January 13, 2026—KB5073696 (Monthly Rollup)

Summary

Learn more about this cumulative security update, including improvements, any known issues, and how to get the update.

Windows Server 2012 R2

This security update includes fixes and quality improvements that are part of the following update:

• December 9, 2025—KB5071503 (Monthly Rollup)

• December 18, 2025—KB5074978 (Monthly Rollup) Out-of-band

The following is a summary of the issues that this update addresses. The bold text within the brackets indicates the item or area of the change we are documenting.

• [Windows Deployment Services (WDS)] This update introduces a change in behavior in which WDS will stop supporting hands-free deployment functionality by default. Admins should review guidance and follow instructions provided in Windows Deployment Services (WDS) Hands-Free Deployment Hardening Guidance.​​​​​​​

• [Drivers] This update removes the following modem drivers: agrsm64.sys (x64), agrsm.sys (x86), smserl64.sys (x64) and smserial.sys (x86). Modem hardware dependent on these specific drivers will no longer work in Windows.

• [WinSqlite3.dll] Fixed: The Windows core component, WinSqlite3.dll, has been updated. Previously, some security software might have detected this component as vulnerable. 

  Note: WinSqlite3.dll is a separate component from sqlite3.dll, which is found in application-specific directories and is not a Windows component. If security applications continue to detect sqlite3.dll as vulnerable, contact the developer of the app using sqlite3.dll for an update. If sqlite3.dll is being used by a Microsoft app, install the latest version of the app from the Microsoft Store.

For more information about the resolved security vulnerabilities, please refer to the Deployments | Security Update Guide and the January 2026 Security Updates.

For information about the various types of Windows updates, such as critical, security, driver, service packs, and so on, see Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates.

To view other notes and messages, see the Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 update history home page.

Known issues in this update​​​​​​​

We are currently not aware of any issues with this update. For the most up-to-date information about known issues for Windows Server 2012 R2, please go to the Windows release health dashboard.

How to get this update

Before installing this update

To install any Windows Server 2012 R2 Monthly Rollup released on or after January 14, 2025, we recommend you first install the latest Servicing Stack Update (SSU). If your device or offline image does not have the latest SSU installed, you might not be able to install this update.

• If you use Windows Update, the latest SSU (KB5068783) ​will be offered to you automatically. If the latest SSU is not installed, you might not be able to install this update.

• If you use the Update Catalog, we recommend you download and install the latest SSU (KB5068783). If the latest SSU is not installed, you might not be able to install this update.

• If you are a Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) administrator, you must approve SSU KB5068783 and this update KB5073696.

For general information about SSUs, see Servicing stack updates and Servicing Stack Updates (SSU): Frequently Asked Questions.

Language packs

If you install a language pack after you install this update, you must reinstall this update. Therefore, we recommend that you install any language packs that you need before you install this update. For more information, see Learn about adding a language pack to Windows.

Install this update

To install this update, use one of the following release channels.

File information

A list of the files that are included in this update are provided in a CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv) file. The file can be opened in a text editor such as Notepad or in Microsoft Excel.

Download the file information for cumulative update KB5073696 now.