After a security update of Windows 7 some users are no longer able to login to the operating system and end up with a crashing Outlook. Update KB3097877 is part of Microsoft's regular Patch Tuesday release and should prevent attackers to remotely execute code after visiting a malicious website or opening a malicious document.
The update seems to be flawed, and causes Outlook to crash. It doesn't matter which version of Outlook is installed, any version appears to be affected. The issue is in the functionality that downloads images from the internet in emails. When disabled the issue is resolved. But no workaround is needed anymore, as Microsoft has now released a patched version of KB3097877. The update is available in Windows Update and should be offered again, also to users who already installed it.
Another issue with the update is causing users to be no longer able to login to Windows 7, even in safe mode. For this issue Microsoft hasn't released a patched update yet, but users that are unable to login can use system recovery to remove KB3097877 from their system. Once that is done, they should be able to login again.
Users that haven't installed this month's Patch Tuesday updates should be carefull. It's recommend to update as soon as possible as they fix critical vulnerabilities.
It's not the first time Microsoft releases a flawed update. In 2014 the company withdrew more than 5 updates that caused more issues than they fixed. This year in October Microsoft withdrew a Windows 10 update and in March a Windows 7 update was withdrawn after causing bootloops.
