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CI_CORRUPT_FILTER_BUFFER
CI_CORRUPT_FILTER_BUFFER — 0xC0041807
Treat this code as a record of corrupt Indexing Service filter buffer: in the operation that returned it, the interprocess buffer carrying IFilter output or document data was found inconsistent.
Place in the component lifecycle
CiDaemon hosts IFilter components that emit text chunks and value-type properties. In the context of corrupt Indexing Service filter buffer, filter CLSID/version, source hash, chunk/property identity, buffer size, cancellation, and a clean-catalog comparison separate a bad document from a faulty filter or catalog. Locate the first component changing state in this condition and distinguish later summary errors.
Important boundary. A corrupt filter buffer can be produced by a faulty filter even when the catalog and source file are otherwise valid. Record the exact constant and returning API.
Build a reliable incident timeline
| Preserve | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Source document/hash, filter CLSID/version, chunk number, buffer size, and CiDaemon event | Separates catalog state from source data, filter output, and client lifecycle. |
| Custom or third-party IFilter involvement | Provides a stable before/after comparison for rebuilding or correcting the index path. |
| Process crash, timeout, or memory diagnostics | Shows whether the first inconsistency arose during filtering, storage, administration, or enumeration. |
| Same document filtered by the built-in or known-good filter in a clean catalog | Ties the result to one catalog, source document, filter, or query object. |
Preserve the smallest reproducible evidence set and remove document content or access-control details before sharing diagnostics.
Tests that change one variable
- Run the filter against a minimal representative document. Keep source bytes, scope, filter version, and unrelated catalog settings fixed.
- Disable or replace one third-party filter in a test environment. Use a copied catalog or a small disposable catalog when the test can rebuild derived state.
- Increase tracing around GetChunk/GetText/GetValue boundaries without changing document bytes. Retain a known-good document or query so a broad catalog rebuild is not mistaken for repair of the reported failure.
Retry only after one controlled catalog, filter, source, query, or merge condition changed; reopening the service may create a new catalog generation and hide the original evidence.
Interpretation boundaries
When a minimal control succeeds, the failure is tied to the original object or its state rather than to the whole Windows subsystem. When the control fails identically, preserve host-level evidence first. If a different code appears, that is a moved boundary, not automatic success.
Preserve whether the result came from filtering, catalog storage, administration, or query enumeration; those paths can share a catalog name while requiring different corrective actions.
Repair and regression proof
Correction: Fix or isolate the filter implementation, validate chunk sizes and ownership, then rescan affected documents. Keep the original catalog configuration, source inventory, filter identity, query definition, and event sequence so the change can be reversed and explained.
Accept the repair only when the document filters repeatedly without buffer corruption and the catalog remains stable under mixed-file ingestion. Repeat the original supported operation under the original identity and object state; a new catalog, different source scope, or replacement filter is useful comparison evidence but not final regression proof.
Technical references
The following primary Microsoft documentation defines the status family and component boundaries used here: Check version-specific behavior against the Windows and Indexing Service generation that produced the result.
- Microsoft: Indexing Service purpose and architecture — defines the formal status or component boundary.
- Microsoft: Indexing Service helper-function values — documents the relevant API or lifecycle.
- Microsoft: filtering file contents with IFilter — provides the architecture, format, or protocol context.
- Microsoft: filtering and caching file properties — supports the controlled verification criteria.
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