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RPC_X_SS_IN_NULL_CONTEXT
Stateful RPC calls need a live context handle
A context handle is an opaque value used by an RPC server to retain state between calls. It is not an ordinary Windows HANDLE and the client does not receive the server-side object itself. After an open or create operation returns a context handle, later operations use it to identify the active server context.
RPC_X_SS_IN_NULL_CONTEXT means that a call reached the stub with a null context handle in a position that the IDL contract requires to be active. In particular, an [in] context handle used as the binding handle cannot be null. This is therefore usually a client lifecycle or marshaling-contract defect, not evidence that the network link simply dropped.
Common causes
- The client called a read, update, or close method before the corresponding open method completed successfully.
- A close or rundown path already invalidated the handle, but another thread retained a stale client-side copy.
- The generated proxy, hand-written wrapper, or FFI declaration does not preserve the IDL pointer and direction attributes.
- A reconnect moved the call to another server instance without acquiring a new context handle there.
What to inspect
- Trace the operation that creates the context handle and the exact return status before the failing call.
- Check whether the IDL parameter is
[in],[in, out], and whether it is the binding handle for the call. - Serialize close, reconnect, and failover transitions so that no worker can reuse a released context.
- Do not substitute a zero value and retry. Re-establish the server context through the interface's documented open or create operation.
References
Microsoft: context_handle attribute · The Open Group: DCE RPC IDL · Microsoft: RPC return values
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