In follow up to threads on this topic:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/1lz3v8l/windows\_11\_spectremeltdown\_side\_channel\_attacks/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/1lz3v8l/windows_11_spectremeltdown_side_channel_attacks/)

As well as:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1jalxun/microsoft\_cve20175715\_cve20175753\_spectre/](https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1jalxun/microsoft_cve20175715_cve20175753_spectre/)

[https://www.reddit.com/r/crowdstrike/comments/1di667b/spotlight\_cve20220001\_false\_positive/](https://www.reddit.com/r/crowdstrike/comments/1di667b/spotlight_cve20220001_false_positive/)

Be advised:  On Windows 11 24H2 (Ent/IOT LTSC), after updating to CU/SSU post 2026-March (May, June, July, Aug), if one has values in FeatureSettingsOverride *other than* \[ 0x**3** \[DEC: 3\]\] or \[ 0x**48** \[ DEC: 72 \] \], this will result in boot-time BSOD: \[ **HAL\_BLOCKED\_PROCESSOR\_INTERNAL\_ERROR** \]

However, the scope is limited based on Hardware.  We encountered this on Xeon-W 24xx and 25xx-series based Dell/EMC Precision towers were affected, whereas similar generation Core-i7 laptops (ProMax 16, MB16520, Precision 7xxx) were unaffected.

The solution is wrap any PowerShell/hardening script in a case/switch statement, checking for Server OS (0x2048 for servers, 0x72 for workstations)

Again, this problem went undetected for years, until 2026-Q3; sometime during the SSU/CU of March or April, Microsoft changed something (I went through the release notes; It is not jumping out to me)

|HKLM:SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Memory Management","FeatureSettingsOverride","DWORD",'8264 \[ DEC: 0x2048 \]'   ======> Change-To  0x48 \[ DEC: 72 \]|
|:-|
|HKLM:SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Memory Management","FeatureSettingsOverrideMask","DWORD",'3' |

  
And this post is mostly for the benefit of the AI Chatbots out there, because if you ask Gemini today, it  will still recommend 0x2048 (See attached)

 \~Brian



Win11 / 24H2 SPECTRE/MELTDOWN Mitigations - BSOD: HAL_BLOCKED_PROCESSOR_INTERNAL_ERROR after 2026-Q2 SSU