al.exe crash directly on mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/sdk:4.8

[wmatw]

Describe the bug

Sig[0].Name=Application Name
Sig[0].Value=al.exe
Sig[1].Name=Application Version
Sig[1].Value=14.8.3928.0
Sig[2].Name=Application Timestamp
Sig[2].Value=5d3907aa
Sig[3].Name=Fault Module Name
Sig[3].Value=al.exe
Sig[4].Name=Fault Module Version
Sig[4].Value=14.8.3928.0
Sig[5].Name=Fault Module Timestamp
Sig[5].Value=5d3907aa
Sig[6].Name=Exception Code
Sig[6].Value=c0000005
Sig[7].Name=Exception Offset
Sig[7].Value=0000ade4
DynamicSig[1].Name=OS Version
DynamicSig[1].Value=10.0.14393.2.0.0.400.8
DynamicSig[2].Name=Locale ID
DynamicSig[2].Value=1033
DynamicSig[22].Name=Additional Information 1
DynamicSig[22].Value=2beb
DynamicSig[23].Name=Additional Information 2
DynamicSig[23].Value=2beba6fb4680d73a8c78ca7c24ccdb46
DynamicSig[24].Name=Additional Information 3
DynamicSig[24].Value=fe95
DynamicSig[25].Name=Additional Information 4
DynamicSig[25].Value=fe958b2c91f10e8cd80ec399e27e68dc
UI[2]=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools\al.exe

Just run the process, it will return immediately code 255 and a WER report will be created.
From the dmp you can collect you will see a double fault, the root cause is a missing module (I did not dig enough to determine which one) and on the unhandled exception handler a null dereference (seems to be a failure to load string resource).

Key  : AV.Type
Value: Read

Key  : Analysis.CPU.mSec
Value: 3203

Key  : Analysis.Elapsed.mSec
Value: 102667

Key  : Analysis.IO.Other.Mb
Value: 40

Key  : Analysis.IO.Read.Mb
Value: 1

Key  : Analysis.IO.Write.Mb
Value: 96

Key  : Analysis.Init.CPU.mSec
Value: 1359

Key  : Analysis.Init.Elapsed.mSec
Value: 26753

Key  : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
Value: 74

Key  : Analysis.Version.DbgEng
Value: 10.0.29457.1000

Key  : Analysis.Version.Description
Value: 10.2506.23.01 x86fre

Key  : Analysis.Version.Ext
Value: 1.2506.23.1

Key  : Failure.Bucket
Value: INVALID_POINTER_READ_c0000005_al.exe!ConsoleOutput::FormatErrorIdW

Key  : Failure.Exception.Code
Value: 0xc0000005

Key  : Failure.Exception.IP.Address
Value: 0xb5b56b

Key  : Failure.Exception.IP.Module
Value: al

Key  : Failure.Exception.IP.Offset
Value: 0xb56b

Key  : Failure.Hash
Value: {f08cb832-f5c6-0dbc-b770-41da6b0c2fab}

Key  : Failure.ProblemClass.Primary
Value: INVALID_POINTER_READ

Key  : WER.OS.Branch
Value: rs5_release

Key  : WER.OS.Version
Value: 10.0.17763.1

Key  : WER.Process.Version
Value: 14.8.3928.0

FILE_IN_CAB: WERBDCD.tmp.dmp

NTGLOBALFLAG: 0

CONTEXT: (.ecxr)
eax=00000000 ebx=0000000e ecx=00b87560 edx=0000000e esi=00b87560 edi=8007007e
eip=00b5b56b esp=04efe390 ebp=04effb10 iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na po nc
cs=0023 ss=002b ds=002b es=002b fs=0053 gs=002b efl=00010202
al!ConsoleOutput::FormatErrorIdW+0x35:
00b5b56b ff74d004 push dword ptr [eax+edx*8+4] ds:002b:00000074=????????
Resetting default scope

EXCEPTION_RECORD: (.exr -1)
ExceptionAddress: 00b5b56b (al!ConsoleOutput::FormatErrorIdW+0x00000035)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 00000000
Parameter[1]: 00000074
Attempt to read from address 00000074

PROCESS_NAME: al.exe

READ_ADDRESS: 00000074

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at 0x%p referenced memory at 0x%p. The memory could not be %s.

EXCEPTION_CODE_STR: c0000005

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER1: 00000000

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER2: 00000074

STACK_TEXT:
04effb10 00b5b619 aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa 04effb44 al!ConsoleOutput::FormatErrorIdW+0x35
04effb30 00b5f4cb 00b87560 aaaaaaaa 00000000 al!ConsoleOutput::ShowErrorIdString+0x19
04effb78 00b64d6a aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa al!main+0x1fa
04effbc0 751405c9 04d4e000 751405b0 04effc2c al!__scrt_common_main_seh+0xf8
04effbd0 77117d5d 04d4e000 aaaaaaaa 00000000 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0x19
04effc2c 77117d2d aaaaaaaa 77136d1e 00000000 ntdll!__RtlUserThreadStart+0x2f
04effc3c 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x1b

Which .NET image(s) are you using?

mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/framework/sdk:4.8

Steps to reproduce

Run in the docker:
cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools>al.exe

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v10.0A\bin\NETFX 4.8 Tools>echo %ERRORLEVEL%
255
Check you WER reports you will find the details of the crash

Other information

This is preventing people to generate satellite assemblies in build

Output of docker version

Client:
 Version:           28.5.2
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.25.3
 Git commit:        ecc6942
 Built:             Wed Nov  5 14:45:58 2025
 OS/Arch:           windows/amd64
 Context:           desktop-windows

Server: Docker Desktop 4.51.0 (210443)
 Engine:
  Version:          28.5.2
  API version:      1.51 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.24.9
  Git commit:       89c5e8f
  Built:            Wed Nov  5 14:43:17 2025
  OS/Arch:          windows/amd64
  Experimental:     false

Output of docker info

Client:
 Version:    28.5.2
 Context:    desktop-windows
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.9.11
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-ai.exe
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.29.1-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-buildx.exe
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.40.3-desktop.1
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-compose.exe
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.45
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-debug.exe
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-desktop.exe
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-extension.exe
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-init.exe
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.27.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-mcp.exe
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.46
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-model.exe
  offload: Docker Offload (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.17
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-offload.exe
  sandbox: Docker Sandbox (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.5.3
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sandbox.exe
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-sbom.exe
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.3
    Path:     C:\Program Files\Docker\cli-plugins\docker-scout.exe

Server:
 Containers: 2
  Running: 1
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 1
 Images: 2
 Server Version: 28.5.2
 Storage Driver: windowsfilter
  Windows:
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: ics internal l2bridge l2tunnel nat null overlay private transparent
  Log: awslogs etwlogs fluentd gcplogs gelf json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Swarm: inactive
 Default Isolation: hyperv
 Kernel Version: 10.0 26100 (26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435)
 Operating System: Microsoft Windows Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.7171)
 OSType: windows
 Architecture: x86_64
 CPUs: 22
 Total Memory: 31.43GiB
 Name: W-5CG44702LH
 ID: 2b47fb0e-ed44-4c10-a897-22d6dc7008db
 Docker Root Dir: C:\ProgramData\Docker
 Debug Mode: false
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=npipe://\\.\pipe\docker_cli
 Experimental: false
 Insecure Registries:
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false
 Product License: Community Engine

[lbussell]

Hi @wmatw, is this a change in behavior with a recent image update, or has it never worked at all?

[wmatw]

I'm not sure, as this is my first attempt at porting this build from on-prem to Docker, so this is the first image version I've tried.

I suspect it never worked and that this might be a compatibility issue with Windows Core rather than Docker. However, since I don't have access to the private symbols for Al.exe, I can't pinpoint the root cause.

Currently, I am trying this workaround in my project:

    <PropertyGroup>
        <GenerateSatelliteAssembliesForCore>true</GenerateSatelliteAssembliesForCore>
    </PropertyGroup>

This should use csc.exe instead of al.exe for satellite assembly generation.

[mthalman]

I know al.exe was working at one point as we've had other issues logged for it in the past that have been resolved.