Windows error 8626 (ERROR_DS_INVALID_SEARCH_FLAG

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: The subtree indexing searchFlag is set on an attribute that is not single-valued.

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ERROR_DS_AUDIT_FAILURE	ERROR_DS_INVALID_SEARCH_FLAG_TUPLE

ERROR_DS_INVALID_SEARCH_FLAG_SUBTREE

The subtree-index bit is incompatible with a multi-valued attribute

The searchFlags field controls indexing and search-related behavior of an Active Directory attribute. MS-ADTS applies a specific consistency rule to the subtree-index flag: it is valid only for a single-valued attribute. Setting the bit on a multi-valued definition would ask the directory to build an index model that the schema rules do not permit.

Inspect both searchFlags and the attribute cardinality in the incoming attributeSchema object. The fix depends on data design: either remove the subtree-index request or redesign the attribute as single-valued if that is genuinely correct for every consumer. Do not toggle the single-value property only to satisfy indexing; changing cardinality changes the LDAP data contract for the attribute.

What to inspect

Decode the searchFlags bits and confirm the subtree-index flag is set.
Read the schema single-value setting for the same attribute.
Choose indexing behavior that matches the actual data model rather than forcing schema validation.

References

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