday evening when Microsoft renamed a product category entry for the Forefront product line.

Unfortunately the category name that was used included the word Nitrogen in double quotes (appearing as “Nitrogen”). A double quote is a restricted character within WSUS, which created an error condition on the administration console. This issue occurred on many WSUS servers that synchronized with Microsoft servers between 5 pm Sunday and 11 am Monday Pacific Time.

We renamed the category to eliminate the double quotes on Monday morning at 11am after investigating and validating the problem. This will fix the issue for any impacted WSUS server the next time it synchronizes with Microsoft’s servers. We are also improving our publishing tools to make sure that issues like this are caught during the publishing process, before they impact customers.

Hardie said that WSUS customers whose servers did not synchronize during this time, or end users connecting directly with Windows Update, Microsoft Update, or Automatic Updates are not impacted by this issue.