Windows Codex app crash plus runaway conhost/cmd processes during dictation/session freeze

Summary

The Codex Windows desktop app became unusable during a session involving voice/dictation and local tool use. Windows shell/UI degraded badly enough that Task Manager hung and the machine had to be forcibly restarted.

This appears related to existing Windows app reports around orphaned conhost.exe/child processes, shell freezing, and dictation failures.

Environment

• Platform: Windows x64
• Windows product: Windows 10 Home
• Windows version: 2009
• OS build: 26200
• Codex app package: OpenAI.Codex_26.609.4994.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
• Approximate time of incident: 2026-06-13 09:52-10:01 local time

What happened

Before the forced restart, basic UI became nearly unusable:

• Task Manager could barely open and later hung.
• The system had extreme process buildup.
• PowerShell inspection showed about 1,959 conhost.exe processes before restart.
• After restart, the same count dropped back to 6, suggesting leaked/orphaned console hosts rather than normal workload.
• Shutdown logs showed many cmd.exe instances delaying shutdown.
• A Codex Chrome extension host also delayed shutdown briefly.

Relevant Windows Event Log entries

Application log:

TimeCreated: 2026-06-13 09:55:53
Provider: Application Error
Faulting application name: codex.exe
Faulting application path: ...\OpenAI.Codex_26.609.4994.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0\app\resources\codex.exe
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x000000000a14fd81
Report Id: f63fb04c-7d11-42f9-9251-460935fb060d

Windows Error Reporting:

Event Name: MoBEX
P1: OpenAI.Codex_26.609.4994.0_x64__2p2nqsd0c76g0
P2: praid:App
P5: codex.exe
P8: 000000000a14fd81
P9: c0000409
P10: 0000000000000007
Report Id: f63fb04c-7d11-42f9-9251-460935fb060d
Hashed bucket: 1d64fdbff77dac62e01df3c194d68c23

Task Manager hangs:

Application Hang: Taskmgr.exe stopped interacting with Windows
Times: 2026-06-13 09:52:30 and 09:56:17

System log:

Kernel-Power 41 at 2026-06-13 10:01:45
The system rebooted without cleanly shutting down first.

Shutdown delay examples:

winsrvext Event 100: C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe delaying shutdown after 500 ms
winsrvext Event 100: ...\plugins\chrome\extension-host\windows\x64\extension-host.exe delaying shutdown after 500 ms

There was also an audio-related warning shortly after reboot:

Provider: IntcAzAudAddService
Id: 257
Message: HAP AcpCreateAudioEngine

Audio services were running normally after reboot, so I am not sure whether this is causal or incidental.

Related existing reports

This local incident seems consistent with several existing issues:

• #17229: Windows app spawning repeated git.exe status --porcelain=v1 -z and leaving orphan git.exe / conhost.exe processes.
• #16374: Windows shell/UI freezing while Codex is open.
• #21129: Windows dictation records audio but silently produces no transcript.
• #12962: Codex app-server crash reports on Windows build 26200 / 0xc0000409-style failures.

Expected behavior

Codex should not leave large numbers of orphaned cmd.exe, git.exe, or conhost.exe child processes, and a dictation/session failure should not destabilize Windows shell/UI components or Task Manager.

Actual behavior

Codex crashed, Windows shell/UI became effectively unusable, Task Manager hung, and the user had to forcibly restart the machine. The strongest local symptom was the pre-restart explosion to roughly 1,959 conhost.exe processes.

Notes

I can provide additional Event Viewer details if useful, but I avoided attaching dumps/log paths here because they may include local usernames or session data.