Codex Desktop Windows sandbox hangs on Google Drive virtual filesystem — SetNamedSecurityInfoW failed: 87

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

Codex Desktop app: 26.721.4979.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Windows 11 x64

What issue are you seeing?

Codex version

Codex Desktop app: 26.721.4979.0
Bundled codex CLI: 0.146.0-alpha.3.1
Separate npm CLI installed: 0.146.0, but Codex Desktop is confirmed to use
the bundled WindowsApps binary, not the npm installation.

Platform

Windows 11 x64
Google Drive for Desktop virtual drive mounted as G:

Problem

Native file-writing tools such as apply_patch hang for approximately 2–6
minutes when the workspace is inside the Google Drive virtual filesystem.

The same workspace is writable normally by the Windows user. This is not a
general Google Drive permission failure.

Codex Desktop launches:

codex-windows-sandbox-setup.exe

The helper attempts to grant a Windows write ACE to the Google Drive workspace
root. Google Drive's virtual filesystem rejects that operation.

Exact error

From:

C:\Users\<user>\.codex\.sandbox\setup_error.json

{
"code": "helper_unknown_error",
"message": "setup refresh had errors"
}

From sandbox.2026-07-29.log:

write ACE grant failed on G:\Mi unidad\...\Vault-Claude:
SetNamedSecurityInfoW failed: 87

setup refresh completed with errors:
["write ACE failed on G:\\Mi unidad\\...\\Vault-Claude:
SetNamedSecurityInfoW failed: 87"]

setup error: setup refresh had errors

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Reproduction

1. Open Codex Desktop on Windows.
2. Select a workspace located under a Google Drive for Desktop virtual drive.
3. Ask Codex to create a one-line file using native apply_patch.
4. The tool remains pending for several minutes with no feedback.
5. Stop the task manually.
6. Check ~/.codex/.sandbox/setup_error.json and the daily sandbox log.
7. Observe SetNamedSecurityInfoW failed: 87.

This reproduced repeatedly, including after restarting Codex and with
apply_patch invoked natively outside Code Mode/node_repl.

What is the expected behavior?

Expected behavior

Codex should either:

• support filesystems that do not implement Windows ACL operations;
• detect that the filesystem does not support SetNamedSecurityInfoW and avoid

the ACE operation;

• or fail immediately with an actionable error recommending a local NTFS

workspace.

The helper should not wait for several minutes.

Actual behavior

The sandbox setup helper hangs for minutes, returns helper_unknown_error, and
blocks native file-writing tools.

Repeated attempts waste significant task time and can contribute to unnecessary
usage.

Ruled out

• The npm Codex CLI is not used by Desktop.
• node_repl/Code Mode is not required to reproduce it.
• The files are writable by the normal Windows user.
• OpenAI service status was operational during reproduction.
• The problem occurs specifically while Codex grants an ACL to the Google Drive

virtual filesystem.

Additional information

Related issues

#31620
#18821

Those issues show the same Windows sandbox ACL/setup family, but with error 5
on NTFS. This report concerns error 87 on a Google Drive virtual filesystem.

Current workaround

Use a local NTFS workspace and synchronize it with Google Drive, or perform
writes outside the Codex Desktop sandbox.