10.15 ‘Network error: Software caused connection abort’

This is a generic error produced by the Windows network code when it kills an established connection for some reason. For example, it might happen if you pull the network cable out of the back of an Ethernet-connected computer, or if Windows has any other similar reason to believe the entire network has become unreachable.

Windows also generates this error if it has given up on the machine at the other end of the connection ever responding to it. If the network between your client and server goes down and your client then tries to send some data, Windows will make several attempts to send the data and will then give up and kill the connection. In particular, this can occur even if you didn't type anything, if you are using SSH-2 and PuTTY attempts a key re-exchange. (See section 4.19.2 for more about key re-exchange.)

(It can also occur if you are using keepalives in your connection. Other people have reported that keepalives fix this error for them. See section 4.13.1 for a discussion of the pros and cons of keepalives.)

We are not aware of any reason why this error might occur that would represent a bug in PuTTY. The problem is between you, your Windows system, your network and the remote system.