What does NTSTATUS 0xC0000052 (STATUS_NO_EAS_ON_FILE) mean?

STATUS_NO_EAS_ON_FILE

The file has no extended attributes to return

STATUS_NO_EAS_ON_FILE (0xC0000052) means a caller requested file-system extended attributes (EAs), but the target file has no EAs. The result describes absence of that metadata; it does not mean the file data is corrupt or that every kind of Windows metadata is missing.

Keep the metadata model straight

Windows EAs are a specific file-system metadata mechanism. They are not the same as ordinary file attributes such as read-only or hidden, and they are not interchangeable with NTFS alternate data streams, security descriptors, reparse data, or application-defined sidecar metadata.

• Record the file system, exact path or handle, and the API/query class that requested EAs.
• If the caller expected a named EA, confirm that the producing component actually created it on this file and that the copy/restore path preserved EAs.
• Compare with a known-good file from the same producer instead of adding arbitrary metadata just to make the query return data.

Handling

If EAs are optional, treat the result as “no EA data present” and follow the application's documented fallback. If they are required by a protocol or compatibility layer, restore the expected metadata through that producer and then repeat the same EA query.

Official references

• Microsoft Open Specifications: NTSTATUS values
• Microsoft: NtQueryEaFile