What does HRESULT 0x80010126 (CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO) mean?

CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO

COM could not read required access-token information

CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO is HRESULT 2147549478 (0x80010126) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “Unable to obtain user info from an access token.” In the COM IAccessControl, DCOM client identity, trustee translation, token inspection, security descriptor, ACL, or serialization workflow, the code identifies a specific failure boundary and should not be replaced by a generic COM exception.

Handling CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO correctly requires the code-specific postcondition, not merely the fact that FAILED(hr) is true.

Where it is encountered

• CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO can be returned during IAccessControl initialization, access checks, owner/trustee processing, and serialized ACL persistence. For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, record the interface, method, component version, thread, apartment, process, and correlation ID.
• CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO can be returned during server-side DCOM impersonation, client blanket inspection, token and SID lookup. For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, record the interface, method, component version, thread, apartment, process, and correlation ID.
• CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO can be returned during security descriptor construction, DACL canonicalization, file-backed policy storage, or legacy NetAccess migration. For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, record the interface, method, component version, thread, apartment, process, and correlation ID.

The immediate focus for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO is token inspection for user SID, groups, privileges, type, statistics, or impersonation level after a token handle was obtained. Keep CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO attached to that operation; the same numeric severity outside the owning API does not supply enough context.

Decisive interpretation boundary

Before choosing recovery, verify that the information class, buffer sizing sequence, token access mask, and token lifetime are correct. That boundary prevents CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO from being misclassified as corruption, network failure, or a reason for an unsafe automatic retry.

For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, also confirm that all observed objects, tokens, buffers, proxies, metadata files, or ACLs belong to the current operation generation and were not retained from an earlier attempt.

Evidence and telemetry

• Preserve token handle type and access mask for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Preserve TOKEN_INFORMATION_CLASS for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Preserve required and allocated buffer sizes for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Preserve GetTokenInformation error for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Preserve validated SID and group counts for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.

For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, also record UTC time, process and thread IDs, apartment type, component version, security or package identity where relevant, and a correlation ID. For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, use hashes, lengths, GUIDs, and SID strings rather than logging confidential payloads or credentials.

Diagnostic sequence

• Capture the raw unsigned value 0x80010126 and symbolic name CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO before a language projection, exception wrapper, or generic COM helper replaces it.
• Identify the exact interface, method, callback, activation request, metadata query, access-control operation, or marshaling boundary that returned CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Reconstruct the operation timeline for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, including object creation, thread or apartment initialization, security setup, callbacks, mutations, shutdown, and cleanup.
• Prove the decisive condition: the information class, buffer sizing sequence, token access mask, and token lifetime are correct.
• Inspect every output parameter, handle, interface pointer, token, SID, ACL, stream, buffer, server-side object, or asynchronous result produced before CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Reproduce CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO with the smallest safe input, change only the suspected precondition, and verify that both the HRESULT and postcondition change as predicted.

Correct handling and recovery

Use the two-call buffer-size pattern, request <code>TOKEN_QUERY</code>, and keep the token valid until extraction completes. Reject incomplete identity data.

An unchanged retry loop for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO can duplicate effects, deepen reentrancy, or hide an invalid lifetime transition.

Lifetime, retry, and cleanup rules

After CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, determine whether the current object, interface pointer, call context, token, stream, metadata reader, asynchronous operation, or access-control instance remains valid. For CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, release only resources owned by the failing attempt, cancel callbacks through their documented mechanism, and avoid double close, double commit, repeated activation, or replay of a non-idempotent remote method.

The retry policy for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO should state the trigger, maximum attempts, cancellation owner, and reconciliation step for effects that may have completed elsewhere.

Difference from nearby HRESULTs

CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO occurs after token acquisition; open-token HRESULTs identify failure to obtain the handle itself.

Tests for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO should force both results and verify that object lifetime, output use, and user messaging differ.

Practical scenario

An access-control component allocates a fixed buffer for <code>TokenGroups</code>. It switches to the required-size pattern and validates every returned SID.

A regression test should reproduce CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO, assert the raw HRESULT and all relevant outputs, then correct only the decisive condition and verify the intended success or neighboring failure result.

Developer and administrator guidance

Branch on CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO before a broad COM error handler when its cleanup, recreation, retry, security, or user-disclosure path is unique. Preserve 0x80010126, interface IID, method, component build, process and thread IDs, apartment model, and correlation ID in structured telemetry.

Administrators investigating CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO should preserve first-occurrence evidence before restarting COM servers, repairing packages, editing DCOM policy, or replacing serialized access data. Define who owns retry, cancellation, cleanup, policy changes, package repair, and user-facing messaging for CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.

References

• Microsoft: IAccessControl — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: IAccessControl::IsAccessAllowed — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: AccessCheck — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: LookupAccountSidW — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: LookupAccountNameW — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: access control lists — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: canonical ACE order — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.
• Microsoft: HRESULT values — official Microsoft documentation relevant to CO_E_FAILEDTOGETTOKENINFO.

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