Windows 11 KB5121003 Update Breaks Games: Here’s the Solution

Microsoft’s August cumulative security update KB5121003 for Windows 11 is causing problems for gamers and end-users. The patch is intended to close hundreds of security vulnerabilities, causing crashes, screen glitches, and Windows Hello login issues in popular games. Crashing and Freezing Issues in Games After Update Although the KB5121003 update, offered to Windows 11 version […]

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Microsoft’s August cumulative security update KB5121003 for Windows 11 is causing problems for gamers and end-users. The patch is intended to close hundreds of security vulnerabilities, causing crashes, screen glitches, and Windows Hello login issues in popular games.

Crashing and Freezing Issues in Games After Update

Although the KB5121003 update, offered to Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2 users, contains critical security patches system-wide, it is causing significant instability, especially in games. According to user reports, games like The Finals, ARC Raiders, and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls are freezing and crashing abruptly on the loading screen or in mid-game after installing the update.

Developer studio Embark has confirmed that they are aware of the issue and that conflicts, particularly with the “inpoutx64.sys” driver, are causing EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION and GameThread crashes. Several anti-cheat software programs also appear to be negatively affected by this driver conflict.

Screen Errors and Windows Hello Issues Also Reported

The disruptions caused by the KB5121003 package are not limited to game crashes. Other major issues reported by users include:

HDR and Screen Refresh Rate Distortions: Sudden drops in screen refresh rate (Hz), HDR profile color distortion, and intermittent black screen issues are occurring.
Windows Hello PIN Errors: Some users attempting to log in with biometric or PIN data are encountering verification errors during system login.

Temporary Solution for Those Experiencing Crashing Issues

Embark and community managers shared a temporary command prompt method to stop the conflicting driver for players experiencing game crashes:

Type cmd in the Start menu and run Command Prompt as administrator.
sc stop inpoutx64 Type the command and press Enter.
Then remove the driver from the system by entering the command `sc delete inpoutx64`.

Is it wise to uninstall the update?

To resolve the issues, it is possible to completely delete the update by following these steps: Settings > Windows Update > Update History > Uninstall Updates.

However, the KB5121003 package closes more than 400 security vulnerabilities, including the actively exploited “LegacyHive” zero-day vulnerability. Therefore, instead of uninstalling the update unless your computer becomes completely unusable, we recommend performing a driver cleanup or waiting for Microsoft to release an emergency fix.