microsoft
WSL --version command loops continuously using a non-elevated cmd or Powershell prompt
When I try to run the command "wsl --version" from a non-elevated cmd or powershell prompt, wsl opens and closes repeatedly. I have to use "Control-C" to kill the process. When I try the same command from an admin cmd or Powershell prompt, wsl runs as expected. Attached are the wsl debugging logs
WslLogs-2025-11-12_14-55-33.zip
The log file doesn't contain any WSL traces. Please make sure that you reproduced the issue while the log collection was running.
Diagnostic information
Detected appx version: 2.6.1.0
Found no WSL traces in the logs
![github-actions[bot] avatar](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/in/15368?v=4 "Published by a pub.dev verified publisher"){kind=small}
I think there are no wsl logs because wsl cannot start correctly when running in a non-elevated command/Powershell prompt.
I have uploaded to sets of logs. One from an elevated Powershell prompt and one from a non-elevated Powershell prompt. Both times, I am trying to run "wsl --version"
WslLogs-2025-11-12_18-57-15-elevated.zip WslLogs-2025-11-12_18-55-32-non-elevated.zip
Thank you for reporting this @ImranKamaluddin. Could you share a TDD trace of the wsl.exe process capturing this ? (make sure to include subprocesses as well so we can see what's happening)
I followed the instructions you provided, however, I could not get windbg to attach to the wslservice. It failed with error "Error: Communication between the guest process and this client could not be established, which may be an indication of permissions or privileges problems ". See screenshot in attached zip file as well as the output of windbg.
I could not find wslservice.exe, so I ran "wsl --l" as suggested. However, running this command in a non-elevated cmd prompt causes wsl to continuously start/stop. I have to use control-c to stop the loop. I then tried to attach the wslservice.exe using windbg but got the error message above. I rebooted and repeated the above steps but using an elevated cmd prompt to run the wsl --l command but got the same error in windbg.
No logs.etl found in the archive. Make sure that you ran collect-wsl-logs.ps1 as administrator and that the logs.etl file is in the archive.
Diagnostic information
appxpackage.txt not found
optional-components.txt not found
No logs.etl found in archive.
Error while parsing the logs. See action page for details
@ImranKamaluddin: Sorry if I was unclear, do what we'd need here is a TDD trace of wsl.exe (the executable causing the loop), not wslservice.exe
The problem is that if I start windbg with admin rights and launch wsl.exe everything works as expected. If I start windbg without admin rights and launch wsl.exe, I am prompted with a user access control prompt asking if I want tdd.exe to make changes. If I accept, wsl.exe starts without the looping.
I have attached the outputs from both elevated and non-elevated rights. I have also included videos of what is happening to show you the problem I am encountering when running in non-elevated rights.
Tried to upload zip file with logs but fails - probably size of zip file is too large. Is there an alternative way to send you the files ?
If the file is too big for Github, a OneDrive / GDrive share link would be the easiest way to share the .zip
Here is a link to the logs - https://1drv.ms/f/c/513d4101a2d67bfb/IgBHLTf6U7yJRIcfEMoupIGuAbiQs3UvJmk1pNk2oAHyfjY?e=LebPVV