Microsoft has added a known issue for SQL Server 2025 involving linked server queries that use the MSDASQL (OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers) provider.
When a linked server query uses MSDASQL and specifies a provider string (@provstr), the query can fail with this message:
Msg 7416, Level 16 Access to the remote server is denied because no login-mapping exists.
According to the documentation, a stricter connection validation check in the Database Engine can reject certain linked server configurations that use MSDASQL, even if earlier builds allowed them.
Affected SQL Server 2025 releases
The issue is listed for these releases:
- SQL Server 2025 CU6 (KB5093421) — build 17.0.4055.5
- SQL Server 2025 CU7 (KB5096981) — build 17.0.4065.4
Example scenario
A linked server configuration uses MSDASQL, and the query includes a provider string via @provstr. In that case, the Database Engine may reject the connection validation and return error 7416.
Microsoft’s note also says to see the linked troubleshooting article for more information and workarounds, but this packet does not include those details.