Docker Desktop 4.91.0 (239619) on Windows fails to start: AF_UNIX socket rename returns error 1920 #723

Bug report

Docker Desktop cannot initialize its Ingest server. Please advise on a supported recovery that preserves existing containers, images, volumes, settings and WSL distributions.

Verified local observations

• Installed executable ProductVersion/FileVersion: 4.91.0.239619.
• Startup reports:

  initializing Ingest server:
  rename %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\sailor-ingest.sock
         %LOCALAPPDATA%\Docker\run\sailor-ingest.sock.stale:
  The file cannot be accessed by the system.
  

• The Docker engine API remains unavailable.
• Both entries are zero-byte reparse points with tag 0x80000023 (IO_REPARSE_TAG_AF_UNIX), confirmed through native directory enumeration.
• Get-Acl, fsutil reparsepoint query, Python lstat, and a read-control-only open using OPEN_REPARSE_POINT fail with Windows error 1920.
• The parent directory grants the owner, SYSTEM and Administrators Full Control. The entries’ individual ACLs could not be retrieved, so a permissions cause is unconfirmed.

Recovery attempts and results

1. Confirmed no Docker processes, no running WSL distributions, and docker-desktop explicitly Stopped.
2. Confirmed both proposed quarantine filenames were absent.
3. Attempted to rename only sailor-ingest.sock.stale. It failed with the same error; execution stopped immediately. The second rename was not attempted.
4. Performed a normal Windows restart, followed by one Docker Desktop startup attempt. The same socket error returned.

No files were deleted, permissions changed, runtime directories relocated, Docker reset/reinstalled, or WSL distributions unregistered. Repair attempts are now paused.

Relation to issue #666

Issue #666 reports similar symptoms on 4.90.0. Our observations are on 4.91.0. We have not reproduced or performed that report’s directory-relocation, filesystem-integrity or component-integrity investigations, and do not assume a shared root cause.

Questions

• Is this failure covered by a known defect or fixed release?
• What supported recovery addresses these runtime endpoints without affecting persistent Docker data?
• What minimum additional read-only evidence would help? We prefer reviewed, redacted excerpts before considering any diagnostic-bundle upload.

Platform

Windows

Version information

Installed executable ProductVersion/FileVersion: 4.91.0.239619. Platform: Windows.

Diagnostics ID

No response