What does HRESULT 0xC03A0018 (ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED) mean?

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ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED: The chain of virtual hard disks is corrupted. A differencing disk is indicated in its own parent chain.

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
STATUS_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED	NTSTATUS	Windows

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ERROR_VHD_CHILD_PARENT_SIZE_MISMATCH	ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_ERROR_IN_PARENT

ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED

ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED means a differencing-disk chain refers back to itself. Windows cannot resolve reads safely because following parents would never reach a base disk.

What to do for ERROR_VHD_DIFFERENCING_CHAIN_CYCLE_DETECTED

Stop automated attach, merge, and checkpoint cleanup operations for the affected chain.
Map every child-to-parent relationship from the leaf back to the intended base disk.
Correct relationships only after verifying the original chain; an arbitrary parent reassignment can lose guest data.

Microsoft: Get-VHD

Microsoft: Set-VHD

Microsoft: Merge-VHD

Verification: Preserve the volume or virtual-disk state that produces differencing chain cycle detected, then repeat the same operation after changing only that storage condition.

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