What does Windows error code 14052 (ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNCLOSEDTAG) mean?

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNCLOSEDTAG

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNCLOSEDTAG (0x000036E4) is a Windows Side-by-Side XML parser status for application, assembly, policy, or configuration manifest processing.

This status is a nesting/lifetime error for XML elements. The system description can include the tag names that remained open, which is more useful than assuming the final line of the file is the source of the imbalance.

XML rule involved

For every non-empty XML start tag, well-formedness requires a matching end tag with the same name and proper nesting. Closing an outer element while an inner element is still open creates a different structural sequence than simply truncating the file.

What to inspect

• Use the tag names reported with the error and match each opening tag to a correctly nested closing tag.
• Check conditional manifest generation where an opening element is emitted on one branch but its closing tag is emitted only on another.
• Distinguish an intentionally empty element, which can use />, from an element whose content requires a later explicit end tag.

Parse the sxstrace ETL output and inspect the named manifest’s nesting from the first still-open element; fixing only the physical EOF may leave an earlier mismatched end tag.

References

• Microsoft: System Error Codes 12000-15999
• Microsoft: Side-by-Side manifest files reference
• Microsoft: sxstrace
• W3C: XML 1.0