NousResearch/hermes-agent

Windows stale-PID taskkill causing critical process crashes

Cluster 89614 · apps/desktop. Data as of 2026-10-29 11:48 UTC

Nothing open on GitHub. Fix merged in #99558 on 31 Aug 2026. Check it covers your case.

open issues

open PRs

items grouped

Known?: Yes. 3 related items grouped here, 1 issue already closed.
Fix event: A fix was merged to main in PR #99558. Check it covers your case. No release data is tracked.
Tracker: The maintainers' tracker marks this resolved, deciding PR #99558. That is separate from the fix event.
Still open: Nothing open on GitHub.

Next step: read #99558, then check it covers your case.

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A bug where stale PID reuse causes taskkill to terminate unintended system processes (such as svchost.exe), leading to CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED blue screens on Windows. The associated changes address backend teardown and process-identity verification before issuing kill commands.

Open issues0

No open issues.

Open PRs0

No open pull requests.

Fixes on record

Merged to main. A stamp counts the issues a fix is linked to.

#99558 fix(windows): fail-closed process-identity guard before every unverified taskkill

merged to main

files: .github/workflows/windows-venv-e2e.yml, gateway/run.py, gateway/status.py, hermes_cli/_subprocess_compat.py, hermes_cli/dashboard_procs.py, hermes_cli/gateway.py, hermes_cli/gateway_windows.py, hermes_cli/profiles.py, hermes_cli/update_cmd.py, plugins/platforms/whatsapp/adapter.py, tests/gateway/test_runner_startup_failures.py, tests/gateway/test_status.py, tests/gateway/test_whatsapp_connect.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_gateway.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_stale_pid_guard.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_taskkill_identity_windows_live.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_update_concurrent_quarantine.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_update_orphan_backend_reap.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_update_stale_dashboard.py, tests/hermes_cli/test_update_wedged_gateway.py (+4 more)

1 PR closed without merging

From the close comments: superseded by another PR 1

#89689 fix(desktop): tear down backends through the retained handle, never by pid · superseded by another PR → 7d22edf, #89614, #90250, #90471

Closed issues · 1

Closed#89614[Windows] Hermes kills svchost.exe via stale-PID taskkill /F /PID → repeated 0xEF (CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED) blue screens

How this cluster was grouped

Link evidence (structural links throughout): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
Pairwise link density 0.67: the share of item pairs that carry a link, counting a structural link in full and a relevance-only link at 0.36. 1.00 means every pair is linked.

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At a glance

Subsystem: apps/desktop
Merged PRs: #99558
Closed issues: 1
Attempts: 1 PR closed without merging
Fix link checked: 31 Aug 2026

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