On October 22, 2024, Microsoft released update KB5044380 for Windows 11 version 23H2. The update brought many useful improvements and changes such as battery drain fixes, Copilot key remapping, new settings for notifications and more. 
Unfortunately, the update itself breaks some things.
Microsoft updated the official KB5044380 article and acknowledged that the update breaks OpenSSH (Open Secure Shell), preventing SSH connections:
After installing the October 2024 security update, some customers report that the OpenSSH (Open Secure Shell) service fails to start, preventing SSH connections. The service fails without detailed logs and manual intervention is required to run the sshd.exe process.
According to Microsoft, the bug affects all users with the KB5044380 update, including enterprise, IoT, and home customers. However, Microsoft also added that the number of affected devices is "limited".
Another good thing is that there is a workaround, which you can apply to temporarily solve the problem.
The company says that a permissions update on the affected directories should fix the problem. You can do this by running the following command in an administrative PowerShell:
$directoryPath = “C:\ProgramData\ssh” $acl = Get-Acl -Path $directoryPath $sddlString = “O:BAD:PAI(A;OICI;FA;;;SY)(A;OICI;FA;;; BA)(A;OICI;0x1200a9;;;AU)” $securityDescriptor = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.RawSecurityDescriptor $sddlString $acl.SetSecurityDescriptorSddlForm($securityDescriptor.GetSddlForm(“All”)) Set-Acl -Path $directoryPath -AclObject $acl
Microsoft recommends doing the same for C:\ProgramData\ssh\logs.
Microsoft is currently investigating the issue and we will probably see some update from Windows Update.
The bug does not affect the 24H2 version of Windows 11, but adds new issues with the latest update that are not security related.
Microsoft recently confirmed that the Task Manager in KB5044384 it does not show the correct number of running applications and processes. Microsoft also discontinued the new keyboard controller due to unknown issues and bugs (it's now only available in Canary builds).
