Network Management

Real-Time Process Explorer and High CPU with Top 10 Processes alert shows CPU usage above 100% after upgrade to SolarWinds Platform 2025.4 or 2026.1

After upgrading the SolarWinds Platform from 2025.1.1 to 2025.4.x or 2026.1, some Windows nodes report individual processes with CPU utilization greater than 100% in Real-Time Process Explorer (RTPE) and in the “High CPU Utilization with Top 10 Processes” alert email, even though the node’s overall CPU utilization is correct.

First published date

3/26/2026 2:40 PM

Last published date

8/25/2026 2:59 AM

Overview

The Real-Time Process Explorer shows per-process CPU values >100% (e.g. sqlservr.exe 396%, w3wp.exe 235%), while Task Manager on the node shows reasonable values.

The “High CPU Utilization with Top 10 Processes” alert email lists some processes with CPU% well above 100% even when node CPU is <100%. 

Other nodes in the same environment, monitored with the same alert, continue to show correct per-process CPU.

 

 

The High Top 10 CPU Processes Alert appear like this example below:

  • Conditions

    • Platform versions:
      • Correct behavior: 2024.4 (baseline used for comparison).
      • Incorrect behavior: 2025.4.3 and 2026.1 (reproduced on the same node at the same time across three environments).
    • Affected monitored OS: observed on Windows Server 2019/2022 nodes.

  • Scope

    • The issue affects:
      • The Real-Time Process Explorer UI.
      • The Top 10 CPU processes section of the “High CPU Utilization with Top 10 Processes” alert.
    • The overall node CPU utilization metric is correct; only the per-process CPU percentages in these real-time views are unreliable.

Product section

Orion Platform

Cause

Engineering has identified this as a known issue in the real-time per-process CPU calculation pipeline introduced between 2024.4 and 2025.4.x.

 

Resolution

This issue has been addressed in SolarWinds Platform 2026.2. Consider upgrading your environment.