CyberHappenings logo
☰
Home Browse About

Track cybersecurity events as they unfold. Sourced timelines. Filter, sort, and browse. Fast, privacy‑respecting. No invasive ads, no tracking.

Windows 11 KB5070311 Update Addresses File Explorer and Search Issues

First reported
Last updated
1 unique sources, 3 articles

Summary

Hide ▲

Microsoft has released the KB5070311 optional preview cumulative update for Windows 11, addressing File Explorer freezes, search issues, and other bugs. The update includes 49 changes and is part of the monthly preview updates that precede Patch Tuesday releases. It fixes issues with explorer.exe process responsiveness, SMB share search problems, and LSASS instability. However, the update also introduced a new bug causing bright white flashes when launching File Explorer in dark mode. Microsoft has since fixed this issue with the December KB5072033 Patch Tuesday cumulative update. The update is available for manual installation and updates Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 devices to builds 26200.7309 and 26100.7309, respectively. Additionally, Microsoft announced there will be no preview update in December 2025 due to minimal operations during the Western holidays, with normal updates resuming in January 2026.

Timeline

  1. 11.12.2025 12:09 1 articles · 23h ago

    Microsoft releases KB5072033 Patch Tuesday update fixing dark mode flash bug

    Microsoft has released the December KB5072033 Patch Tuesday cumulative update, which includes a fix for the File Explorer white flash issue in dark mode. The update also addresses a known issue that caused network connectivity to be lost on virtual machines after external virtual switches lose their physical network adapter bindings following a host restart. Additionally, it patches Windows PowerShell to warn when scripts use the Invoke-WebRequest cmdlet to download web content, helping prevent the execution of harmful code.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab
  2. 02.12.2025 15:39 2 articles · 9d ago

    KB5070311 introduces File Explorer dark mode flash bug

    The KB5070311 update triggered bright white flashes when launching File Explorer in dark mode on Windows 11 systems. This issue occurred during various actions such as navigating to or from Home or Gallery, creating a new tab, toggling the Details pane, and selecting 'More details' while copying files. Microsoft has since fixed this issue with the December KB5072033 Patch Tuesday cumulative update.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab
  3. 02.12.2025 13:19 2 articles · 9d ago

    Windows 11 KB5070311 Update Released with 49 Fixes

    Microsoft released the KB5070311 optional preview cumulative update for Windows 11, addressing File Explorer freezes, search issues, and other bugs. The update includes 49 changes and is available for manual installation. It updates Windows 11 25H2 and 24H2 devices to builds 26200.7309 and 26100.7309, respectively. Microsoft also announced there will be no preview update in December 2025, with normal updates resuming in January 2026. Additionally, the update introduces a bug causing bright white flashes when launching File Explorer in dark mode, which Microsoft is working to fix.

    Show sources
    Open in new tab

Information Snippets

Similar Happenings

Windows 11 24H2 Bug Causes Critical System Component Crashes

Microsoft has confirmed a critical bug in Windows 11 24H2 that causes File Explorer, Start Menu, and other key system components to crash after installing cumulative updates released since July 2025. The issue arises from XAML dependency packages failing to register properly, affecting both regular and non-persistent OS installations. Users experience crashes in essential shell components, leading to partially functional systems. Microsoft is working on a resolution and has provided temporary workarounds.

Open in new tab

Microsoft Releases November and December 2025 Patch Tuesday Updates for Windows 11

Microsoft has released Windows 11 cumulative updates KB5072033 and KB5071417 for versions 25H2/24H2 and 23H2. These updates address security vulnerabilities and various issues, including fixes for browsers, gaming, PowerShell, and Windows Hello. New features introduced include dark mode support for dialogs in File Explorer, new Virtual Workspaces settings, desktop spotlight options, simplified File Explorer context menu, full-screen experience for gaming, haptic feedback for pens, improved keyboard backlight performance, mobile device settings, OneDrive icon in settings, Quick Machine Recovery, updated keyboard settings, updated taskbar animations, sharing apps with Copilot, updated widgets, improved Windows Share, display and graphics performance improvements, Game Pass branding updates, and improved Start menu search panel. The updates also mark the last update for Windows 11 23H2, with support ending in November 2025. Additionally, Microsoft has released the KB5072753 out-of-band cumulative update to fix a known issue causing the November 2025 KB5068966 hotpatch update to reinstall on Windows 11 systems repeatedly. This update is recommended for Windows 11, version 25H2 devices instead of the November 2025 hotpatch update (KB5068966). Microsoft has also announced that it will not release optional updates in December, but Patch Tuesday updates will continue as scheduled. Nvidia has confirmed that the October 2025 Windows 11 updates (KB5066835) cause gaming performance issues on Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 systems. Nvidia released the GeForce Hotfix Display Driver version 581.94 to address these issues. The October updates also caused other issues such as broken localhost HTTP connections, smart card authentication problems, and broken Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) on systems with USB mice and keyboards.

Open in new tab

Microsoft August 2025 Patch Tuesday: Multiple Critical Elevation-of-Privilege Vulnerabilities

Microsoft's August 2025 Patch Tuesday addressed 111 vulnerabilities, including 44 elevation-of-privilege (EoP) flaws and 35 remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities. The update also fixed 18 information disclosure flaws, 8 spoofing defects, and 4 denial-of-service issues. Critical issues included EoP bugs in Windows Hyper-V, Microsoft SQL Server, and Azure OpenAI, as well as RCE vulnerabilities in SharePoint and Windows Graphics Component. The update included a fix for CVE-2025-53779, a publicly known Windows Kerberos EoP flaw dubbed BadSuccessor, disclosed in May 2025. The update did not include any actively exploited bugs, marking the second consecutive month without such vulnerabilities. Security experts recommended immediate patching for high-severity issues, especially those in core system components and widely used services like SharePoint and SQL Server. However, the August 2025 security updates caused failures in reset and recovery operations on Windows 10 and older versions of Windows 11. Microsoft released emergency out-of-band updates on August 19, 2025, to resolve this issue. The emergency updates are available as optional updates via Windows Update and Windows Update for Business, or can be downloaded and installed manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Additionally, the August 2025 security updates caused severe lag and stuttering issues with NDI streaming software on some Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems. The issues affected applications such as OBS (Open Broadcast Software) and NDI Tools, especially when 'Display Capture' was enabled on the source PC. A temporary workaround involved changing the NDI Receive Mode to use TCP or UDP instead of RUDP. Microsoft resolved a known issue causing Windows upgrades to fail with 0x8007007F errors on some Windows 11 and Windows Server systems. The affected upgrade paths included Windows 10 1809, 21H2, and 22H2 to Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2, and Windows Server 2016 to Windows Server 2019 or 2022, and Windows Server 2019 to Windows Server 2022. The issue was resolved as of August 15, 2025, and users were advised to retry the upgrade process if they encountered the error. The KB5064081 update introduced a new method for displaying CPU usage in Task Manager, standardizing CPU reporting across the application. The update included new Recall features and a redesigned Windows Hello interface. The update addressed an issue that prevented some system recovery features from working properly due to a temporary file sharing conflict. The update fixed an issue in Resilient File System (ReFS) where using backup apps with large files could sometimes exhaust system memory. The update resolved an issue with the Chinese (Simplified) Input Method Editor (IME) where some extended characters appeared as empty boxes. The update addressed an issue that prevented typing on the touch keyboard when using the Microsoft Changjie, Microsoft Bopomofo, or Microsoft Japanese Input Method Editors (IMEs). The update fixed an issue that slowed application installation on ARM64 devices. The update included fixes for audio and video performance issues when using Network Device Interface (NDI) to stream or transfer feeds between PCs. The update was part of the company's optional non-security preview update schedule, which releases updates at the end of each month to test new fixes and features coming to the next month's Patch Tuesday. The KB5065426 and KB5065431 cumulative updates for Windows 11 introduce new features and improvements, including a redesigned Windows Hello interface and enhanced passkey features. The updates include a new Recall feature that opens to a personalized homepage, highlighting recent activity and top-used apps and websites. The updates fix issues with the taskbar preview thumbnail, Search on the taskbar, and the lock screen widgets. The updates introduce a new navigation bar for quick access to Home, Timeline, Feedback, and Settings in the Recall feature. The updates include a new grid view in Search on the taskbar to help users quickly identify desired images. The updates provide clearer status information in Search on the taskbar, including progress notices and file availability status. The updates introduce a new visual experience for the Discover feed on the Widgets Board, including Copilot-curated stories. The updates include a new Windows Backup for Organizations feature, providing enterprise-grade backup and restore capabilities. The updates address an issue with the Microsoft Pluton Cryptographic Provider, resolving error messages in Windows Event Viewer. The updates fix issues with live captions, input methods, and various underlying system components. The September 2025 Windows security update fixed issues caused by the August 2025 updates, which triggered unexpected UAC prompts and app installation problems for non-admin users across all Windows versions. The issue was due to a security patch for CVE-2025-50173, a Windows Installer privilege escalation vulnerability. The September update reduces the scope of UAC prompts for MSI repairs and allows IT admins to disable UAC prompts for specific apps.

Open in new tab