KB5096981 - Cumulative Update 7 for SQL Server 2025

Release Date:   July 16, 2026
Version:   17.0.4065.4

Summary

This article describes Cumulative Update (CU7) for Microsoft SQL Server 2025. This update package contains 10 fixes that were issued after the release of SQL Server 2025 Cumulative Update 6. It updates components in the following builds:

  • SQL Server - Product version: 17.0.4065.4, file version: 2025.170.4065.4
  • Analysis Services - Product version: 17.0.25.223, file version: 2025.170.25.223

Important

To help secure SQL Server on Windows, enable encryption with Extended Protection.

Known issues in this update

Incorrect behavior of SESSION_CONTEXT in parallel plans

Queries that use the built-in SESSION_CONTEXT function might return incorrect results or trigger access violation (AV) dump files when they're run in parallel query plans. This issue occurs because of the manner in which SESSION_CONTEXT interacts with parallel execution threads, particularly if the session is reset for reuse.

For more information, see the "Known issues" section in SESSION_CONTEXT.

Linked server queries that use MSDASQL fail and generate error 7416

Linked server queries that use the MSDASQL (OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers) provider and specify a provider string (@provstr) fail and return the following error message:

Msg 7416, Level 16
Access to the remote server is denied because no login-mapping exists.

A stricter connection validation check in the Database Engine can reject connections for certain linked server configurations that use the MSDASQL provider, even if earlier builds allowed those connections.

For more information and workarounds, see Linked server queries that use MSDASQL fail with error 7416.

Improvements and fixes included in this update

A downloadable Microsoft Excel workbook that contains a summary list of builds, together with their current support lifecycle, is available. The Excel file also contains detailed fix lists for SQL Server 2025, SQL Server 2022, SQL Server 2019, and SQL Server 2017. Download this Excel file now.

Note

Individual entries in the following table can be referenced directly through a bookmark. If you select any bug reference ID in the table, a bookmark tag is added to the URL by using the "#NNNNNNN" format. You can then share this URL with others so that they can jump directly to the desired fix in the table.

For more information about the bugs that are fixed and enhancements that are included in this cumulative update, see the following table.

Bug Reference Description Fix area Component Platform
5216512 Fixes an issue in which monitoring queries that use sys.dm_exec_requests or sys.sysprocesses intermittently fail and return Error "976" or Error "978" when they run against a read-intent only secondary replica in an availability group. SQL Server Engine High Availability and Disaster Recovery Windows
5271098 Updates UCS encryption to use the AES-256 algorithm instead of AES-128 if TLS isn't explicitly enabled. SQL Server Engine Universal Communication Stack All
5281735 Fixes a non-yielding scheduler condition that can occur when SQL Server writes a time zone-related error to the error log. SQL Server Engine Programmability All
5290707 Adds a trace flag that lets you enable TLS 1.3 for SQL Server without having to edit the registry. SQL Server Engine Universal Communication Stack Windows
5293307 Strengthens Service Broker dialog encryption by using the AES-256 algorithm. SQL Server Engine Universal Communication Stack Windows
5295512 Adds logical capping to the EDIT_DISTANCE function to prevent overflow errors that an authenticated user could otherwise use to cause a denial-of-service crash. SQL Server Engine Query Execution All
5295713 Fixes an insecure deserialization vulnerability in the Message Queue task by removing support for the legacy BinaryMessageFormatter (2000 format). This change prevents remote code execution from untrusted MSMQ messages. Integration Services Integration Services Windows
5349316 Fixes an issue in which ALTER JSON INDEX REORGANIZE generates a dump file if statistics exist on the internal table of a JSON index. SQL Server Engine Programmability All
5354186 Fixes an issue in which the node parent offset is calculated incorrectly and can cause JSON corruption during a JSON_MODIFY operation. SQL Server Engine Programmability All
5355051 Fixes an issue in which a JSON_MODIFY merge operation can cause corruption and generate a dump file. SQL Server Engine Programmability All

How to obtain or download this CU or the latest CU package

How to obtain or download the latest cumulative update package for Windows (recommended)

The following update is available from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the latest cumulative update package for SQL Server 2025 now

Note

  • Microsoft Download Center always offers the latest SQL Server 2025 CU release.
  • If the download page doesn't appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the cumulative update package.
How to obtain or download this cumulative update package for Windows from Microsoft Update Catalog

The following update is available from the Microsoft Update Catalog:

Note

  • Microsoft Update Catalog contains this SQL Server 2025 CU and previously released SQL Server 2025 CU releases.
  • This CU is also available through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).
  • We recommend that you always install the latest cumulative update that's available.
How to obtain or download the latest cumulative update package for Linux

To update SQL Server 2025 on Linux to the latest CU, you must first have the Cumulative Update repository configured. Then, update your SQL Server packages by using the appropriate platform-specific update command.

For installation instructions and direct links to the CU package downloads, see the SQL Server 2025 Release Notes.

File information

File hash information

You can verify the download by computing the hash of the SQLServer2025-KB5096981-x64.exe file through the following command:

certutil -hashfile SQLServer2025-KB5096981-x64.exe SHA256

File name SHA256 hash
SQLServer2025-KB5096981-x64.exe 5FB70451BEF95B4A392B718B90C7A05EA389B2C0B29E07A3DE9768F7F3B736B5
Cumulative Update package file information

Download the list of files that are included in KB5096981.

Notes for this update

Prerequisites

To apply this cumulative update package, you must be running SQL Server 2025.

Restart information

You might have to restart the computer after you apply this cumulative update package.

Registry information

To use one of the hotfixes in this package, you don't have to make any changes to the registry.

Important notices

This article also provides the following important information.

Analysis Services CU build version

Beginning in Microsoft SQL Server 2017, the Analysis Services build version number and SQL Server Database Engine build version number don't match. For more information, see Verify Analysis Services cumulative update build version.

Cumulative updates (CU)

  • Each new CU contains all the fixes that were included in the previous CU for the installed version of SQL Server.
  • SQL Server CUs are certified to the same levels as service packs, and should be installed at the same level of confidence.
  • We recommend ongoing, proactive installation of CUs as they become available according to these guidelines:
    • Historical data shows that a significant number of support cases involve an issue that was already addressed in a released CU.
    • CUs might contain added value over and above hotfixes, such as supportability, manageability, and reliability updates.
  • We recommend that you test SQL Server CUs before you deploy them to production environments.
Hybrid environment deployment

When you deploy an update to a hybrid environment (such as Always On, replication, cluster, and mirroring), we recommend that you refer to the following articles before you deploy the update:

Language support

SQL Server CUs are currently multilingual. Therefore, this CU package isn't specific to one language. It applies to all supported languages.

Components (features) updated

One CU package includes all available updates for all SQL Server 2025 components (features). However, the cumulative update package updates only those components that are currently installed on the SQL Server instance that you select to be serviced. If a SQL Server feature (for example, Analysis Services) is added to the instance after this CU is applied, you must reapply this CU to update the new feature to this CU.

Support for this update

If other issues occur, or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and to issues that don't qualify for this specific cumulative update package. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers, or to create a separate service request, go to the Microsoft support website.

How to uninstall this update

How to uninstall this update on Windows
  1. In Control Panel, open the Programs and Features item, and then select View installed updates.
  2. Locate the entry that corresponds to this cumulative update package under SQL Server 2025.
  3. Press and hold (or right-click) the entry, and then select Uninstall.
How to uninstall this update on Linux

To uninstall this CU on Linux, you must roll back the package to the previous version. For more information about how to roll back the installation, see Rollback SQL Server.

References