Users are in an uproar over strange folders after updating Windows

If you've just updated to the April Patch Tuesday for Windows 10 or Windows 11, don't be surprised if you find an uninvited guest: a completely empty folder called "inetpub" suddenly appearing at the root of your system drive (usually drive C). This unexpected appearance is causing confusion and concern among users, although Microsoft insists that it's part of the security patch and advises you. not to delete it.

After users started buzzing on forums about the strange folder, Microsoft had to update its security bulletin to clarify part of the problem. Accordingly, the creation of this C:inetpub folder is directly related to the patching of a serious security vulnerability coded as CVE-2025-21204. This vulnerability is a type of privilege escalation, allowing an authenticated attacker to take control of the system at the highest level (SYSTEM) to perform dangerous file management operations.

Normally, the inetpub folder is used by Windows' Internet Information Services (IIS) to store web server log files. However, strangely, this folder is still created even on computers that do not have IIS installed or enabled. Microsoft simply explained that the new folder is part of changes to "enhance" security and advised both end users and IT administrators not to bother looking into it further.

However, this explanation leaves the biggest question unanswered: How exactly does an empty directory help prevent a complex privilege escalation vulnerability? The lack of a clear technical explanation leaves many users confused and somewhat frustrated.

Especially for users who have a habit of organizing data neatly, want to maintain a clean, customized folder structure on the drive, the presence of a "strange", empty and "not allowed to be deleted" folder at the root of the system can be quite frustrating. Some users humorously liken it to a "foreign object" that Microsoft is forced to keep.

Regardless, the official advice from Microsoft is to leave the inetpub folder alone. Trying to remove it could cause unintended consequences or affect the effectiveness of security patches. Perhaps users will just have to accept its existence for now and hope that Microsoft will come up with a more satisfactory explanation in the future.

Kareem Winters

Update 20 April 2025