What does Windows error code 4552 (ERROR_SYSTEM_INTEGRITY_INVALID_POLICY) mean?

ERROR_SYSTEM_INTEGRITY_INVALID_POLICY

The System Integrity policy is invalid.

ERROR_SYSTEM_INTEGRITY_INVALID_POLICY is Win32 error 4552 (0x11C8) and belongs to System Integrity policy validation.

Where the result appears

• Importing or activating a WDAC policy.
• Boot or servicing validation of policy content.
• Converting policy XML to a binary policy.
• Management tooling deploying a malformed policy artifact.

Likely causes

• the policy structure is invalid or internally inconsistent.
• unsupported rules or options were emitted for the target OS.
• the binary policy is truncated or belongs to another format version.
• manual editing or packaging altered the policy.

Troubleshooting steps

• Record policy file hash, format, and tool version.
• Record conversion or validation diagnostics.
• Record target OS build and supported options.
• Record CodeIntegrity event details.
• Record original XML and generated binary lineage.

What to verify

Verify whether the policy structure is invalid or internally inconsistent. Check policy file hash, format, and tool version together with conversion or validation diagnostics.

Handling, retry, and recovery

Reject the policy, return to a known-good active policy, and regenerate it using supported tooling for the target Windows release. Preserve the invalid file for comparison.

Difference from nearby codes

POLICY_NOT_SIGNED is specifically about trust in the signature; INVALID_POLICY can fail before signature authorization is considered.

Practical example

A deployment copies a partially generated binary policy.

References

• Microsoft: System Error Codes (4000–5999) — reference for error 4552.
• Microsoft: Windows Defender Application Control — reference for error 4552.
• Microsoft: Application Control event logs — reference for error 4552.