Microsoft has confirmed that a bug in Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016 is causing the Group Policy Editor to display errors.
In our September 2020 Windows health report, we reported that Windows 10 1607 and Windows Server 2016 users were experiencing errors when opening the the Security Options MMC in the group policy editor.
Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that the bug was introduced in September’s KB4577015 cumulative update and that they are working on a fix.
“Accessing the Security Options data view in the Group Policy Management Editor (gpedit.msc) or Local Security Policy Editor (secpol.msc) might fail with the error “MMC has detected an error in a snap-in. It is recommended that you shut down and restart MMC” or “MMC cannot initialize the snap-in.”
“This occurs from the MMC window, when the console tree is expanded in the following sequence: select Computer Configuration, then Policies, then Windows Settings, then Security Settings, then Local Policies, then Security Options,” Microsoft explained.
For now, users can bypass this bug by installing the Remote Administrative tools on Windows 10 v1709 and later and remotely edit the group policy.
To install the tools, go to Settings > Apps > Optional Features > Add a Feature and then install the RSAT: Group Policy Management Tools feature.