By the end of May 2024, Microsoft released a new wave of non-security updates for supported versions of Windows 10 and 11. KB5037853 for Windows 11 (build numbers 22621.3672 and 22631.3672) delivered quite a few much-needed improvements, such as fixes for File Explorer breadcrumbs, a new Settings page for managing devices, and more. Sadly, the update turned out to be a bit more buggy than usual.
After confirming taskbar issues in Windows 11 KB5037853, Microsoft updated its official documentation one more time to clarify another bug in the latest non-security update. This time, it affects customers using Windows 11 inside virtual machines on ARM-based Macs using virtualization software like the recently updated Parallels Dekstop 19. After installing KB5037853, your Windows 11 virtual machine will not boot.
Here is how Microsoft describes the problem:
After installing this update, you might face issues during the install process. This issue is mainly observed on Windows virtual machine (Parallels Desktop) running on Arm based Mac devices. After installing this update, you might encounter an error during the system restart and the device might roll back to the previous update installed.
After automatically undoing the update, Windows 11 will show the following error message in Settings > Windows Update:
2024-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems (KB5037853) Installation Error - 0x800f0845.
There are no temporary ways to fix this problem, so the best course of action is not to install KB5037853. If you are already there, your virtual machine will automatically get rid of the update. KB5037853 will become mandatory for all users later this month once it is out as part of June 2023 Patch Tuesday updates with additional security fixes. For now, you can safely ignore it unless you want those fixes. Full release notes for KB5037853 are available here.