KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE (0x139)
What is this error?
The kernel detected corruption of a critical data structure. Often caused by a buffer overflow in a driver.
Common causes
- driver buffer overflow
- antivirus kernel driver bug
- corrupted system files
- incompatible driver
How to fix it
- Update all drivers
- uninstall antivirus temporarily
- run sfc /scannow
- check minidump for faulting driver
Too many steps? Crashless can diagnose this automatically — checks your drivers, temps, VRAM, and 400+ known error patterns.
Get free AI diagnosis Detailed analysis
Bug check 0x00000139 (KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE) means the kernel's security checks detected corrupted data. Something modified a protected kernel structure — this can be a buggy driver, unstable hardware, or software conflict.
This is increasingly common with anti-cheat games (Valorant, PUBG) conflicting with antivirus kernel drivers.
How to fix it:
- Check the minidump (C:\Windows\Minidump) for the faulting module — this is critical for diagnosis
- If the faulting module is an antivirus driver (e.g., klif.sys for Kaspersky, avgSP.sys for AVG): temporarily uninstall the antivirus completely and test with Windows Defender only
- Update ALL drivers — GPU, chipset, network, storage. Driver bugs are the #1 cause
- Disable any overclocking (CPU, RAM XMP/EXPO, GPU) — unstable hardware corrupts kernel data
- Run memtest86 overnight — bad RAM randomly corrupts data structures
- Run 'sfc /scannow' and 'DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth'
- If it only happens with specific games, the game's anti-cheat may be conflicting with your security software
When to seek help
If this error keeps happening after trying the fixes above, it may point to a deeper hardware or system issue. Consider professional help if:
- The crash occurs across multiple games or applications
- You see the same error after a clean Windows install
- Your PC is less than a year old (could be a warranty issue)
- You smell burning or hear unusual sounds from your PC
Or let Crashless do the deep analysis for you -- our AI checks drivers, temps, event logs, and 400+ known patterns automatically.
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