What does Windows error code 8260 (ERROR_DS_REFERRAL_LIMIT_EXCEEDED) mean?

 
Previous Next
ERROR_DS_CLIENT_LOOP ERROR_DS_SORT_CONTROL_MISSING

ERROR_DS_REFERRAL_LIMIT_EXCEEDED

ERROR_DS_REFERRAL_LIMIT_EXCEEDED (0x00002044) is an Active Directory Domain Services LDAP result. The LDAP client reached its configured limit while chasing referrals.

What to check

  • Review the referral sequence and determine why the expected object was not found in the first target naming context.
  • Fix referral loops, stale DNS records, or incorrect search bases before simply raising the limit.
  • Use a domain-specific or partition-specific LDAP endpoint when the target location is known.

Useful command

Get-ADRootDSE -Server "<dc-fqdn>" | Select-Object namingContexts

Microsoft: AD DS LDAP operations · Microsoft: LDAP ETW tracing · Microsoft: AD DS diagnostic logging

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