Microsoft has confirmed a nasty bug in the Windows 11 security update it released on October 14. In certain situations, it causes USB mice and keyboards to suddenly disable.
The issue is caused by the update KB5066835. After installing it, users of Windows 11 (version 25H2) experience problems when opening the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), a tool for troubleshooting startup issues. A mouse or keyboard connected via the USB port will no longer work.
Within the classic Windows environment itself, the USB devices respond normally. However, this means that affected users cannot repair their PCs or resolve issues, as their input devices are unresponsive in recovery mode.
Microsoft has since released a follow-up update (KB5070773) that should solve the annoying problem.
