UID user collision between different WSL distributions

[rdbisme]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26220.7344]

WSL Version

2.6.2.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

6.6.87.2-1

Distro Version

Archlinux

Other Software

systemd 259-1

Repro Steps

• Enable systemd in my Arch WSL
• Start podman machine start
• Start my work WSL
• My Arch work WSL can't start systemd because of UID collision with the user UID of the podman VM

Expected Behavior

I can start the two VMs independently. I'd argue that two VMs should not interfere between each other.

Actual Behavior

The user@1000.service can't start because it's already running in the other VM. Why are they conflicting?

wsl: Failed to start the systemd user session for 'rdb'. See journalctl for more details.

Changing the uid manually in one of the distributions solves the problem, but I'd assume the distributions would be isolated?

Diagnostic Logs

Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD unknown: WSL (2 - Interop) ERROR: operator():2755: systemctl is-active user@1000.service returned: failed
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_is_feature_enabled: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -2
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_is_feature_enabled: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -22
Dec 25 15:51:47 CiD kernel: misc dxg: dxgk: dxgkio_query_adapter_info: Ioctl failed: -2

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise, please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions in Collect WSL logs for networking issues

Once completed please upload the output files to this GitHub issue.

See Collect WSL logs (recommended method).

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching them to the bug, please send them to wsl-gh-logs@microsoft.com with the GitHub issue number in the subject, and include a link to your GitHub issue comment in the message body, and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

[rdbisme]

WslLogs-2025-12-25_16-05-57.zip

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
	Custom kernel command line found: 'cgroup_no_v1=all'
Detected appx version: 2.6.2.0

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise, please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions in Collect WSL logs for networking issues

Once completed please upload the output files to this GitHub issue.

See Collect WSL logs (recommended method).

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching them to the bug, please send them to wsl-gh-logs@microsoft.com with the GitHub issue number in the subject, and include a link to your GitHub issue comment in the message body, and reply with '/emailed-logs'.

[rdbisme]

WslLogs-2025-12-25_16-05-57.zip

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
	Custom kernel command line found: 'cgroup_no_v1=all'
Detected appx version: 2.6.2.0