CreateProcessAsUserW failed: 5 on Windows 11 Home — local runner fails

Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Jun 17, 2026 by Oleks23 Closed Aug 6, 2026

💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (github-actions[bot], contributor) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

Version 26.611.61049 • Released Jun 16, 2026

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11

What issue are you seeing?

Local runner fails with CreateProcessAsUserW failed: 5 (ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) on Windows 11 Home. Steps tried: granted SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege + SeIncreaseQuotaPrivilege via secedit, rebooted, ran as Administrator. Docker Desktop is running and healthy. Error persists regardless.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Check workspace

What is the expected behavior?

I tried to check C:\Projects\FCC, but the local command runner is currently blocked by Windows before any workspace command can start:
windows sandbox: runner error: CreateProcessAsUserW failed: 5
I also checked for app-exposed workspace resources, but only plugin metadata is available, not the project files. So I can’t reliably inspect the folder contents or git status from this thread yet.
The workspace path itself is set correctly as C:\Projects\FCC; the issue is the process launcher permission, not the directory name.

Additional information

_No response_

View original on GitHub ↗

3 Comments

github-actions[bot] contributor · 2 months ago

Potential duplicates detected. Please review them and close your issue if it is a duplicate.

#28339
#27987

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IllusionVK · 2 months ago

Hi @Oleks23, as a work around, I asked codex to investigate this itself, and after changing config.toml

FROM
[windows]
sandbox = "elevated"

TO
[windows]
sandbox = "unelevated"

In-app browser was fixed.
(Was using Version 26.611.61753 • Released 17 June 2026)

Oleks23 · 2 months ago

Thanks Charlie!

It worked for me too.

Alex

On Wed, Jun 17, 2026 at 10:40 AM Charlie Blundell @.***>
wrote:

IllusionVK left a comment (openai/codex#28730) <https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28730#issuecomment-4731651846> Hi @Oleks23 <https://github.com/Oleks23>, as a work around, I asked codex to investigate this itself, and after changing config.toml FROM [windows] sandbox = "elevated" TO [windows] sandbox = "unelevated" In-app browser was fixed. (Was using Version 26.611.61753 • Released 17 June 2026) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28730?email_source=notifications&email_token=ADEXCFKVPJP3SOM5F4YLBEL5AKUWRA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINZTGE3DKMJYGQ3KM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4731651846>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADEXCFNC5KPKUJI3YSXVNYL5AKUWRAVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4TMNJUGE2TMNBZHNEXG43VMU5TINRYGM4DAMZQHE32C5QC> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/ADEXCFOXQH3LDHWQJFP5DTT5AKUWRA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINZTGE3DKMJYGQ3KM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/ADEXCFPT7DSOXOFJYFEOCTD5AKUWRA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTINZTGE3DKMJYGQ3KM4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: @.***>