Unexpected UI errors in WSUS

Early yesterday we began to receive reports that WSUS was generating the following error within the UI:

Windows Server Update Services encountered an error
The specified string is invalid. Parameter name: Title

This was caused by a recently released update which had quotation marks in the title: 'ISA Server codename "Nitrogen", Definition Updates for HTTP Malware

Bobbie Harder wrote up a nice blog post about the cause and resolution to this which you can begin reading below:

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Hi Folks,

We have been hearing reports from some customers who use WSUS that they have been having trouble accessing their administration consoles. We have confirmed the cause of this issue and fixed it on our servers, which will automatically fix the issue for most customers on their next synchronization cycle.  This post will explain the issue in detail and provide steps customers can take to get WSUS working again even sooner.

The cause of this issue is that, on Sunday evening, Microsoft renamed a product category entry for Forefront to clarify the scope of updates that will be included in the future. Unfortunately the category name that was used included the word Nitrogen in double quotes (appearing as “Nitrogen”). A double quote is a restricted character within WSUS, which created an error condition on the administration console.  This issue occurred on many WSUS servers that synchronized with Microsoft servers between 5pm Sunday and 11am Monday Pacific Time.

To continue reading the story click here.

J.C. Hornbeck