[BUG] Claude Code launched via wsl.exe-relayed WSL terminal triggers Windows kernel BSOD (0x1A/0x4477) — safe via SSH-remote WSL session

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?

Launching Claude Code from a WSL terminal that Windows opened via wsl.exe (e.g. Positron/VS Code's
default WSL-terminal integration) reliably triggers a full Windows kernel bugcheck (BSOD), requiring
a hard reboot. Launching the identical Claude Code binary inside the identical WSL2 VM via an
SSH-remote session (Positron "Remote - SSH" into the WSL distro) does NOT crash, and the native
Windows build launched from PowerShell does NOT crash either. This narrows the trigger to the
specific wsl.exe-based interactive console-relay bridge, not Claude Code's memory usage, GPU
usage, or the app itself in general.

What Should Happen?

Claude Code should start normally regardless of which mechanism was used to open the WSL terminal
session, without triggering a Windows kernel-level crash.

Error Messages/Logs

No application-level error — the OS reboots before any error can be captured in Claude Code's own
logs. Windows Event Log evidence:
- Bugcheck 0x0000001A (MEMORY_MANAGEMENT), parameter 1 = 0x4477 (3 of 4 occurrences)
- One occurrence: bugcheck 0x00000050 (PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA)
- 4 occurrences over ~3 weeks, each immediately following a `claude` launch in a wsl.exe-relayed
  terminal
- Minidumps saved to C:\Windows\Minidump\*.dmp (not yet analyzed with WinDbg — no admin rights on
  this domain-joined machine to access the folder)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a WSL Ubuntu terminal via a Windows-hosted app that uses wsl.exe -d Ubuntu -- zsh directly

(e.g. Positron or VS Code terminal pointed at a Windows-local project, not a remote-SSH project).

1. Run claude.
2. Windows reboots (kernel bugcheck 0x1A/0x4477) shortly after launch.
3. For comparison, repeat via a Positron/VS Code "Remote - SSH" session into the same WSL distro:

no crash. Repeat via native Windows build from PowerShell: no crash.

Ruled out as causes:

• reg.exe/Chrome-native-messaging startup path (see #52504) — still reproduces with WSL interop

fully disabled ([interop] enabled=false in /etc/wsl.conf, verified via failed cmd.exe exec).

• WSL2 GPU-PV — still reproduces with [gpu] enabled=false in /etc/wsl.conf.
• Generic WSL2 VM memory pressure — identical Claude Code process runs fine in the same VM when the

terminal session is established via SSH instead of via wsl.exe.

Possibly related: #30137 (closed, not planned — Bun runtime suspected of triggering Windows kernel
BSODs), #32870 (open — claude.exe triggers BSOD via Wof.sys, different/native-NTFS mechanism),
microsoft/WSL#41286 (hvsocket session-transport failures on WSL 2.7.11.0, same subsystem, though
that report doesn't reach full BSOD).

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

N/A

Claude Code Version

2.1.235 (Claude Code)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Claude.ai subscription login (OAuth) — not Bedrock, not Vertex, not a raw Anthropic API console key.

Windows 11 Education, build 10.0.26200, via WSL2 (WSL 2.7.11.0, kernel 6.18.33.2-2, Ubuntu 24.04).
Hardware: dual-GPU laptop, NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 (Blackwell) + Intel Arc Pro 140T, 64GB DDR5-6400.