Article ID: 166348 - Last Review: December 1, 2007 - Revision: 5.4

Maximum number of ACEs in an ACL

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This article was previously published under Q166348
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SYMPTOMS

When you add users or groups to the security permissions of an object share, file, or directory, you may receive the following error message:
You have exceeded the operating system's limit on the number of users and groups that can be in a security information structure. Remove some users or groups and try the operation again.
When you use Cacls.exe to perform this function, you may receive the following error message:
The parameter is incorrect.
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CAUSE

This issue occurs when you reach the maximum size of the access control list (ACL). The size of an ACL varies with the number and size of its access control entries (ACEs). The maximum size of an ACL is 64K, or approximately 1,820 ACEs. However, for performance reasons, the maximum size is not practical.
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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about how security descriptors and access control lists work, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc781716.aspx (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc781716.aspx)
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server MultiLanguage Version
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 MultiLanguage Edition
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
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Keywords: 
kbprb KB166348
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