[Bug]: Drag-and-drop fails with VERR_TIMEOUT error on VirtualBox 7.2.2 & 7.2.6 (Windows 11 host, Zorin OS 16 guest) #532
Description
Version
7.2.6
Host OS Type
Windows
Host OS name + version
Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build: 26.100.7623)
Host Architecture
x86
Guest OS Type
Linux
Guest Architecture
x86
Guest OS name + version
Zorin OS 17.3: Linux work 6.8.0-94-generic #96~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jan 16 13:19:05 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Component
Guest Additions/Drag and Drop
What happened?
Summary:
Drag-and-drop fails in both directions Windows 11 <-> Zorin 17 (debian)
Description:
Drag-and-drop functionality fails in both directions between Windows 11 host and Zorin OS 16 guest with VBOX_E_DND_ERROR (0x80bb0011) and VERR_TIMEOUT errors. Copy-paste of files works guest→host but fails host→guest.
Steps to reproduce:
Install VirtualBox 7.2.2 or 7.2.6 on Windows 11
Create/run Zorin OS 17 VM with Guest Additions 7.2.2 or 7.2.6 installed
Log into guest using X11/Xorg session (not Wayland)
Enable bi-directional drag-and-drop in VM settings (General → Advanced)
Attempt to drag a file from host to guest or guest to host
Attempt to copy-paste file from host → guest.
Expected behavior:
Files should transfer successfully via drag-and-drop in both directions
Actual behavior:
- Host→guest: Blocked cursor icon appears, no transfer occurs. Have had cases where file is removed from host but doesn't appear in the client and the file is lost.
- Guest→host: Error dialog appears: "Requesting pending data from guest failed (VERR_TIMEOUT)". I've never got this working in any way.
- Copy-paste works guest→host but not host→guest
- Text copy-paste works in both directions.
Environment:
Host OS: Windows 11
VirtualBox version: 7.2.2 or 7.2.6 r170484 (Qt6.8.0)
Guest OS: Zorin OS 17 (based on Ubuntu 22.04, kernel 6.8.0-94-generic)
Guest Additions version: 7.2.2 r170484 or 7.2.6 r172322
Display server: X11 (Xorg) (This was changed on the login screen from Wayland originally)
VM settings: Drag'n'Drop set to Bidirectional, Shared Clipboard set to Bidirectional
Troubleshooting already attempted:
- Verified Guest Additions services running (confirmed VBoxClient --draganddrop process active)
- Switched from Wayland to X11 session (Because Wayland has know issues)
- Ran VirtualBox as Administrator
- Restarted VirtualBox System Service
$ ps aux | grep -i drag
del 2395 0.0 0.0 19572 1460 ? S 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
del 2397 0.0 0.0 283780 3252 ? Sl 08:54 0:01 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
del 7038 0.0 0.0 9220 2560 pts/0 S+ 09:21 0:00 grep --color=auto -i drag
- Temporarily disabled host firewall (ESET security)
- Reinstalled Guest Additions (clean reinstall via VBoxLinuxAdditions.run performed for 7.2.2. and 7.2.6)
- Rebooted guest VM multiple times
- Verified host/guest versions match
Log files
VBox.log attached (see below)
Additional notes:
VBoxClient verbose output shows drag-and-drop service starts successfully on X11, but communication between host and guest DnD services times out during actual drag operations.
Extra information
- Show running VBoxClient services
~$ ps aux | grep VBox
root 1340 0.0 0.0 355736 2432 ? Sl 08:26 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxDRMClient
root 1342 0.0 0.0 295776 3468 ? Sl 08:26 0:00 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
del 2379 0.0 0.0 19572 1460 ? S 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
del 2381 0.0 0.0 218712 5624 ? Sl 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --clipboard
del 2387 0.0 0.0 19572 1460 ? S 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
del 2389 0.0 0.0 217728 3252 ? Sl 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --seamless
del 2395 0.0 0.0 19572 1460 ? S 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
del 2397 0.0 0.0 283780 3252 ? Sl 08:54 0:01 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --draganddrop
del 2411 0.0 0.0 19572 1440 ? S 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --vmsvga-session
del 2413 0.0 0.0 217916 3360 ? Sl 08:54 0:00 /usr/bin/VBoxClient --vmsvga-session
del 7473 0.0 0.0 9220 2560 pts/0 S+ 09:23 0:00 grep --color=auto VBox
- VBoxClient drag-and-drop verbose output
VBoxClient --draganddrop --verbose
09:25:33.221122 main VBoxClient 7.2.6 r172322 (verbosity: 1) linux.amd64 (Jan 15 2026 17:07:07) release log
09:25:33.221124 main Log opened 2026-02-05T09:25:33.221117000Z
09:25:33.221137 main OS Product: Linux
09:25:33.221140 main OS Release: 6.8.0-94-generic
09:25:33.221141 main OS Version: #96~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jan 16 13:19:05 UTC 2
09:25:33.221143 main Executable: /opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-7.2.6/bin/VBoxClient
09:25:33.221144 main Process ID: 7544
09:25:33.221144 main Package type: LINUX_64BITS_GENERIC
09:25:33.221148 main VBoxClient 7.2.6 r172322 started. Verbose level = 1
09:25:33.221150 main Detecting display server ...
09:25:33.221293 main Connecting to Wayland display failed
09:25:33.224229 main Detected via connection: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_X11
09:25:33.224242 main Session type is: VBGHDISPLAYSERVERTYPE_X11
09:25:33.224245 main Service: Drag'n'Drop
09:25:33.224277 main Daemonizing service ...
- VBoxService status
~$ sudo systemctl status vboxadd-service
● vboxadd-service.service
Loaded: loaded (/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-7.2.6/init/vboxadd-service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Thu 2026-02-05 08:26:37 GMT; 59min ago
Process: 1325 ExecStart=/opt/VBoxGuestAdditions-7.2.6/init/vboxadd-service start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Tasks: 15 (limit: 18977)
Memory: 2.9M
CPU: 987ms
CGroup: /system.slice/vboxadd-service.service
├─1340 /usr/bin/VBoxDRMClient
└─1342 /usr/sbin/VBoxService --pidfile /var/run/vboxadd-service.sh
Feb 05 08:26:37 work systemd[1]: Starting vboxadd-service.service...
Feb 05 08:26:37 work vboxadd-service[1325]: vboxadd-service.sh: Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service.
Feb 05 08:26:37 work vboxadd-service.sh[1331]: Starting VirtualBox Guest Addition service.
Feb 05 08:26:37 work systemd[1]: Started vboxadd-service.service.
- Check for DnD-related kernel modules
~$ lsmod | grep vbox
vboxguest 512000 6
- Prove session type.
~$ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
x11
How can we reproduce this?
Install VirtualBox 7.2.2 or 7.2.6 on Windows 11
Create/run Zorin OS 17 VM with Guest Additions 7.2.2 or 7.2.6 installed
Log into guest using X11/Xorg session (not Wayland)
Enable bi-directional drag-and-drop in VM settings (General → Advanced)
Attempt to drag a file from host to guest or guest to host
Attempt to copy-paste file from host → guest.
Did you upload all of your necessary log files, screenshots, etc.?
- Yes, I've uploaded all pertinent files to this issue.