crowdsecurity/crowdsec · error

while getting current user: %w

Error message

while getting current user: %w

What it means

CheckPerms calls os/user's user.Current() to identify the account running crowdsec so it can be whitelisted as a permissible plugin owner. This error wraps a failure of user.Current(), which on Windows queries the process token (via advapi32 GetUserName/lookup APIs). It means the runtime could not determine the current user identity.

Source

Thrown at pkg/csplugin/utils_windows.go:73

const ACCESS_ALLOWED_ACE_TYPE = 0
const ACCESS_DENIED_ACE_TYPE = 1

func CheckPerms(path string) error {
	log.Debugf("checking permissions of %s\n", path)

	systemSid, err := windows.CreateWellKnownSid(windows.WELL_KNOWN_SID_TYPE(windows.WinLocalSystemSid))
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while creating SYSTEM well known sid: %w", err)
	}

	adminSid, err := windows.CreateWellKnownSid(windows.WELL_KNOWN_SID_TYPE(windows.WinBuiltinAdministratorsSid))
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while creating built-in Administrators well known sid: %w", err)
	}

	currentUser, err := user.Current()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while getting current user: %w", err)
	}

	currentUserSid, _, _, err := windows.LookupSID("", currentUser.Username)

	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while looking up current user sid: %w", err)
	}

	sd, err := windows.GetNamedSecurityInfo(path, windows.SE_FILE_OBJECT, windows.OWNER_SECURITY_INFORMATION|windows.DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while getting owner security info: %w", err)
	}
	if !sd.IsValid() {
		return errors.New("security descriptor is invalid")
	}
	owner, _, err := sd.Owner()
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("while getting owner: %w", err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 909b515798)

Solutions

1. Check that the account running crowdsec has a valid, complete process token (e.g. run as a normal user or properly configured service account)
2. Read the wrapped %w error for the underlying OS reason and fix the account/environment accordingly
3. Try running crowdsec interactively as the same user to see if user.Current() succeeds outside the service context
4. Reinstall/repair the user profile if the local account is corrupted

Example fix

// before
currentUser, err := user.Current()
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("while getting current user: %w", err)
}
// after
currentUser, err := user.Current()
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("while getting current user (username lookup failed for pid %d): %w", os.Getpid(), err)
}

if _, err := user.Current(); err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("cannot resolve current user before plugin check: %w", err)
}

err := CheckPerms(pluginPath)
if err != nil {
	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "getting current user") {
		return fmt.Errorf("process identity unavailable, check service account config: %w", err)
	}
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling CheckPerms on Windows when the process token cannot be queried — e.g. the process is running with a broken or stripped access token, or the CGO-less os/user lookup of the current account fails.

Common situations: Running crowdsec as a service account with a restricted or misconfigured token; running in a stripped-down execution environment (minimal container, sandboxed service) where the process token is incomplete; broken user-profile/registry configuration for the account.

Related errors

• while looking up current user sid: %w
• invalid log level
• event_channel and xpath_query are mutually exclusive
• event_channel or xpath_query must be set
• empty wineventlog:// DSN

AI-assisted analysis of crowdsecurity/crowdsec@909b515798 (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0baccf7e22e552ab. Report an issue: GitHub.