Link path update in Word fails for multiple fails in Office 2024

I believe you have correctly identified the underlying issue. Office LTSC 2024 (as well as the consumer release of Office 2024) introduced fundamental changes in the way Word processes linked objects. In Office 2021 and earlier versions, link updates were handled synchronously, Word would pause until all linked objects had fully refreshed before allowing further interaction. Beginning with Office 2024, Microsoft transitioned many background operations, including link updates, to asynchronous processing. This design improves responsiveness when working with individual documents, but it can result in incomplete updates when multiple Word files are open simultaneously and attempting to refresh links to the same Excel source.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-s-new-in-office-2024-and-office-ltsc-2024-baadecbe-a8fc-4435-8cb8-70e93fd08b56