Microsoft representatives said the company has not found any connection between the August security update KB5063878 and customer complaints about crashes and data corruption issues affecting SSDs and HDDs from various manufacturers.
Recall that researchers first reported a link between SSD and HDD failures and the KB5063878 security update and the KB5062660 preview update for Windows 11 24H2 about two weeks ago.
It was reported at the time that after installing the updates, the OS stopped detecting drives with Phison NAND controllers during intensive write operations (for example, writing large files or many files simultaneously, or installing large game updates). Some of the affected drives recovered after a system reboot, but others remained inaccessible.
It was noted that Phison NAND controllers are more prone to issues, and the company’s DRAM-less models generally exhibit problems even at lower write volumes.
Users reported encountering such issues when working with SanDisk Extreme Pro, Corsair Force MP600, Maxio SSD, KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4, KIOXIA M.2 SSD, and other devices equipped with Phison PS5012-E12 and InnoGrit controllers.
At the time, representatives of Microsoft and Phison assured the media that they were already aware of the situation and were investigating a possible bug together with partners. Microsoft engineers noted that they were unable to reproduce the issue and urged users to share additional information about the malfunctions to help determine the cause.
As Microsoft has now reported, the company’s engineers ultimately were unable to reproduce the issue on current systems, but they are still collecting additional user reports with details about the incidents.
“After a thorough investigation, Microsoft found no connection between the August 2025 Windows security update and the hard drive failures reported on social media,” company representatives wrote. “As usual, we will continue to monitor feedback after each Windows update release and investigate any future reports of problems.”
The company reiterated that Microsoft worked on reproducing the issue in collaboration with partners that manufacture storage devices, but neither telemetry nor internal testing revealed any disk malfunctions or file corruption after installing the August security update for Windows 11 24H2.
As reported by Tom’s Hardware, shortly after information about SSD and HDD malfunctions surfaced, a document listing Phison controllers allegedly affected by the issue began circulating online.
After that, Phison representatives stated that the file is a fake unrelated to the company and promised to sue those responsible for spreading this disinformation.
The company emphasized that it conducted over 4,500 hours of testing and also could not reproduce the issue. However, Phison recommended that users with heavy drive workloads install heatsinks on their SSDs to reduce the likelihood of thermal throttling due to overheating.