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Windows desktop app crashes on launch in windows-updater.node #27327
Description
What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?
26.608.12217
What subscription do you have?
business
What platform is your computer?
Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200 Build 26200, x64
What issue are you seeing?
The Windows Codex desktop app crashes immediately on launch.
Installed package:
- Package: OpenAI.Codex
- Version: 26.608.1337.0
- PackageFullName: OpenAI.Codex_26.608.1337.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
- InstallLocation: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.608.1337.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
- Package status: Ok
Launch behavior:
- Starting the app from Start Menu or `shell:AppsFolder\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App` creates a process.
- The process exits after about 1-2 seconds.
- No usable desktop window remains.
- Running as Administrator does not fix it.
Logs only show
Launching app ... buildFlavor=prod enableSparkle=false enableUpdater=true packaged=true platform=win32
Appshot hotkey inactive configured=true enabled=true platform=win32
Every launch creates a Crashpad dump.
Minidump analysis:
Exception code: 0xe06d7363
Exception address: KERNELBASE.dll
Crashing stack/module references: windows-updater.node
Observed offsets include:
windows-updater.node + 0xf83e0
windows-updater.node + 0xdb648
windows-updater.node + 0xdb390
This looks like a native Windows updater crash during startup, not a CLI issue, permission issue, or GPU issue.
### What steps can reproduce the bug?
```markdown
1. Install/Open the Windows Codex desktop app.
2. Launch it from Start Menu, or run:
Start-Process 'shell:AppsFolder\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App'
Wait 1-2 seconds.
The app exits before a usable window appears.
A Crashpad dump is created under:
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0\LocalCache\Roaming\Codex\web\Codex\Crashpad\reports
Workaround found:
Running a copied, unpackaged app directory from D:\Codex-Desktop\codex-desktop-local\app\Codex.exe avoids the fatal startup crash. In that mode updater setup logs an error about missing process package identity, but the app continues and reaches window ready-to-show.
Expected behavior:
The desktop app should open normally. If updater initialization fails, it should fail gracefully and not terminate the app.
Actual behavior:
The packaged Windows app crashes immediately during startup, apparently inside windows-updater.node.What is the expected behavior?
No response
Additional information
No response
Activity
github-actions commentedon Jun 10, 2026
Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.
windows-updater.nodeaccess violation) #27146Powered by Codex Action
lightcomc commentedon Jun 28, 2026
Delete file as workaround
`$p = 'C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\OpenAI.Codex_26.623.4041.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\native\windows-updater.node'
"=== BEFORE ==="$p).Owner)" } catch { "Owner : $ ($_.Exception.Message)" }
"IO.File.Exists : $([IO.File]::Exists($p))"
cmd /c "if exist "$p" (echo cmd: EXISTS) else (echo cmd: NOT_EXISTS)"
try { "Owner : $((Get-Acl -LiteralPath
"`n=== takeown (current user, no /a) ==="
takeown /f $p
"`n=== icacls /grant ==="$p /grant "$ {env:USERNAME}:(F)" /grant '*S-1-5-32-544:F'
icacls
"
n=== Remove-Item ===" Remove-Item -LiteralPath $p -Force -ErrorAction Continue "n=== fallback: del /f /q ==="cmd /c "del /f /q "$p" && echo DEL_EXITCODE:0 || echo DEL_EXITCODE:$errorlevel"
"
n=== AFTER ===" "IO.File.Exists : $([IO.File]::Exists($p))" cmd /c "if exist "$p" (echo cmd: EXISTS) else (echo cmd: NOT_EXISTS)"Cjdade commentedon Sep 2, 2026
I can confirm a closely related crash on a newer Windows desktop build.
Environment:
Behavior:
The app launches, then closes abruptly. Reinstalling/resetting the app, clearing local cache/profile data, launching with --disable-gpu, and temporarily stopping Cloudflare WARP did not resolve it.
Crashpad produced a browser/main-process dump. I analyzed it with WinDbg using !analyze -v.
Result:
The faulting instruction is:
mov rax,qword ptr [rcx]
WinDbg identifies this as a NULL pointer read inside windows-updater.node.
Crashpad sidecar:
{"capture_kind":"crash","osarch":"x86_64","ptype":"browser"}
I can provide the crash dump privately if a maintainer needs it.