Blue Screen of Death | SophosNtpService | Windows Updates March 2024

I posted this as a reply on a different thread, but it seems to have not gotten any attention, so I am posting it now as an independent thread.

I am experiencing on multiple machines with Sophos Home installed, the following:

Quasi-random BSOD (tcpip.sys) when browsing certain web pages (using MS Edge).

I have figured out the contributing factors to be:

1. Recent Windows (March 2024) "quality" updates.
2. Sophos Home installed.
3. Virtual Machines (network drivers are in the mix).

Additionally, I am running these virtual machines on ESXi7 and it affects both Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Before writing this post, I tried:

1. Upgrading ESXi7 to the latest (March 2024) update: 7.0-U3p.
2. Updating virtual NIC drivers.
3. Changing type of virtual NICs (e.g., E1000e to VMXNET3).
4. Removing the March 2024 Windows updates (only a temporary measure).

After reviewing the crash dumps, I obtained the following information that points to a conflict between Sophos and something else.

• PROCESS_NAME: SophosNtpServi
• FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: AV_vmxnet3!unknown_function

I confirmed that un-installing Sophos Home prevents the problem from occurring.

I further confirmed, immediately before making this new post, that the issue still exists after updating Sophos.

I am able to provide crash dumps if needed.