# NousResearch/hermes-agent · Windows stale-PID taskkill causing critical process crashes

## Open now

- Nothing open on GitHub.

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.

## TL;DR

- 3 member(s): 0 open issue(s), 1 closed issue(s), 0 open PR(s), 1 merged PR(s), 1 PR(s) closed without merging.
- A fix was merged to main in PR #99558. Verify it addresses your case.
- **Recommended:** read PR #99558 (and any competing PRs below) before filing. Confirm the merged change covers your symptom.

## Maintainer resolution verdict

- Internal-tracker verdict over this cluster's issue members: `resolved` · deciding PR(s): `pr-99558`. This is distinct from the fix status above. Weigh it yourself.

## How this cluster was grouped

- Link evidence (`STRUCTURAL_SPANNING`): every member is connected by structural evidence: shared changed files, or a closing/superseded reference.
- Pairwise link density `0.67`: the share of member 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.

## Closed / duplicate issues

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

## Prior & competing PRs

- **#99558: fix(windows): fail-closed process-identity guard before every unverified taskkill**. merged to main · fix tier `verified`
  - maintainer direction: category `merged`
  - 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)
- **#89689: fix(desktop): tear down backends through the retained handle, never by pid**. closed without merge
  - maintainer direction: category `superseded_by_pr`; implication `superseded`; refs `7d22edf3fed9f0d2c5999c7cc08480164e374018`, `#89614`, `#90250`, `#90471`

## Fix status

- Merged to main in PR #99558 (cited above). No release data is tracked. Verify downstream.
- Fix last verified (merged) `2026-08-31`.
- Subsystem: `apps/desktop`