Game compatibility reports (StrictHandle / ExploitProtection)

[jjames06]

Game compatibility reports (StrictHandle / ExploitProtection)

Use this thread (or issue #18) to report game launch failures after Bastion Apply.

Background (technical, not accusatory)

• Bastion ExploitProtection enables system-wide StrictHandle (Windows process mitigations: strict handle checks).
• That hardens most software. Some game loaders still use invalid or short-lived handles during early startup (custom loaders, multi-process handoff from a store agent, integrity checks, IPC). Under default Windows policy that is often fine; under system StrictHandle the process can exit immediately.
• World of Warcraft was the confirmed case: Battle.net worked; Play / Wow.exe failed with Eidolon and Crash.txt INVALID_HANDLE in Wow_loader.dll. That is a mitigation compatibility issue. We do not claim it proves any specific Blizzard internal tooling or misconduct.
• Bastion now keeps StrictHandle ON for the system and turns it OFF only for discovered Wow*.exe.
• Counter-Strike 2 was tested under the same profile and is not an issue.
• Other games may still break if they need an exception we have not added yet.

If a game breaks after hardening

1. Revert (elevated PowerShell), then reboot:

   Set-ProcessMitigation -System -Disable StrictHandle

2. Confirm the game launches again.
3. Reply here (or on issue Known issue: ExploitProtection StrictHandle can crash WoW (INVALID_HANDLE / Eidolon) #18) with:

Game:
Launcher (Steam / Battle.net / other):
How it fails (instant exit / dialog text):
Full path to the .exe:
Bastion version:
Windows version:
Notes:

We can then add the same style of per-app StrictHandle exception used for WoW.

Already known

Game	Status
World of Warcraft	Auto-excepted when discovered
Counter-Strike 2	Tested OK (no exception required)

Thanks for helping build a safe exception list without turning StrictHandle off for everyone.

[jjames06]

Maintainer note (v15.6): Prefer Recovery > 6 > StrictHandle to reverse system StrictHandle (then reboot) if a title fails. World of Warcraft is a documented example with auto-exception; other games may still need a report + shipped exception. Full steps: https://github.com/jjames06/bastion-hardening/releases/tag/v15.6 and docs/KNOWN-ISSUES.md.