Microsoft has confirmed another bug tied to its September Patch Tuesday update, and this time it's audio that's taking the hit. According to an updated Windows release health document, KB5124008, released on September 8, can cause USB Audio Class 1.0 devices to stop working entirely after installing the update.
Affected users may see a "This device cannot start (Code 10)" error in Device Manager, along with unresponsive volume controls, no sound output, or an unresponsive Sound settings page. Some devices reportedly still work fine in standard stereo mode but fail once multichannel features like 8-channel or 3D audio are switched on. A handful of users say dropping back to 2-channel mode restores audio, though that's more of a workaround than an actual fix, and it won't apply to every setup.
Microsoft hasn't shipped a resolution yet and says it's still investigating the root cause. The bug affects Windows 11 versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1, while Windows Server installs are apparently unaffected. It's unclear exactly how many devices this affects, though Microsoft limits the impact to USB Audio Class 1.0 hardware specifically, so older or generic USB DACs and headsets look like the most likely candidates.
Unfortunately, this isn't the only issue tied to KB5124008. The same update has also been linked to Remote Desktop Services instability and problems with Hyper-V based Linux VMs losing access to shared host folders, though Microsoft says fixes for both are already in the works. Between the RDP bugs, the VM issues, and now broken audio, it's turning into a rough patch cycle for anyone running the latest Windows 11 security update.
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If your USB audio device suddenly goes silent after installing this update, it's probably not your hardware failing. It may be worth holding off on multichannel audio setups for now and watching Microsoft's release health page until they release a fix.
