Application Verifier fails to start on 3 separate Windows machines here

Question

Simply, I cannot run App verifier (WOW or 64-bit). It simply does not start. Event viewer says:

Faulting application name: appverif.exe, version: 10.0.18362.1, time stamp: 0x58ca3409 Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 10.0.18362.1139, time stamp: 0x335bbdaf Exception code: 0xc0000374 Fault offset: 0x000dfa1d Faulting process ID: 0x2ad0 Faulting application start time: 0x01d6aa7ad4a12bf6 Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\appverif.exe Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll Report ID: 235c3a4d-2d54-4436-99bf-b54a217c9a7f

Additionally, I tried to run appverif.exe (in system and syswow64) under Visual Studio and I see:

EDIT (Update based on comments) Some are suggesting that Application Verifier does not have a GUI. However, last time I ran it, I saw the following:

Answer 1

I asked Microsoft employee Gov Maharaj (from application compatibility team) and they already know about the issue and the issue is fixed in an update for the Windows 10 2004 SDK which was released in December 2020 ( 19041.685.201201-2105.vb_release_svc_prod1_WindowsSDK.iso) :

The Windows 10 SDK, Version 2004 SDK servicing update (released 12/16/2020) contains the following fixes. If you encounter these issues, we recommend that you update your version of the SDK as soon as possible to avoid them:

• Resolved issue that prevented AppVerifier from working

Download and install the update to fix it.

Answer 2

I managed to run the verifier under a SYSTEM account using PsExec:

...PsTools\PsExec64.exe -i -s C:\Windows\System32\appverif.exe

Answer 3

I've tried the recommended methods - installing the latest windows SDK and running the program through 'PsExec64.exe -i -s' but neither worked. This program seems to be something Microsoft periodically breaks, judging by what I've read.

I ran appverif.exe through visual studio and saw the following call stack on crash:

    ntdll.dll!RtlReportCriticalFailure()   Unknown
ntdll.dll!RtlpHeapHandleError()    Unknown
ntdll.dll!RtlpHpHeapHandleError()  Unknown
ntdll.dll!RtlpLogHeapFailure() Unknown
ntdll.dll!RtlpFreeHeapInternal()    Unknown

ntdll.dll!RtlFreeHeap() Unknown msvcrt.dll!00007ffd44449c9c() Unknown appverifUI.dll!00007ffc9a41f9d6() Unknown appverifUI.dll!00007ffc9a411636() Unknown appverif.exe!00007ff64965281b() Unknown appverif.exe!00007ff6496615ed() Unknown kernel32.dll!00007ffd43957034() Unknown ntdll.dll!RtlUserThreadStart() Unknown

It seems to be crashing after a heap free.