What does HRESULT 0x80040207 (EVENT_E_INVALID_PER_USER_SID) mean?

EVENT_E_INVALID_PER_USER_SID

Meaning

Windows documents EVENT_E_INVALID_PER_USER_SID as “The owner SID on a per-user subscription doesn't exist”. In practical terms, it is returned when a per-user COM+ subscription contains an owner SID that does not resolve to an existing account.

Where the failure belongs

This result belongs to COM+ Events catalog and delivery. COM+ Events separates publishers, event classes, subscriptions and subscribers through catalog records. A useful diagnosis therefore follows both the catalog relationship and the eventual subscriber invocation. The relevant condition is that a per-user COM+ subscription contains an owner SID that does not resolve to an existing account.

Likely causes

• Possible cause 1: the account was deleted after the subscription was created.
• Possible cause 2: migration copied a SID from another domain or machine.
• Possible cause 3: deployment supplied malformed or stale ownership metadata.

Evidence to collect

• Capture 1: subscription ID, PerUser flag and stored owner SID.
• Capture 2: SID lookup result and domain trust state.
• Capture 3: account migration history and catalog partition.

Diagnostic sequence

1. Confirm that the observed path matches this condition: a per-user COM+ subscription contains an owner SID that does not resolve to an existing account.

Correct handling and retry

• Corrective action 1: reassign or recreate the subscription for a valid account through supported administration APIs.
• Corrective action 2: remove abandoned per-user subscriptions during account deprovisioning.
• Corrective action 3: validate SIDs before storing deployment metadata.

Retry guidance. Retry after the SID resolves or the subscription owner is corrected; logging on a different account does not repair an invalid stored SID. When retrying, avoid deliver an event twice, modify the wrong catalog object or hide partial subscriber completion.

Practical scenario

A domain migration deletes the original user but leaves a per-user subscription in the COM+ catalog; recreating it for the migrated SID resolves it.

Difference from nearby HRESULTs

EVENT_E_PER_USER_SID_NOT_LOGGED_ON uses a valid owner SID whose user is not logged on; it means the stored SID itself is invalid or nonexistent.

Developer and operational guidance

Official Microsoft references

• Microsoft: generic COM error codes
• Microsoft: COM+ Events
• Microsoft: COM+ Events security