October 25, 2026, 7:22 am | Read time: 2 minutes
With the October patch for Windows 11, Microsoft fixes numerous errors in the operating system. However, the update identified as KB5127648 apparently introduces a new problem. After installation, the “Smart App Control” feature can no longer be activated on some computers. Affected are Windows versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H2.
What’s Behind the Error
Smart App Control is a security feature of Windows 11. It is designed to prevent untrusted or potentially harmful applications from running. The current error does not affect all users. Those who had already activated Smart App Control before installing the update can continue to use the feature.
The update does not generally disable the protection. It becomes a problem only if Smart App Control was not previously activated and users want to enable the feature after the update. Due to the error, the corresponding field in the settings is grayed out and rendered non-functional. Re-enabling it is not possible without further steps.
Also of interest: Windows 11 26H2 is here! What the surprisingly small update brings
How Users Can Solve the Problem
The situation is not entirely hopeless. Microsoft provides a workaround–two values in the Windows Registry need to be adjusted. It should be noted beforehand: Users should definitely back up the Registry before making changes. Once that is done, affected users open the command prompt with administrator rights by typing “cmd” in the search field and clicking the appropriate option. In the new window, enter the following commands:
reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides” /v 2883193997 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides” /v 2850574478 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
On corporate computers, Microsoft recommends a solution via Group Policy. At the same time, the company is working on a permanent fix for Smart App Control in Windows 11. When Microsoft will release the corrective update is not yet known.