Microsoft has acknowledged a flaw in its Defender for Endpoint that mistakenly marks SQL Server 2017 and 2019 as end-of-life products. This issue triggered confusion among IT administrators using Microsoft Defender XDR for managing threats and vulnerabilities.
According to reports, the false alerts began surfacing earlier this week, catching the attention of users and was first noted by Bleeping Computer. Microsoft confirmed the presence of this bug in a service alert on Microsoft 365. The error reportedly originated from a recent update affecting the detection of software support status.
To clarify, SQL Server 2019 will continue to receive support until January 2030, while SQL Server 2017 is supported until October 2027. Microsoft has identified this issue as stemming from a coding error created during changes made to how end-of-support alerts are generated. They are actively working on a solution to reverse the changes responsible for the false alerts.
Affected users primarily viewing SQL Server assets through the Threat and Vulnerability Management dashboards are experiencing these notifications. While the issue may impact all systems utilizing the specified SQL Server versions, Microsoft has categorized it as an advisory with limited operational consequences.
“We’re continuing to deploy a fix that’s designed to reverse the offending change that introduced the code issue and will provide a timeline for its completion as one becomes available,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated.
For the time being, administrators can disregard these incorrect end-of-life notifications until the fix is fully rolled out, with Microsoft expected to provide updates on the resolution soon.
For more details, you can refer to: Microsoft and SQL Server.