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RPC_E_VERSION_MISMATCH
Client and server OLE versions are incompatible
RPC_E_VERSION_MISMATCH is HRESULT 2147549456 (0x80010110) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “The version of OLE on the client and server machines does not match.” In the COM/RPC call control, message filtering, apartment routing, marshaling, security negotiation, or remote object lifetime, the code identifies a specific failure boundary and should not be replaced by a generic COM exception.
Handling this result correctly requires the code-specific postcondition, not merely the fact that FAILED(hr) is true.
Where it is encountered
- Cross-apartment or cross-process COM method invocation and activation. Record the interface, method, component version, thread, apartment, process, and correlation ID.
- STA message filtering, reentrancy, call cancellation, timeout, or retry handling.
- DCOM security initialization, proxy/stub marshaling, OBJREF processing, and server object lifetime.
The immediate focus for this HRESULT is activation or communication between COM/OLE components whose protocol or runtime expectations do not match. Keep it attached to that operation; the same numeric severity outside the owning API does not supply enough context.
Decisive interpretation boundary
Before choosing recovery, verify that client, proxy, stub, server, and system component versions are captured from both machines. Validate this condition for this HRESULT using the owning API state, not an inferred UI symptom.
Also confirm that all observed objects, tokens, buffers, proxies, metadata files, or ACLs belong to the current operation generation and were not retained from an earlier attempt.
Correct handling and recovery
Align supported component versions, repair proxy/stub registration, and avoid copying individual OLE binaries between systems.
Backoff alone is not a repair for this HRESULT; a measurable state or configuration transition must justify another attempt.
Lifetime, retry, and cleanup rules
After it, determine whether the current object, interface pointer, call context, token, stream, metadata reader, asynchronous operation, or access-control instance remains valid. Release only resources owned by the failing attempt, cancel callbacks through their documented mechanism, and avoid double close, double commit, repeated activation, or replay of a non-idempotent remote method.
The retry policy for this HRESULT should state the trigger, maximum attempts, cancellation owner, and reconciliation step for effects that may have completed elsewhere.
Practical scenario
A legacy automation client connects to a server after only its executable was upgraded. Deployment installs the matching proxy/stub and server set.
A regression test should reproduce it, assert the raw HRESULT and all relevant outputs, then correct only the decisive condition and verify the intended success or neighboring failure result.
Difference from nearby HRESULTs
It is protocol/runtime incompatibility; RPC_E_INVALID_OBJREF indicates malformed marshaled data.
A support tool discussing it should name the neighboring result only after the originating API and decisive state are known.
Developer and administrator guidance
Dashboards should classify it by its actual cause category—lifetime, timing, apartment, marshaling, identity, authorization, format, buffer, or storage—rather than grouping every COM failure under one counter.
Document the owner of the boundary so future occurrences can be correlated across client, proxy, server, package, and security logs. Define who owns retry, cancellation, cleanup, policy changes, package repair, and user-facing messaging for this HRESULT.
References
- Microsoft: COM RPC error codes
- Microsoft: IMessageFilter
- Microsoft: RetryRejectedCall
- Microsoft: CoInitialize
- Microsoft: CoInitializeSecurity
- Microsoft: marshaling rules
- Microsoft: HRESULT values
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