Docker Desktop 4.71.0+ crashes on Windows Insider Build 26200: Inference manager Unix socket NTFS corruption

[fengyuwang-com]

Bug Description

Docker Desktop 4.71.0 and later (up to 4.82.0) crashes on startup on Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200. The Inference manager creates an AF_UNIX socket file on NTFS, which becomes corrupted and unremovable after any unclean exit, causing a permanent crash loop.

Affected Versions

• Docker Desktop 4.71.0 through 4.82.0 (possibly earlier)
• Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 10.0.26200 (Dev Channel)
• WSL2 backend

Root Cause

The Inference manager (com.docker.backend.exe) attempts to create a Unix domain socket on the NTFS filesystem at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\dockerInference

On Windows Insider Build 26200, AF_UNIX socket creation triggers a kernel-level (afd.sys) file lock issue on NTFS. When Docker exits uncleanly (crash, force kill, or system restart), the socket file remains with a corrupted MFT entry. The file becomes permanently inaccessible:

• ls -la shows -????????? permissions
• Windows API calls return "The file cannot be accessed by the system"
• remove() / DeleteFile() fails even with all Docker/WSL processes stopped
• Only a full system reboot or renaming the parent directory can bypass the corruption

Error Message

backend cancelling with error:
  starting services:
    initializing Inference manager:
      listening on unix://%LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\dockerInference:
        remove %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\dockerInference:
          The file cannot be accessed by the system.
          (listener: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.)

Cascade Effect

Cleaning one corrupted socket exposes the next. The dockerInference file is hit first, but removing it reveals corruption in other AF_UNIX sockets:

1. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\dockerInference — first blocker
2. %LOCALAPPDATA%\docker-secrets-engine\engine.sock — shows up after fixing Expand the README with some useful links and information for-win#1
3. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\userAnalyticsOtlpHttp.sock — may also be affected

Settings That Do NOT Prevent This

The following settings have no effect on the crash:

• "EnableDockerAI": false in settings-store.json — overridden by the default-admin provider
• "enableInference": false — the Inference manager component is compiled-in and ignores this
• "enableInferenceTCP": false, "enableInferenceGPUVariant": false — irrelevant

The bug persists across full uninstall/reinstall cycles because:

1. The corrupted socket file in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\ survives uninstall
2. The docker-desktop WSL distro retains corrupted state
3. Even with clean directories, the Inference manager recreates the socket on startup

Workarounds Found

1. Only full workaround: Downgrade to Docker Desktop 4.69.0 (build 224084), where disabling Beta features disables the Model Runner / Inference manager entirely
2. Per-boot fix: Reboot, immediately rename %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\ and %LOCALAPPDATA%\docker-secrets-engine\ before starting Docker Desktop
3. WSL distro reset: wsl --unregister docker-desktop and wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data after uninstall

Related Issues

• Startup crash-loop: stale AF_UNIX socket files (dockerInference, secrets-engine engine.sock) cannot be removed on Windows; settings flags do not disable Inference listener (4.77.0) #460 — Same error, same Windows build 26200
• Docker Desktop 4.71.0 crashes on startup at Inference manager / dockerInference on Windows 10 #342 — Crash on 4.71.0, settings don't block Inference
• Startup crash-loop: stale AF_UNIX socket files (dockerInference, secrets-engine engine.sock) cannot be removed on Windows; settings flags do not disable Inference listener (4.77.0) #460 — Same crash-loop after auto-update

Docker Desktop 4.82.0 Release Notes

The latest release (4.82.0, 2026-07-13) still has no fix for this issue. The release notes mention a Mac/Linux Unix socket path length fix but nothing about AF_UNIX socket creation on Windows NTFS.

System Information

• OS: Windows 11 Pro Insider Preview
• Build: 10.0.26200
• Architecture: x64
• Docker Desktop: 4.71.0 through 4.82.0
• WSL2 backend

[bsousaa]

Can you please share a diagnostics id?