Codex Desktop app crashes on startup (ACCESS_VIOLATION 0xC0000005) on Intel UHD 620 — regression in newer versions

What version of the Codex App are you using (From “About Codex” dialog)?

26.803.5235.0 (working), 26.803.8161.0 and 26.803.10989.0 (crash)

What subscription do you have?

Plus

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Codex Desktop app (MSIX package OpenAI.Codex, branded "ChatGPT") crashes ~10 seconds after launch with exit code -1073741819 (0xC0000005, EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION). No window is ever shown.

This is a regression: version 26.803.5235.0 works fine, but 26.803.8161.0 and the latest 26.803.10989.0 crash. The crash is related to GPU initialization — launching with --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer keeps the process alive.

Key diagnostics when running ChatGPT.exe directly:

.\ChatGPT.exe
stdout:
Launching app ... enableUpdater=true ... platform=win32
Appshot hotkey inactive
[AppServerConnection] Initializing app-server transport [AppServerConnection] Starting app-server cort=stdio
EXITED code=-1073741819 after 10.883s

.\ChatGPT.exe --no-sandbox --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer
STILL RUNNING after 20s
Additional notes:

• Crashpad does not capture a dump (only metadata/settings.dat are written), so the crash happens below the crash handler.
• No Windows Error Reporting entry is logged for the app.
• Machine: Intel Core i7-8550U, Intel UHD Graphics 620 (driver 31.0.101.2140), NVIDIA MX130, Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200.

⑥ What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Launch the app from the Start menu (AUMIDpp).
2. Wait ~10 seconds. The process exits with 0xC0000005 and no window appears.
3. Also reproduced by running the packaged ChatGPT.exe directly from the install folder.
4. Same behavior on versions 26.803.8161.0 a
5. Version 26.803.5235.0 on the same machine launches normally.

⑦ What is the expected behavior?
The app should open normally, as it does on version 26.803.5235.0. If GPU initialization fails on older Intel iGPUs (UHD 620 / Kaby Lake-R), the app should fall back to software rendering instead of crashing.

⑧ Additional information

• The crash is at the graphics-stack level: before the app's crash handler can write adump.
• Only benign Chromium warnings appear on stderr before the crash (usagestats registry key, missing IDMGCExt.crx) — no JS or GPU errors.
• The auto-updater silently upgrades the MSIX to a newer crashing version; a manual downgrade to 26.803.5235.0 is the
  only way to get a working app.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Launch the app from the Start menu (AUMID OpenAI.Codex_2p2nqsd0c76g0!App).
2. Wait ~10 seconds. The process exits with 0xC0000005 and no window appears.
3. Also reproduced by running the packaged ChatGPT.exe directly from the install folder.
4. Same behavior on versions 26.803.8161.0 and 26.803.10989.0.
5. Version 26.803.5235.0 on the same machine launches normally.

What is the expected behavior?

The app should open normally, as it does on version 26.803.5235.0. If GPU initialization fails on older Intel iGPUs (UHD 620 / Kaby Lake-R), the app should fall back to software rendering instead of crashing.

Additional information

The app should open normally, as it does on version 26.803.5235.0. If GPU initialization fails on older Intel iGPUs (UHD 620 / Kaby Lake-R), the app should fall back to software rendering instead of crashing.

Reproduce the crash with OpenAI.Codex versions 26.803.8161.0 or 26.803.10989.0 on Intel UHD 620, then compare with 26.803.5235.0 and the --disable-gpu --disable-software-rasterizer launch. Investigate the GPU initialization path available in this repository; done means the app opens normally and falls back to software rendering instead of exiting with 0xC0000005.