● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 negative
Microsoft warns of app crashes on Windows Server 2025 due to memory management changes
Key points
- Windows Server 2025 memory changes cause app crashes.
- Apps using Address Windowing Extensions (AWE) are affected.
- SQL Server with Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) is vulnerable.
- Workaround: disable LPIM for SQL Server service account.
Windows Server 2025 Memory Management Issue
Microsoft has alerted customers to a known issue in Windows Server 2025 where recent memory management changes are causing application crashes. This problem specifically affects applications that utilize Address Windowing Extensions (AWE), which allows 32-bit applications to access more than 4GB of physical memory.
Impact on Applications
Applications running on Windows Server 2025 may experience access violations, memory corruption, or unexpected termination. SQL Server is particularly impacted when the Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) Windows policy is enabled, a setting often used to enhance performance by preventing memory paging to disk. Affected SQL Server instances may show memory corruption errors, access violation exceptions (0xC0000005), failures during database maintenance, and unexpected service stops or restarts.
Temporary Workaround Provided
While a permanent fix is under development, Microsoft has provided a temporary workaround. This involves disabling the LPIM policy for the SQL Server service account. Microsoft advises customers to evaluate this workaround carefully, as disabling LPIM can affect SQL Server's performance and memory management behavior. For other affected applications, users should check if AWE can be disabled.
Ongoing Resolution Efforts
Microsoft is actively working on a resolution for this issue, which is expected to be delivered in a future Windows update. This incident follows other recent issues with Windows Server 2025, including a security update installation failure in April and a BitLocker recovery bug after a security update in June, both of which have since been addressed.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
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Reporting from
Microsoft has issued a warning about application crashes on Windows Server 2025, stemming from recent memory management changes affecting apps that use Address Windowing Extensions (AWE). This issue primarily impacts applications like SQL Server when configured with the Lock Pages in Memory (LPIM) policy, potentially leading to access violations, memory corruption, or unexpected termination. A temporary workaround involves disabling the LPIM policy for SQL Server, though this may affect performance.