containerd / containerd/nerdctl

`nerdctl -d -t` detached containers immediately exit with code 3221225786 (0xc000013a) on Windows

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#4,899 3 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
bug platform/Windows/Non-WSL2
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Description

### Description

When attempting to create a detached Windows container, the container exits immediately with code 3221225786 (0xc000013a):

```
C:\Users\mark>nerdctl run -d -t mcr.microsoft.com/windows/nanoserver:ltsc2025
369992f8d96f29ab0412dc800b3eff24c8a3a29596bbf5ba3629450f2dd709fc

C:\Users\mark>nerdctl ps -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
369992f8d96f mcr.microsoft.com/windows/nanoserver:ltsc2025 "c:\\windows\\system32…" 5 seconds ago Exited (3221225786) 2 seconds ago nanoserver-36999
```

The container starts and runs fine if used in interactive mode (i.e. not daemonised) via `nerdctl run --rm -it mcr.microsoft.com/windows/nanoserver:ltsc2025`.

Some initial research shows that code 3221225786 (0xc000013a) or `STATUS_CONTROL_C_EXIT` suggesting that the container has generated the equivalent of CTRL-C which causes it to exit prematurely.

### Steps to reproduce the issue

1. Open a command prompt in Windows and enter `nerdctl run -d -t mcr.microsoft.com/windows/nanoserver:ltsc2025`
2. Check the status of the container with `nerdctl ps -a`
3. Note that the container has exited immediately with code 3221225786 (0xc000013a)

### Describe the results you received and expected

The container should still be running, and hence visible via `nerdctl ps`.

### What version of nerdctl are you using?

```
C:\Users\mark>nerdctl version
time="2026-05-14T10:54:50+01:00" level=warning msg="unable to determine buildctl version" error="exec: \"buildctl\": executable file not found in %PATH%"
time="2026-05-14T10:54:51+01:00" level=warning msg="unable to determine runc version" error="exec: \"runc\": executable file not found in %PATH%"
Client:
Version: v2.2.0
OS/Arch: windows/amd64
Git commit: 4eb4cbdb6b7ae82ab864a9829d1162a20eb61f81
buildctl:
Version:

Server:
containerd:
Version: v2.2.0
GitCommit: 1c4457e00facac03ce1d75f7b6777a7a851e5c41
runc:
Version:
```

### Are you using a variant of nerdctl? (e.g., Rancher Desktop)

None

### Host information

```
C:\Users\mark>nerdctl info
Client:
Namespace: default
Debug Mode: false

Server:
Server Version: v2.2.0
Storage Driver: windows
Logging Driver: json-file
Plugins:
Log: fluentd journald json-file none syslog
Storage: windows-lcow cimfs windows
Kernel Version: 10.0 26100 (26100.1.amd64fre.ge_release.240331-1435)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.8457)
OSType: windows
Architecture: x86_64
CPUs: 2
Total Memory: 7.916GiB
Name: AZ-
ID: 6442774b-b723-4cac-b2e3-a29a35c0406b
```

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