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Why Is Your Windows Server DHCP Service Crashing After June 2025 Updates?
Microsoft released their June 2025 security updates for Windows Server. These updates broke something important. The DHCP service stops working after you install them.
I need to tell you about this problem. It affects your network. Your computers might lose internet access.
What Happened
Microsoft pushed out security updates in June 2025. These updates have a bug. The bug makes DHCP servers stop working.
DHCP gives IP addresses to computers on your network. Without it, devices can’t connect to the internet. They can’t talk to other computers either.
The problem hits these Windows Server versions:
- Windows Server 2025 (KB5060842)
- Windows Server 2022 (KB5060526)
- Windows Server 2019 (KB5060531)
- Windows Server 2016 (KB5061010)
How Bad Is This Problem
I’ve seen the reports. They’re not good. The DHCP service fails fast. It stops working 20 to 50 seconds after you boot the server.
One admin said this: “Can confirm this is a very unpleasant irritant in our environment since patching last week. DHCP clients lose their leases”.
Another admin was smart. They blocked these updates before installing them. They said: “I proactively declined KB5061010, KB5060531, KB5060526 and KB5060842 on my DCs”.
Why This Matters to You
DHCP is critical for networks. It automatically gives IP addresses to devices. Without DHCP, your employees can’t connect to the internet. They can’t access company systems either.
This affects:
- Office buildings
- Schools
- Government agencies
- Any place with a network
Microsoft’s Response
Microsoft knows about this problem. They confirmed it in their support documents. They said: “The DHCP Server service might intermittently stop responding after installing this security update. This issue affects IP renewal for clients”.
Microsoft is working on a fix. They said: “We are working on releasing a resolution in the coming days and will provide more information when it is available”.
They plan to release a standalone update. You’ll be able to download it from the Update Catalog. The fix will come as a .msu file.
How to Fix This Now
I tested this myself. Only one solution works right now. You have to remove the problematic update.
Here’s how to do it:
- Open Settings
- Go to Windows Update
- Click Update History
- Find your KB number from this list:
- Windows Server 2025: KB5060842
- Windows Server 2022: KB5060526
- Windows Server 2019: KB5060531
- Windows Server 2016: KB5061010
- Click “Uninstall updates“
- Select the update you want to remove
- Click “Uninstall“
- Restart your server
The Risk You Face
Removing these updates fixes DHCP. But it creates a new problem. Your server becomes vulnerable to security threats. The June 2025 updates patched important security holes.
You have to choose. Keep the security patches and lose DHCP. Or remove the patches and risk security problems.
Other Problems in These Updates
The DHCP issue isn’t the only problem. There’s another bug affecting text display. If you use Chinese, Japanese, or Korean languages, text looks blurry in web browsers.
This happens when your display scaling is set to 100%. The text becomes unclear in Chrome and Edge browsers.
Microsoft says to increase your display scaling to 125% or 150%. This makes the text clearer while they work on a real fix.
What I Recommend
I advise you to wait for Microsoft’s official fix. Don’t install these updates if you haven’t already. If you already installed them and DHCP is broken, you’ll need to remove the updates.
Monitor Microsoft’s support pages. They promised a fix in the coming days. The standalone update should solve this problem without removing security protections.
Keep checking the Update Catalog. Microsoft will release the fix there first. Download it as soon as it’s available.
This situation shows why testing updates is important. Always test patches in a lab environment first. Don’t deploy them to production servers right away.
Your network stability depends on making smart choices about updates. Sometimes waiting a few days can save you from major problems like this one.