Windows 11 • Release: 6 Benchmark Date: 05 Jan 2026

CAT III V-253397 WN11-CC-000220

File Explorer heap termination on corruption must be disabled.

Documentable No
Rule ID SV-253397r958902_rule
CCI References
CCI-002385

Legacy plug-in applications may continue to function when a File Explorer session has become corrupt. Disabling this feature will prevent this.

Check Procedure

The default behavior is for File Explorer heap termination on corruption to be enabled.

If it exists and is configured with a value of "1", this is a finding.

Registry Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry Path: \SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\

Value Name: NoHeapTerminationOnCorruption

Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x00000000 (0) (or if the Value Name does not exist)

Fix Action

The default behavior is for File Explorer heap termination on corruption to be enabled.

To correct this, configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Administrative Templates >> Windows Components >> File Explorer >> "Turn off heap termination on corruption" to "Not Configured" or "Disabled".