Windows error 0x80041008: slmgr fails after November updates, fix KB5136487 out now

Microsoft's November 2026 Patch Tuesday updates broke slmgr.vbs activation and licensing commands with error 0x80041008, and on 13 November it shipped out-of-band updates to fix that. A second November problem, documents with invisible zero-size images failing to print, was still under investigation with no fix date and no workaround in the coverage we read. Most home PCs will never see either bug: the activation fault mainly hurts organisations that script activation or set up KMS.

Key points

• After the 10 November security updates, slmgr.vbs /skms-domain and slmgr.vbs /ipk can fail with error 0x80041008, "Invalid parameter (SWbemObjectEx)", on Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2, Windows 11 23H2 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025 (Microsoft release health alert WI1549486, as reported by BleepingComputer).
• Devices that are already activated stay activated, Microsoft says, and KMS-activated devices typically stay activated for up to 180 days.
• Microsoft's KB5136487 page says its 13 November out-of-band update for Windows Server 2022 fixes the problem; matching packages exist for other builds, including KB5136483 for Windows 11 23H2.
• Printing can fail for documents containing images whose height or width is zero at the print resolution, mostly Word documents printed through GDI; Microsoft was still investigating (alert WI1549472, per BleepingComputer and The Register).
• Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1 and 26H2 are not on the activation list, according to BleepingComputer's account of Microsoft's alert.

What to do

Activation error 0x80041008

• Who is affected: administrators who run slmgr.vbs or automate activation, key installation or KMS configuration on Windows 10 21H2/22H2, Windows 11 23H2 and Windows Server 2019, 2022 and 2025 with the November update. Microsoft does not expect problems for devices whose image already holds the KMS client key and that need no further slmgr changes.
• Fix: install the out-of-band update for your build, released 13 November. Microsoft's own pages confirm KB5136487 (Windows Server 2022, build 20348.5873), KB5136489 (Windows Server 2025, build 26100.33828) and KB5136483 (Windows 11 23H2, build 22631.7714). The German site s-edv.com lists KB5136490 for Windows Server 2019 and KB5136493 for Windows 10 22H2 with ESU; we could not open Microsoft's pages for those two, so check them before deploying.
• How to get it: on Server 2022, Microsoft's page says the update is offered only through the Microsoft Update Catalog, not Windows Update or WSUS, so import it manually into WSUS. For Windows 11 23H2, secondary reports say it is also offered as an optional update under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options. Prerequisites for KB5136487: an update released on or after 8 July 2025 and the latest servicing stack update.
• Workaround: none was published. Microsoft told business customers needing immediate help to contact Microsoft Support for business.
• Check: after installing, run winver to confirm the build, then retest the slmgr step that failed.

Printing failures

• Who is affected: per The Register, most supported Windows versions from Windows 11 26H2 back to Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016, and Windows Server 2025 through 2016. Documents may contain invisible watermark or layout-anchor images that the user never added.
• Fix: none announced. Workaround: none in the coverage we read. Report it through Feedback Hub or Microsoft Support if it blocks work.

What happened

Microsoft released the November security updates on Patch Tuesday, 10 November. On 11 November it added an entry to the known issues of KB5131090, the Windows Server 2022 update (OS Build 20348.5870), titled "Windows activation and licensing commands might fail with error 0x80041008". BleepingComputer, writing on 13 November, saw the matching Windows release health alert, WI1549486, and reported that Microsoft promised a fix "over the coming days".

The fix came the same day. Microsoft's KB5136487 page, dated 13 November, describes a non-security out-of-band update that "addresses a Licensing and Activation issue" in which some SLMGR operations failed. It is cumulative, so it also carries the fixes from KB5131090. Microsoft's Server 2022 page for the November update now lists the problem as resolved in updates released on or after 13 November.

The Register separately reported that Microsoft had confirmed a printing fault. Microsoft's own wording, quoted by BleepingComputer, is that "printing might fail for documents containing images rendered with a height or width value of zero". The Register adds that the objects can make the whole printed page disappear.

Background

slmgr.vbs is the Windows Software Licensing Management Tool, a script administrators use to install product keys, point machines at a KMS host and check activation state. Organisations that build images and deploy at scale often wrap it in automation, which is why a single failing command can stall a whole rollout even though already-activated machines are untouched.

This is not the only November trouble. BleepingComputer notes that November Windows 11 updates failed to install on systems that had the October preview update, linking the problem to KB5132061 with errors 0x80070306, 0x800f0989 and 0x800f0993. We covered that month's Patch Tuesday and its zero-day, the Windows 10 update KB5131096 and the SQL Server linked server connections that stay open after the October updates. Microsoft's Windows 11 pages said on 11 November that it would fix the SQL Server problem with an out-of-band update "in the next few days"; we did not confirm that this had shipped.

How it works

The error text, "Invalid parameter (SWbemObjectEx)", points to the WMI layer that slmgr uses to talk to the licensing service. Microsoft has not published a root cause, so we do not know why the November update changed that behaviour. What Microsoft does say is where it bites: running slmgr.vbs /skms-domain <domain> to set a KMS host, or slmgr.vbs /ipk <key> to install a product key, can fail, and devices set up for KMS may fail to begin activation.

The printing fault is easier to picture. A document can carry an image that has zero width or height at the chosen print resolution. Such objects are invisible on screen, which is why they are used as watermarks or layout anchors, and document generators can insert them without the user noticing. Microsoft says it saw the problem printing Word documents through the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI), and that other applications may be affected.

What it means

For IT teams that image machines or run KMS, the practical rule is to hold any pipeline step that calls slmgr until the out-of-band build is in the image, or to run those steps on builds not on the affected list. For everyone else, the bug is mostly a headline. The more disruptive item for offices is printing, because the trigger can be hidden inside documents from another system and Microsoft had offered no workaround.

It also shows a servicing detail: Microsoft shipped the fix as a cumulative non-security package through the Update Catalog, so the fix does not arrive on its own through Windows Update on every edition, and WSUS administrators must import it by hand. Windows 11 23H2 Enterprise and Education editions received their final update this month, according to Microsoft's release health page, so those fleets have no more regular patches after this one.

What we don't know yet

• The cause of the slmgr regression, which Microsoft has not explained.
• The two other out-of-band KBs. KB5136490 and KB5136493 come from one secondary source that itself carries an unreviewed-AI notice.
• Whether Windows 10 21H2 and 22H2 fleets without ESU can get a fix, since the secondary source ties KB5136493 to 22H2 with ESU and LTSC 2021.
• A printing fix date. None was published, and the printing alert's update history may have moved since the reports we read.
• Windows Server 2016, which the same secondary source says has no out-of-band update for the activation problem.

What to watch next

Watch Microsoft's Windows release health pages for the printing entry and for the out-of-band update that is supposed to close the SQL Server linked server issue. Also watch the December Patch Tuesday for whether the activation fix is folded into the regular update for all affected builds.

Sources

• KB5136487 (OS Build 20348.5873) Out-of-band, Microsoft (primary)
• November 10, 2026, KB5131090 (OS Build 20348.5870), Microsoft
• Windows 11, version 23H2 known issues and notifications, Microsoft Learn
• Microsoft confirms Windows activation failures after November updates, BleepingComputer
• Microsoft says November security updates cause printing issues, BleepingComputer
• Microsoft has an image problem with November's Windows security update, The Register
• Microsoft's latest Windows update is breaking activation for some business PCs, Digital Trends
• Windows: OOB-Updates gegen Aktivierungsfehler 0x80041008, s-edv.com