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ERROR_HV_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFERS
ERROR_HV_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFERS is HRESULT 0xC0350013 in the hypervisor message submission area of the Windows virtualization stack. The built-in message names the immediate result; the useful custom context is the exact boundary: the set of buffers or descriptors supplied for a hypervisor message operation. Record the first returning operation and host-side event before a management layer retries or translates it.
Object lifecycle behind the result
The message path did not receive enough buffer entries to describe or carry the operation. The plural form is significant: investigate descriptor count and message construction, not only the capacity of one output structure.
This result belongs to the hypervisor facility rather than the higher-level VM management UI. The TLFS and WHP documentation provide the surrounding partition, message, memory, and virtual-processor model, but the first low-level operation and any nested status remain the authoritative incident boundary.
Neighboring result: ERROR_HV_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER concerns one buffer that is too small; this result points to an insufficient collection of buffers for message submission.
Diagnostic evidence matrix
| Evidence | Why it changes the diagnosis |
|---|---|
| Message operation | Record the hypercall, driver request, or virtualization-stack operation and the message type. |
| Descriptor vector | Capture buffer count, length of every element, alignment, flags, and total payload bytes. |
| Protocol limits | Keep the negotiated message format and any maximum element or payload count. |
| Concurrency | Record whether descriptors are reused, released early, or modified by another thread. |
Preserve identifiers and counts without dumping guest secrets or unrelated memory. Useful this result timestamps include the last successful operation, first failure, any automatic retry, and the object-generation change that followed.
Test one variable at a time
- Validate the required descriptor count before entering the hypervisor path.
- Keep descriptor storage alive and immutable until completion is observed.
- Compare a one-element known-good message with the failing scatter/gather shape.
- Do not convert this status into a generic out-of-memory retry loop.
Exercise this result with bounded producers and a fully instrumented consumer. Preserve message ordering, queue generation, handler ownership, target VP, and acknowledgement timestamps while changing only one concurrency condition.
How to read the controls
Across these controls for it, preserve the set of buffers or descriptors supplied for a hypervisor message operation as the boundary under test.
| Control | Interpretation | Hold constant |
|---|---|---|
| Single producer and consumer — it | If it disappears with serialized ownership, the queue, handler, acknowledgement, or delivery race is implicated. | Preserve message type, partition, target VP, and queue capacity for it. |
| Fresh channel generation — it | A new queue or handler generation changing it points to stale registration, backlog, or incomplete teardown. | Keep payload, producer order, and host build unchanged in the result test. |
| Controlled stall or burst — it | Deliberately slow the consumer or bound the producer rate. The threshold at which it appears identifies backpressure versus lifecycle failure. | Record queue depth, oldest-item age, and acknowledgement timing. |
Boundaries of this status
A VM or service restart can empty queues and replace handler generations, temporarily hiding it. Before clearing the result channel, capture depth, oldest item, owner, delivery sequence, and acknowledgement state.
Keep the hexadecimal it value and any nested hypervisor status. Higher layers can map distinct resource, buffer, message, or state failures to the same generic start or migration message.
Regression proof
A valid repair sends the original message with the documented number of stable descriptors and also rejects a deliberately undersized descriptor vector predictably. Repeat the original operation under the original supported conditions and retain one deliberate negative control. A management command succeeding on a different object is not sufficient to close this incident.
Technical references
These sources define it and the public Hyper-V architecture surrounding the internal state. They do not create a public user-mode VID API for the named object.
- Microsoft Open Specifications: HRESULT values — used to interpret the boundary.
- Microsoft TLFS: inter-partition communication — used to interpret the boundary.
- Microsoft TLFS: HV_MESSAGE — used to interpret the boundary.
- Microsoft: Hyper-V architecture — used to interpret the boundary.
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