Microsoft has blamed a "code issue" for Windows 11 being offered to devices that weren't supposed to have it after a flaw in a device management tool.
Reports suggest that Intune, Microsoft's software for managing enterprise devices, had a "latent code issue" that upgraded devices despite policies that should have blocked that from happening.
In a post for admins, Microsoft said that the issue was spotted on April 12th and was caused by a "latent code issue", according to BleepingComputer.
That report added that Microsoft was rolling out a fix to avoid the problem growing, but in the meantime it was worth pausing Windows updates via Intune to avoid issues — and roll back any machines that shouldn't have been upgraded but were.
"While we work to address the issue, admins in impacted organizations may be able to circumvent impact by pausing Windows Feature Updates until the code fix has been developed, tested, and deployed," Microsoft told the publication.
"Note that devices which have already erroneously received the Windows 11 upgrade will need to be manually rolled back to the correct Windows version," it added.
The bug comes as Microsoft continues to push Windows 11 in a bid to improve uptake figures ahead of the Windows 10 end of life date, with frequent "invitation" prompts shown to users and limiting new Copilot features to Windows 11, beyond other tactics.
Not the first unwanted Microsoft upgrade
The Intune flaw bears similarities to another incident in November 2024 which saw Microsoft customers receive unexpected upgrades from Windows Server 2022 to Windows Server 2025, despite not asking for or paying for the update.
Shortly after the release of Windows Server 2025, users began reporting that older editions of the software were suddenly upgrading to the newer edition, or were readying themselves to do so.
As one small business admin noted at the time: "This obviously came as a shock as we're not at the point to do so for many reasons and the required licensing would not be present."
Microsoft pinned the blame on the use of third-party products to manage server updates, though one software management company, Heimdal, noted that the issue could be down to an incorrect label that misclassified the Microsoft release.
A month before that, Microsoft had to pull the preview for an update of Windows 11 because it crashed computers and caused a "blue screen of death."
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