Windows app: authorized Edge launch and execpolicy diagnostic rejected with unexplained policy block

Codex App version

Windows package: 26.903.9818.0. Installed Codex CLI reports 0.153.4; this is not independently verified as the desktop app's bundled backend version.

Subscription

Not collected.

Platform

Windows, native PowerShell execution, Codex desktop app with realtime voice active.

Issue

An explicitly user-authorized request to open an existing GitHub pull request in Microsoft Edge was rejected before process creation. Repeating the request after the user explicitly asked to retry produced the same result. The rejection exposes no matching rule, policy source, rationale, or supported next step.

Redacted command (the placeholder represents the actual existing pull-request URL; this generalized command was not separately tested):

Start-Process msedge.exe -ArgumentList '<existing GitHub pull-request URL>'

The shell tool returned a CreateProcess rejection ending in:

rejected: blocked by policy

Reproduction observed in this session

1. During a Windows desktop realtime voice conversation, ask Codex to open an existing PR specifically in Microsoft Edge.
2. Codex attempts the PowerShell command above via its shell tool.
3. The tool rejects the command before execution with the generic policy error.
4. Ask to retry and explicitly authorize the action. The retry is rejected identically.

Expected behavior

Run an authorized action when permitted by effective policy. If a policy legitimately disallows it, identify the applicable policy layer or rule and provide an actionable explanation. This report does not request bypassing policy.

Diagnostic evidence and limits

• Saved user configuration has approval_policy = "never" and sandbox_mode = "danger-full-access".
• Inspection of the user rules/default.rules found 88 allow rules, zero prompt rules, and zero forbidden rules. Other effective policy layers have not been exhaustively inspected.
• Ordinary read-only shell commands work in the same session.
• The documented codex execpolicy check diagnostic, supplied with the rejected command as data, was itself rejected before execution with the same generic error. It therefore produced no rule-evaluation result.
• It is not established whether this is intended policy enforcement with inadequate diagnostics, a runtime restriction, or a defect. The error alone does not establish an automatic reviewer denial.
• No settings were changed and no alternate launch method was used to bypass the rejection.
• Session occurred September 12, 2026 (America/Chicago). Full session transcripts and configuration files are omitted because they include unrelated private information.

Impact: the user cannot complete a simple authorized browser-open request or determine what permitted corrective action is available.

Start with the Windows shell-tool path for the reported PowerShell Start-Process command and the documented codex execpolicy check entry point. Compare their handling with the user’s rules/default.rules and the stated approval and sandbox settings. Done means the applicable policy layer or rule is identified with an actionable explanation, or the diagnostic behavior is corrected and verified for this reproduction.