Git Bash fails inside Windows sandbox with "couldn't create signal pipe, Win32 error 5"
Open 💬 2 comments Opened Mar 18, 2026 by BlackCatCmx
Summary
On Windows, exec_command fails when shell is set to bash and Windows sandbox is enabled.
In my local testing, the same workflow worked on 0.114.0 and started failing on 0.115.0.
This reproduces with both:
sandbox = "unelevated"sandbox = "elevated"
Setting sandbox_private_desktop = false does not change the behavior.
Reproduction
- Enable Windows sandbox in
config.toml, for example:
[windows]
sandbox = "unelevated"
sandbox_private_desktop = false
- Run an
exec_commandcall withshell: "bash", for example:
{"cmd":"sed -n '1,100p' CHANGELOG_CN.md","shell":"bash"}
- Observe this error:
[main] bash (4572) C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin\bash.exe: *** fatal error - couldn't create signal pipe, Win32 error 5
Expected
Git Bash commands should run normally when invoked through exec_command.
Actual
bash.exe immediately fails with:
fatal error - couldn't create signal pipe, Win32 error 5
whenever Windows sandbox is enabled.
Notes
- Removing
[windows].sandboxmakes everything work again. sandbox_private_desktop = falsedoes not help, so this does not appear to be specific to private desktop mode.- PowerShell works as a workaround.
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