System.IO.File.Copy sometimes results in System.IO.IOException: Invalid access to memory location.

Andreas Leeb 50

Hello,

occasionally, after several successful calls to System.IO.File.Copy, the method fails with the following exception:

System.IO.IOException: Invalid access to memory location.
   at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
   at System.IO.File.InternalCopy(String sourceFileName, String destFileName, Boolean overwrite, Boolean checkHost)
   at System.IO.File.Copy(String sourceFileName, String destFileName)

So the LastWin32Error is 998 (0x000003E6) = ERROR_NOACCESS = Invalid access to memory location.

I cannot find any information on this error occuring in the CopyFile function of kernel32.dll. The funny thing is, from another dummy .NET app started in parallel, the exact same copying works. Also System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes(dest, System.IO.File.ReadAllBytes(source)); works even when System.IO.File.Copy(source, dest); throws this exception.

ProcessMonitor just shows the source file being succesfully opened for reading and then being closed again, and no operation on the destination file.

I'm using .NET Framework 4.8

Karen Payne MVP 35,386 Reputation points

2023-05-10T18:41:44.5+00:00

What version of Visual Studio? Some older versions needed a hot fix.
Viorel 114.7K Reputation points

2023-05-10T19:30:57.6033333+00:00

Did you try to repeat the operation? Maybe it is a transient issue.
Andreas Leeb 50 Reputation points

2023-05-11T06:24:09.4866667+00:00

@Karen Payne MVP The call to copy is actually inside a compiled DLL from a third-party vendor. So the IDE version is irrelevant here, but we're using .NET Framework 4.8

@Viorel Once it happens it keeps happening until I restart the process
Jiale Xue - MSFT 43,046 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2023-05-12T07:05:18.77+00:00

Hi @Andreas Leeb , I suggest you put a breakpoint on System.IO.File.Copy(source, dest); etc. Will this error occur step by step? Your error looks like memory usage. Maybe using await will solve your problem.
Viorel 114.7K Reputation points

2023-05-12T07:46:49.7366667+00:00

Maybe you should also contact the third-party vendor.

Are you also using other packages or libraries that somehow influence the issue?
JK 5 Reputation points

2023-05-12T16:10:56.7933333+00:00

I have noticed this same problem starting a few weeks ago. Did you ever figure out what it is?
JK 5 Reputation points

2023-05-12T16:13:33.1133333+00:00

@Karen Payne MVP Can you point to the hotfix needed?
Andreas Leeb 50 Reputation points

2023-05-14T09:58:38.05+00:00

@Jiale Xue - MSFT I have already debugged System.IO.File.Copy, in InternalCopy the function Win32Native.Copy (implemented in kernel32.dll) is called, returns false and Marshal.GetLastWin32Error() returns the abovementioned ERROR_NOACCESS
ATTOUT Arthur -EXT 10 Reputation points

2023-05-15T13:49:21.25+00:00

We also recently started to see this in our CI/CD pipeline.

The error sometimes pops-up, and restarting the unit tests suite works most of the time.

This is a big problem for us, since it seems to be caused by an internal .NET thing. It is not related to Visual Studio because our pipelines exclusively uses msbuild and vstest (outside of Visual Studio)
Andreas Leeb 50 Reputation points

2023-05-15T18:21:09.83+00:00

@ATTOUT Arthur -EXT and @JK which Windows versions are you using on the machines where the issue occurs?
Pushpraj Singh Rathore 85 Reputation points

2023-05-18T09:38:16.7633333+00:00

We are also facing the same issue while using CopyFileW (win32) function to copy Email from Outlook in the temp folder.

Everything works appropriately before we upgrade the office to Version 2301.

Received error is 998 (0x3E6) -- ERROR_NOACCESS -- Invalid access to memory location.

A function used is: "CopyFileW" function (winbase.h)
ATTOUT Arthur -EXT 10 Reputation points

2023-05-22T07:31:26.7366667+00:00

@Andreas Leeb windows version is Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2, BUILD 19045.2965 (Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0)
Pushpraj Singh Rathore 85 Reputation points

2023-05-22T07:36:41.8+00:00

@ATTOUT Arthur -EXT I have the same version

Edition Windows 10 Enterprise

Version 22H2

Installed on ‎11/‎24/‎2022

OS build 19045.2965

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19041.1000.0
Marc Roberts 20 Reputation points

2023-05-22T08:43:09.1+00:00

This is an interesting thread as we experienced a similar issue with a few third party apps throwing the same error when moving files from email attachments. We found by uninstalling KB5025221 the error stopped appearing and we couldn't reproduce, re-install it and it broke again.
I'm not a developer so cannot help there, but thought it might help point you in a direction maybe... hope its useful to someone!
Andreas Leeb 50 Reputation points

2023-05-26T13:24:01.8266667+00:00

~~FYI, I reported the bug to Microsoft https://aka.ms/AAkz4xn~~

~~Please consider upvoting this issue in the Microsoft Feedback Hub to give it attention.~~

Accepted answer

Pushpraj Singh Rathore 85 Reputation points

2023-05-26T13:47:52.2566667+00:00

This issue is already noted down in the Known issue notes of May 23, 2023—KB5026435 (OS Build 19045.3031) Preview and the solution proposed is resolved using Known Issue Rollback (KIR).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/topic/may-23-2023-kb5026435-os-build-19045-3031-preview-2751b693-5544-4110-bc0c-feb8dd7336b3

You might have intermittent issues saving, copying, or attaching files using 32-bit apps, which are large address aware and using the CopyFile API
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2 people found this answer helpful.
RiddleTime 0 Reputation points

2023-07-19T13:04:53.9266667+00:00

The issue should have been resolved in KB5027215.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/june-13-2023-kb5027215-os-builds-19044-3086-and-19045-3086-079f9f02-fe49-4b25-99a6-c02a16b1f208
I cannot confirm.
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System.IO.File.Copy sometimes results in System.IO.IOException: Invalid access to memory location.

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