| Previous | Next |
| ERROR_PAGEFILE_CREATE_FAILED | ERROR_NO_PAGEFILE |
ERROR_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH
What this result means
ERROR_INVALID_IMAGE_HASH is a Windows system result. Windows code integrity rejected an executable image because its hash or digital signature could not be accepted under current policy. The image may be corrupted, modified, improperly signed, or disallowed.
Why it can appear
- the file changed after signing or was corrupted in transit or storage
- the certificate chain is untrusted, expired for the signing context, or revoked
- Secure Boot, HVCI, WDAC, or another policy rejects the signer or image
- a driver or binary is incompatible with the Windows build or signing requirements
Diagnostic workflow
- record the image path, signer, signature status, hash, catalog membership, and policy event
- collect CodeIntegrity, AppLocker, WDAC, Secure Boot, and driver-install logs
- compare the file with the vendor package and verify download provenance
- check system time, certificate-chain, and revocation connectivity where relevant
Correct recovery and handling
Replace the file with an authentic vendor-signed version and update policy only through an approved security process. Do not disable signature enforcement as a routine workaround.
Administrator and support checklist
- confirm whether the condition is isolated to one machine, one user, one file, or one application build.
- Compare the host reporting this result with a known-good system using the same Windows edition and policy.
- Review updates, drivers, security-policy changes, restores, and infrastructure incidents that preceded this result.
- Preserve logs and dumps associated with this result before rebooting when the failure may be intermittent or destructive.
- Use vendor-supported repair or rollback steps for this Win32 error instead of copying system files or disabling protections ad hoc.
Developer guidance
When handling it, log the API or subsystem that returned it, the first lower-level failure, relevant object identifiers, process and thread context, and safe operation parameters. Preserve the original numeric Value rather than converting it to an unrelated HRESULT or NTSTATUS. Retry it only when the evidence shows a transient dependency; deterministic it cases involving policy, format, compatibility, or integrity should fail fast.
What to record in telemetry
- Windows build, architecture, and component version for the result event
- the first result timestamp and the operation then in progress
- process, thread, session, and target object associated with it
- warnings or lower-layer status values immediately preceding it
- whether retry, restart, rollback, or repair changed the result outcome
Example investigation pattern
Investigate it by reproducing the operation once with detailed logging, then correlate that timestamp with Windows events and lower-layer traces. Compare the affected object or process with a known-good one, change one variable at a time, and stop retrying When it is deterministic. That method keeps the first relevant failure from being hidden by secondary cleanup messages.
Related and easily confused conditions
Access permissions are not the problem. Copying the same rejected binary to another directory usually does not change the integrity decision.
Operational note
Do not diagnose it from its text alone. The result can cross subsystem boundaries and may summarize an earlier, more specific event. The first failure in time is normally more useful than the last message printed during cleanup.
References
Looking for a different code? Search another status or error code.