What does HRESULT 0x80280904 (TPM_20_E_MEMORY) mean?

TPM_20_E_MEMORY

What TPM_20_E_MEMORY means

TPM_20_E_MEMORY is a TPM 2.0 response indicating that the TPM lacks enough shared object/session memory or internal working space for the requested operation. This is TPM resource capacity, not a statement that Windows has exhausted ordinary system RAM.

Identify which TPM resources are live

• Record the TPM command, handle area, transient objects and sessions owned by the caller, TBS context, and the immediately preceding TPM/TBS result.
• Correlate the failure with object or session creation that did not reach its normal flush/close path.
• Distinguish a temporary capacity condition from TPM_20_E_OBJECT_MEMORY or TPM_20_E_SESSION_MEMORY when a more specific TPM response is available.
• Never log private key material or authorization secrets; handles, command codes, object/session counts, and lifecycle timestamps are normally sufficient.

Recovery and retry

Release TPM objects or sessions that the application no longer needs through the supported API, then repeat the command from a valid caller context. If TBS is virtualizing TPM resources, preserve its first lower-level result as well. A tight unchanged retry loop cannot create TPM resource capacity.

Do not clear or reprovision the TPM merely to make this result disappear. Clearing the TPM is destructive to TPM-protected credentials and should only occur as part of an explicit recovery plan supported by independent evidence.

Verification

Reproduce the original command after the unnecessary resource has been released and verify both the command result and the intended hardware-backed security property. Silent fallback to a software key provider is not proof that the TPM condition was repaired.

Technical references

• Microsoft: TPM Base Services
• Trusted Computing Group: TPM 2.0 Library Specification