What does HRESULT 0x8028004F (TPM_E_OWNER_CONTROL) mean?

 
Previous Next
TPM_E_TRANSPORT_NOTEXCLUSIVE TPM_E_DAA_RESOURCES

TPM_E_OWNER_CONTROL

Meaning beyond the built-in message

TPM_E_OWNER_CONTROL (0x8028004F) belongs to TPM 1.2 resources, delegation and contexts. The base What Is page already shows the short Windows message; the additional diagnostic value is that this result marks the caller attempted to save context for a key whose owner-evict control forbids that context operation.

The first producer to identify for this HRESULT is the TPM resource, context or delegation manager, sometimes mediated by TBS virtualization. TBS can virtualize finite TPM resources, but a saved TPM context and a TBS virtual handle are not durable application IDs. Their validity depends on resource type, owning client context, TPM lifecycle and the exact save/load history.

The result value 0x8028004F should remain attached to the symbolic name. Some this result logs store the value as a negative signed integer; others expose only a generic CNG, WMI, BitLocker or enrollment message. Neither substitution identifies the caller attempted to save context for a key whose owner-evict control forbids that context operation as precisely as it.

Decode the relevant state

  • Producer for this HRESULT: the TPM resource, context or delegation manager, sometimes mediated by TBS virtualization.
  • Rejected invariant: the caller attempted to save context for a key whose owner-evict control forbids that context operation.
  • Decisive capture: keyControl and persistence attributes, owner authorization, key handle, requested SaveContext operation, and the key creation path.
  • Safe comparison: compare a disposable ordinary key with an owner-evict-controlled key under the same context-save call.

One-variable test

Build the result minimal case around the original command contract. Use a disposable object when the request can write NV data, advance a counter, change authorization state or consume a lock transition. The comparison is valid only when the caller, TPM generation and security policy remain the same.

QuestionEvidence for this HRESULT
What exact state was rejected?the caller attempted to save context for a key whose owner-evict control forbids that context operation
Which layer owns the result?The TPM resource, context or delegation manager, sometimes mediated by TBS virtualization.
What must be correlated?keyControl and persistence attributes, owner authorization, key handle, requested SaveContext operation, and the key creation path
What is the controlled comparison?compare a disposable ordinary key with an owner-evict-controlled key under the same context-save call

Differential diagnosis

ConstantCheckpoint represented by its standard message
TPM_E_BAD_HANDLEThe handle is incorrect — a separate checkpoint when compared with this result.
TPM_E_TRANSPORT_NOTEXCLUSIVEThere was a command executed outside of an exclusive transport session — a separate checkpoint when compared with this result.
TPM_E_BAD_DELEGATEDelegation is not correct — a separate checkpoint when compared with it.

The codes above may appear in the same workflow, but they are not aliases. TPM_E_KEY_OWNER_CONTROL concerns who may evict the key; this code concerns context saving of such a key.

Supported corrective direction

Manage the controlled key through owner-authorized persistent-key operations instead of generic context save. Do not persist volatile TPM or TBS handles as durable identifiers. A numeric handle can be valid only inside the creating context and lifecycle, even when its value looks unchanged after restart.

Proof for this HRESULT consists of a successful replay plus validation of the intended key, PCR, NV, context, event-log, provider or service result. A software fallback or a newly provisioned blank TPM answers a different question than it.

Source material


Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.