Microsoft has just confirmed that Windows Defender, its native antivirus, is the victim of a bug. Indeed, the shortcuts to the software in the Start menu and on the Desktop have disappeared. In question, the latest security update released by the manufacturer.
If an update aims to bring fixes and various improvements, unfortunately it happens that these patches bring with them additional bugs. With Windows 11 22H2 for example, we no longer count the number of bugs that have occurred, such as these in-game performance drops or these problems with the task manager, not to mention this problem which caused File Explorers to appear matter when.
However, this Sunday, January 15, 2023, Microsoft has just confirmed the presence of a new bug on Windows Defender, its native antivirus. To sum up, the Redmond firm found that the shortcuts to the antivirus solution on the Desktop and in the Start menu had simply disappeared among many users.
According to the manufacturer, this is a bug introduced with the latest security update, namely the “Security Intelligence” update 1.381.2140.0. It is specified that this concern concerns all versions of Windows that are still updated, whether Windows 10 20H2 up to Windows 11 22H2 of course. Note, however, that this issue has not been reported on Server editions of these OS.
Microsoft has already deployed a patch
Here is what Microsoft said about this bug:
“After installing security update 1.381.2140.0 for Microsoft Defender, application shortcuts in the Start menu, pinned to taskbar, and desktop may be missing or removed. Also, errors may be observed when trying to run executable (.exe) files that have dependencies on shortcut files. The Atack Surface Reduction (ASR) rule “Block Win31 API calls from an Office macro” is enabled on affected devices.
Fortunately, Microsoft has confirmed that a patch is already rolling out. Be careful though, this patch is not intended to reintegrate the deleted shortcuts. It just prevents other shortcuts from disappearing. “You will need to recreate or restore these shortcuts through other methods”, concludes the American giant.
Source: Bleeding Computer