Windows 11 Update KB5121003 Causes Game Crashes and Arm App Failures; Microsoft Confirms and Investigates

Microsoft has confirmed a serious flaw in its latest Windows 11 update that causes some devices to crash while running games, and in certain cases leads to random system restarts. The update in question, designated KB5121003, was released on August 11 and applies to Windows 11 versions 26200.9168 and 26100.9168. Users report that when running games, the system displays an "EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION" error and crashes, with some instances resulting in an automatic reboot after the crash.

Event logs and kernel dumps show that these game crashes are actually blue-screen errors with code 0x93. The root cause lies in a previously ignored "bad handle error". This update strengthens the kernel's handle validation mechanism, so when the system attempts to close an invalid handle, it no longer tolerates the error but instead triggers a crash. Microsoft has confirmed that the issue primarily affects Windows 11 versions 25H2 and 24H2, and is currently investigating the exact cause to determine whether it is a design flaw in the update itself or an incompatibility with third-party software.

Microsoft has published a list of known affected games, including Arc Raiders, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and The Finals. No fix has been released yet, but the company has confirmed that the problem is not limited to gaming. On devices with Arm processors, including the Surface Laptop 7, HP OmniBook 3, and Surface Pro 11, Teams crashes immediately upon opening, the new Outlook fails to start entirely, while the classic Outlook continues to work normally. Microsoft has not yet issued an official response regarding the office application crashes on Arm devices.