Windows ChatGPT/Codex process consumes 50+ GB and crashes

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

26.818.41509

What subscription do you have?

Pro

What platform is your computer?

Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64

What issue are you seeing?

The Windows ChatGPT desktop app’s bundled codex.exe process rapidly consumes memory during ordinary local project use. Memory is not released, the application becomes unresponsive, and Windows eventually reports resource exhaustion or the application crashes.

Observed memory usage:

codex.exe starts at approximately 100 MB.

It then grows into multiple gigabytes.

On the current updated build, it reached approximately 15.1 GB.

On the previous build, Windows recorded approximately 52.4 GB, 53.3 GB, and 55.0 GB of virtual-memory consumption by codex.exe immediately before hangs or crashes.

Crash information:

Exception code: 0xc0000409

Fault offset: 0x000000000cec59e1

Windows Error Reporting event type: MoBEX

Two separate crashes had the same exception code and fault offset.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

Feedback ID: 01a02642-f04f-7450-bebc-f2fc9838fffb

What is the expected behavior?

codex.exe memory usage should remain within a reasonable, stable range during normal project work. Memory used for completed operations or conversation processing should be released or reused.

The desktop app should remain responsive and should not consume tens of gigabytes of memory, exhaust Windows resources, or crash. Long-running conversations and large local projects should not cause unbounded memory growth.

Additional information

Affected builds:

Previous package: OpenAI.Codex 26.818.4152.0

Current updated package: OpenAI.Codex 26.818.5229.0

Current ChatGPT.exe file version: 151.0.7922.170

Events recorded on 22 August 2026, Pacific/Auckland time:

Windows Resource Exhaustion Detector events at approximately 09:00:38, 09:21:39, and 09:39:54.

Application crashes at approximately 09:21:39 and 09:39:59.

An application hang occurred at approximately 09:33.

Windows Error Reporting IDs:

Crash: 3d0b3add-e434-4fc4-a9eb-8908a821ba59

Crash: 88162fd9-23b7-435a-bb00-fa8ef220f8b3

Hang: 7b434295-f9f8-4748-8578-b3b94bd89e24

vmmemWSL was using approximately 4–5 GB during the resource-exhaustion events, but codex.exe was recorded as using approximately 52–55 GB and was the dominant consumer.

I can provide a controlled memory-growth trace or relevant Windows Error Reporting files if required. I have not attached a raw process dump because it contains sensitive project or conversation data.

Start with feedback ID 01a02642-f04f-7450-bebc-f2fc9838fffb and the reported Windows Error Reporting records, comparing the affected OpenAI.Codex builds 26.818.4152.0 and 26.818.5229.0. A complete fix should prevent unbounded codex.exe memory growth, resource exhaustion, hangs, and crashes during ordinary local project use.