Microsoft has pulled a security update for all versions of its Windows operating system, following reports the patch was breaking user's machines.

The update was released on 9 April as a part of Microsoft's ongoing monthly patch cycle but Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing group manager, Dustin Childs confirmed the company was aware of the bug and has stopped pushing the patch in a blog post on Thursday.

"We are aware that some of our customers may be experiencing difficulties after applying security update 2823324, which we provided in security bulletin MS13-036 on Tuesday, 9 April," wrote Childs.

"We've determined that the update, when paired with certain third-party software, can cause system errors. As a precaution, we stopped pushing 2823324 as an update when we began investigating the error reports, and have since removed it from the download center."

Childs said that the bug does not result in data loss and only affects a small number of Windows customers.

V3.co.uk