How to fix Kernel_Security_Check_Failure_(0x139)

Question

I have a gaming laptop, since few days whenever i am trying to run any game, my laptop automatically restarts and opens a black screen stating, "Your device ran into problem and needs to restart" "KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK _FAILURE (0x139).

Please help me solve this issues , i have tried almost all YT tutorials , but nothing worked so-far .

Answer 1

Please check to see if your laptop is producing any minidump files, I will check those to see if they provide any insight into a potential cause of the system crashes.

Please do not upload a very large Memory.dmp file.

Open Windows File Explorer.

Navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump

Copy any minidump files onto your Desktop, then zip those up.

Upload the zip file to the Cloud (OneDrive... etc.), then choose to share those and get a share link.

Then post the link here to the zip file, so I can take a look for you.

Answer 2

The KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE bug check (0x00000139) means Windows detected corruption of a critical kernel data structure. This often points to faulty or incompatible drivers, system services, or sometimes hardware.

For a home Windows 11 gaming system, use these steps to narrow down and fix the issue:

1. Check the stop code details

• When the black/blue screen appears, note any additional stop code text or module name shown at the bottom (for example, a driver name like nvlddmkm.sys).
• This can indicate which driver or component is failing.

2. Look for patterns in Event Viewer

• Open Event Viewer → Windows Logs → System.
• Look for Critical or Error events at the exact time of the restart.
• If a specific driver or service is repeatedly mentioned, update or temporarily remove it.

3. Update or roll back recently changed drivers The 0x139 error is commonly caused by driver bugs, especially around LIST_ENTRY corruption and kernel synchronization objects.

• Update GPU drivers (NVIDIA/AMD/Intel) from the vendor’s official tool or site.
• Update chipset, storage, and network drivers from the laptop manufacturer.
• If the crashes started after a specific driver update, roll that driver back from Device Manager.

4. Remove or update recently installed software

• If any new software, overclocking tools, RGB/overlay utilities, or anti-cheat components were installed around the time the crashes began, uninstall or update them.
• Games with kernel-level anti-cheat can trigger BSODs if their drivers misbehave.

5. Use Device Manager to find faulty devices

• Open Device Manager and look for any device with a yellow exclamation mark.
• Open its Properties → Events/General tab and check for errors.
• Update or disable the problematic device and test if the BSODs stop.

6. Scan for malware and file corruption

• Run a full scan with Windows Security.
• Run sfc /scannow in an elevated Command Prompt to repair system files.

7. Analyze crash dumps (advanced) If comfortable with debugging tools:

• Configure Windows to create a memory dump.
• Use WinDbg and the !analyze extension to inspect the 0x139 crashes and see which driver or list structure is being corrupted. The parameter 1 value helps narrow the cause (for example, 3 indicates LIST_ENTRY corruption).

8. General BSOD troubleshooting

• If the issue started after a Windows update, check for any newer cumulative updates that might contain fixes.
• If no software/driver cause can be found and the problem persists, test hardware (RAM, storage) and consider a repair install or reset of Windows while keeping personal files.

If the system continues to restart only when gaming, focus on GPU drivers, game-related anti-cheat drivers, and any overclocking or performance-tuning tools.

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References:

• Bug Check 0x139: KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE
• Troubleshooting Windows unexpected restarts and stop code errors