Claude Desktop Code mode: native crash in Virtualization framework + corrupted CDN downloads (user-account-specific)

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Summary

On my primary macOS user profile, Claude Desktop crashes natively immediately when entering Code mode. The crash is profile-specific — works perfectly on a fresh user account on the same Mac with the same /Applications/Claude.app. Persists through full reset of ~/.claude, TCC, LaunchServices, Saved Application State. Cannot be fixed by reinstall.

Environment

• macOS: 26.3.1 (build 25D2128) on Apple Silicon (Mac16,13 / MacBook Air)
• Claude Desktop: 1.6608.2 (signed Anthropic PBC, notarized, integrity verified)
• Bundled Claude Code SDK: 2.1.128
• Affected profile: primary user (developer account, 2 months of project work)
• Reference profile (works): clean new user account on same Mac

Symptoms

• Click Code → entire Claude Desktop process dies (not just renderer)
• 100% reproducible
• Code opens automatically on app launch (last-view restore) → app immediately dies after login

Event identifiers

• Sentry event ID: 549c7a023f8948d0882905f83c0a9501
• Crash event ID: ae2ac82acf27463b9d578524f28ba585
• Crashpad dumps: 4e7db2b8-c1f1-4d15-9d18-03a3d8746c3d.dmp, 6dca910e-89ab-456b-ab08-fdf75c2db501.dmp, 253563c5-433d-40d0-bc5b-e53b5753b1cb.dmp

Diagnostic finding 1: CDN download corruption

The SDK binary downloaded from https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/2.1.128/darwin-arm64/claude.app.tar.zst arrives corrupted on the affected profile only:

| Aspect | Affected profile | Working profile (same Mac, same URL) |
|---|---|---|
| Extracted binary size | 157,083,136 bytes | 216,953,600 bytes |
| codesign -dvv | "code object is not signed at all" | Authority=Developer ID Application: Anthropic PBC (Q6L2SF6YDW) |
| spctl --assess | "invalid or unsupported format" | accepted, source=Notarized Developer ID |
| SHA256 | (corrupt) | cf445faf49861d60edb3da16592008e44415799b8f459ef00a2fd9cdc9afe646 |
| posix_spawn result | errno -88 (EBADMACHO) | works |

System inspection confirms clean environment: no MITM proxy, no TLS-intercepting software (no Little Snitch / Lulu / AV), no custom root CAs in keychain (security dump-trust-settings empty), no MDM profiles (profiles list empty), no system extensions (systemextensionsctl list shows 0), no third-party kernel extensions, no DYLD_* env vars, no proxy in networksetup, no LaunchAgent/Daemon outside Apple+Zoom+Google updater+Riot. Yet downloads arrive consistently corrupted on this profile.

Diagnostic finding 2: crash persists with verified binary

After replacing corrupt SDK with known-good signed copy (ditto-copied to preserve Mach-O metadata, verified SHA256 + signature + spctl ACCEPTED, .verified marker created), Claude Desktop still crashes on Code mode entry.

Crashpad dump strings show these modules loaded at crash time:

• Hypervisor
• VideoToolboxParavirtualizationSupport
• Virtualization
• claude-native-binding.node

Diagnostic finding 3: VM init crash

~/Library/Logs/Claude/cowork_vm_node.log shows:

[VM] Loading @ant/claude-swift module... 
[VM] Module loaded successfully
[Bundle:status] rootfs.img missing
rootfs.img not found, downloading...
Downloading rootfs.img...
[log ends — process dies]

The VM rootfs.img download from https://downloads.claude.ai/vms/linux/arm64/.../rootfs.img.zst is also corrupted on this profile (same pattern as SDK). Native crash occurs when @ant/claude-swift attempts to use the corrupt rootfs with Virtualization.framework.

What was tried (none fixed it)

• Full wipe of ~/.claude (parked, not deleted)
• Disabled all custom hooks (11 GSD hooks)
• Removed 506 custom skills, 35 custom agents
• Disabled claude-mem plugin
• tccutil reset All com.anthropic.claudefordesktop + com.anthropic.claude-code
• lsregister -kill -seed -r -all (LaunchServices reset)
• Removed com.apple.quarantine xattr from /Applications/Claude.app (App Translocation was active)
• Multiple full Mac reboots
• Cleaned Cache, Code Cache, GPUCache, Saved Application State, IndexedDB, Local Storage, Session Storage, HTTPStorages
• Manually replaced SDK binary with verified signed copy from working profile (SHA matches)
• Manually replaced VM rootfs.img (10 GB) with verified working copy from working profile
• Multiple Claude Desktop reinstalls (drag-to-Applications via Finder, DMG re-mount, etc.)

Requests for engineering

1. Pull Sentry event 549c7a023f8948d0882905f83c0a9501 to identify exact crash site in claude-swift / Virtualization.framework interaction
2. Investigate why CDN downloads consistently arrive corrupted for this user account only — there must be an intervening system component, but it's invisible to standard macOS inspection
3. Add defensive validation: after SDK / rootfs download, validate SHA256 + codesign before storing; on mismatch, fail gracefully with user-visible error instead of native crash on next launch

Happy to provide additional logs, full system_profiler output, or run further diagnostics if helpful.

What Should Happen?

Claude shouldn't crash when opened

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

I don't have specific steps to reproduce, my Claude was working just fine yesterday and suddenly it stopped. Everytime i open Claude Code on my computer it crashes, when I logged on second profile on my mac it is working there but I have all the files and all the work on my main account. I need to solve this asap

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.138 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_