PHP 8.5+ crashes Apache24 on Windows.

Description

Apache frequently crashes with these errors both from the Apache error log and WER:

I can confirm that reverting the php version from 8.5+ back to 8.4.6 clears the issue completely.

This is the error log, both from Apache and Windows WER:

[Wed Feb 25 19:21:01.729542 2026] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 13388:tid 436] AH00428: Parent: child process 10804 exited with status 3221225477 -- Restarting.]

This is recorded in WER:

[Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 2/26/2026 8:06:30 AM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: Application Crashing Events
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: W
Description:
Faulting application name: httpd.exe, version: 2.4.66.0, time stamp: 0x699c17d8
Faulting module name: php8ts.dll, version: 8.5.1.0, time stamp: 0x69428cfc
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000000000063ef53
Faulting process id: 0x5BAC
Faulting application start time: 0x1DCA720B2A158BE
Faulting application path: C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe
Faulting module path: C:\php8\php8ts.dll
Report Id: 9aca63ef-8422-4bf3-8792-8051bb6a5838
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:
Event Xml:



1000
0
2
100
0
0x8000000000000000

47873


Application
W



httpd.exe
2.4.66.0
699c17d8
php8ts.dll
8.5.1.0
69428cfc
c0000005
000000000063ef53
0x5bac
0x1dca720b2a158be
C:\Apache24\bin\httpd.exe
C:\php8\php8ts.dll
9aca63ef-8422-4bf3-8792-8051bb6a5838

Log Name: Application
Source: Windows Error Reporting
Date: 2/26/2026 8:06:32 AM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: W
Description:
Fault bucket 1889557889876781879, type 4
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: httpd.exe
P2: 2.4.66.0
P3: 699c17d8
P4: php8ts.dll
P5: 8.5.1.0
P6: 69428cfc
P7: c0000005
P8: 000000000063ef53
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.ed7320af-34de-475c-918d-946f50c2c560.tmp.dmp
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.c39c1aa3-ec88-473e-80c2-f35f15076dde.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.0823bf4e-c11e-43fb-8697-adead3ee30a0.tmp.csv
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.e7eff814-f284-4032-be99-485c9dd6b0c6.tmp.txt
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.07d5f082-c5a4-4292-a3d7-ad84c74d4431.tmp.xml

These files may be available here:
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_httpd.exe_877c2abc41e41c5ce386679def9b92a1aa7be92_f2d4f317_a0e73607-c394-4302-94a5-35fb32d0513b

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 9aca63ef-8422-4bf3-8792-8051bb6a5838
Report Status: 268435456
Hashed bucket: b8958840455afea5da390ee3b8a46b37
Cab Guid: 0
Event Xml:



1001
0
4
0
0
0x8000000000000000

47874


Application
W



1889557889876781879
4
APPCRASH
Not available
0
httpd.exe
2.4.66.0
699c17d8
php8ts.dll
8.5.1.0
69428cfc
c0000005
000000000063ef53





\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.ed7320af-34de-475c-918d-946f50c2c560.tmp.dmp
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.c39c1aa3-ec88-473e-80c2-f35f15076dde.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.0823bf4e-c11e-43fb-8697-adead3ee30a0.tmp.csv
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.e7eff814-f284-4032-be99-485c9dd6b0c6.tmp.txt
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.07d5f082-c5a4-4292-a3d7-ad84c74d4431.tmp.xml</Data>
\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_httpd.exe_877c2abc41e41c5ce386679def9b92a1aa7be92_f2d4f317_a0e73607-c394-4302-94a5-35fb32d0513b</Data>


0
9aca63ef-8422-4bf3-8792-8051bb6a5838
268435456
b8958840455afea5da390ee3b8a46b37
0

]

PHP Version

Php versions seem to be 8.5 and up.

Operating System

Windows 11

Start by reproducing the crash with Apache 2.4.66, PHP 8.5.1, and Windows 11, then compare the same setup with PHP 8.4.6. Use the reported php8ts.dll access violation and attached WER dump as the initial debugging evidence. Done means the regression is isolated and the Apache/ PHP combination no longer crashes.