What does Windows error code 8354 (ERROR_DS_SEC_DESC_INVALID) mean?

 
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ERROR_DS_SEC_DESC_TOO_SHORT ERROR_DS_NO_DELETED_NAME

ERROR_DS_SEC_DESC_INVALID

The security descriptor has an invalid structure or directory-specific field

A buffer can be long enough yet still fail security descriptor validation. MS-DTYP defines the SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR fields, control bits, SIDs, and ACL offsets. MS-ADTS adds directory requirements: descriptors stored by a DC are maintained in the defined format, the owner SID cannot be NULL, and Active Directory applies inheritance and resource-manager rules.

Validate the descriptor before sending it to LDAP. Check self-relative format, offsets, SID structures, ACL and ACE lengths, control flags, and owner presence. If the client intends to change only selected security information, use the supported security-descriptor controls or directory APIs rather than copying an opaque descriptor from a different object and patching bytes.

What to inspect

  • Run Windows security descriptor validation on the exact binary value.
  • Inspect owner, group, DACL, SACL, and control flags separately.
  • Avoid byte-level edits to inherited ACEs or self-relative offsets.

References


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