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SYSTEM_IMAGE_BAD_SIGNATURE
Bad system-image signature for SYSTEM_IMAGE_BAD_SIGNATURE
SYSTEM_IMAGE_BAD_SIGNATURE is bug check code 0x000000C3. This bug check belongs to system image integrity and driver/code signing. It means a boot-critical or kernel-mode image failed a signature/integrity expectation that Windows treats as fatal.
How to read it in a dump
- The failing image path, signature status, and load phase are more useful than the numeric code alone.
- This can involve kernel-mode code signing, Secure Boot, catalog files, tampering, or a corrupted system image.
- It is different from an ordinary application signature warning.
What to check
- Identify the image being loaded and verify its catalog/signature.
- Check Secure Boot, Code Integrity events, recent driver installs, servicing operations, and disk corruption.
- Do not bypass integrity protections before preserving the failing file for analysis.
References
- Microsoft code integrity / boot security documentation
- Microsoft code integrity / boot security documentation
- Microsoft Bug Check Code Reference
- Crash dump files and WinDbg
Dump evidence
Preserve the complete dump, the four bug-check parameters, the exact Windows build, loaded-module list, and the event timeline immediately before the stop. AllStat summarizes the condition as “this result”; that sentence identifies the failure class, while the parameters and stack determine which object, driver, processor, or subsystem instance was involved.
Analysis order
- Run WinDbg
!analyze -v, then inspect the documented meaning of each parameter instead of relying only on the probably-caused-by line. - find the earliest abnormal event: driver update, firmware change, device reset, storage error, verifier report, resource exhaustion, or application hang connected with system / image / signature.
- keep third-party filter, security, storage, graphics, and virtualization drivers in the module inventory; removing evidence before dump analysis can obscure the responsible path.
Do not repeatedly reboot a machine affected by this result before collecting the dump and event logs. Recovery actions should follow the component identified by the stack and parameters, not merely the symbolic stop-code name.
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