WPEUTIL reboot/shutdown commands fail in WinRE after KB5053117 update

Question

I build custom recovery media using WinRE. To end the WinRE session, the user can use either wpeutil reboot or wpeutil shutdown command to reboot or shutdown the computer.

After Windows Update KB5053117 (1/28/25) is installed, the WinRE version is updated to 10.0.26100.3031. Using this version the wpeutil reboot/shutdown commands fail with error code 0x80070006.

KB5053426 was just released (2/11/25) and replaces KB5053117. It updates WinRE to version 10.0.26100.3180. The problem with wpeutil still persists.

I am able to perform the reboot or shutdown by copying shutdown.exe from Windows to the WinRE image and then using the command shutdown.exe -r -t 00 or shutdown.exe -s -t 00, although I prefer not copying extra programs in for functions which should work.

The release notes are vague for these updates so I don't know whether there may be a particular reason for this behavior or if it's just an undetected bug.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

The error code 0x80070006 typically indicates an invalid handle error. To address this issue, you might consider the following steps:

1. Ensure that there are no additional updates available that might fix this issue.
2. If possible, try using alternative methods to reboot or shut down, such as using the shutdown command directly from the command prompt.
3. If the issue persists and is critical, you might consider reverting the KB5053117 update temporarily until a fix is released.

Reference:

Wpeutil Command-Line Options | Microsoft Learn

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

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