CertFindCertificateInStore failed with: (-2146885628) Cannot find object or property.

[keithfkelly]

As  multiple other users have already reported over the last couple years, I am seeing many of these error events in my Windows 10 Event Viewer, all coming from the DbxSvc (Dropbox service) event source.

Can you all please fix your desktop client software to stop spamming my event logs with these errors?  This issue has dragged on far, far too long already.  Either stop emitting these errors, or fix the underlying problem.

Thank you.

[RichT]

For the benefit of other community members, here's the response i had from Dropbox directly on this matter!

From Dropbox:

The file dbxsvc.exe is a component that we use as part of the Dropbox Sync Experience. Should you not be a team user, or not sync online-only files, then this file will never start operating. It is, however, created at install for all users regardless of whether you are opted in.
Please note that the issue you are experiencing is technically the volume of times it is writing to the error log, rather than any issue indicated by the process's presence in that error log. In short, due to the way Microsoft categorizes something as report-worthy, we would expect the process to be mentioned in that log 3 times every 24 hours. We want to reassure you that everything is working properly and that doesn't indicate a fault.
With that in mind, we understand that you may not wish to see this behavior and apologize if these entries were concerning to you.
We would not recommend attempting to disable dbxsvc.exe. Please note that updating the desktop application or re-installing it will also attempt to re-add this process.
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From me:

I’ve never heard such a load of rubbish in my whole life. Suggest you speak to someone in your dev team who understands these things and come back with a proper answer. The service is trying to access a certificate that doesn’t exist or for which it doesn’t have permission. If, as you say, the service is not required - the code should not be trying to access the certificate.

“ the issue you are experiencing is technically the volume of times it is writing to the error log, rather than any issue indicated by the process's presence in that error log” makes no sense. The event log doesn’t monitor volume of transactions & insert spurious errors about certificates for fun.

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From Dropbox:

I understand the frustration but unfortunately, there's no different response from our end regarding this matter.
The dbxsvc.exe service will be installed and running as long as the Dropbox desktop application is installed. It is used to either install or uninstall dbx.sys when a user chooses to opt into or out of Sync features.
If the dbxsvc.exe is not running or does not exist, the Dropbox desktop application will not be able to install dbx.sys, the minifilter to enable Sync features. The Dropbox desktop application doesn't have administrator rights to install or load the driver, these actions are preformed by the dbxsvc.exe service.
If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.
Have a great day!

[keithfkelly]

So it sounds like the problem (in part) is that they've designed their software stupidly. Rather than always leave the driver installed and have it simply *do*nothing* if the user has not opted into sync, they try to dynamically install/uninstall the driver based on the user's choice.

Hey Dropbox devs: only *the*app*installer* should ever be trying to install a driver. That action requires admin privileges for a good reason! Have the app installer install it, then *always*leave*it*installed* while the user has Dropbox installed! If the driver should do nothing when the user has opted out of the sync feature, just have the driver consult a user-set registry value (you know, one which *doesn't* require admin permissions to write to) to determine whether it should behave as a "no-op" or not.

JFC :facepalm:

[RichT]

After months of being promised that the dropbox team would solve this issue, this is what happened!

The engineers have informed me that as your files are syncing and the desktop application is working as expected, they don't believe there is any cause for concern. Ticket closed.

[rics]

Mine actually crashes my PC because I work in the dropbox folder with Adobe After Effects.

My guess is the DbxSvc (Dropbox service) error plus Ae trying to do multiple callouts on files managed by my dropbox app end in critical failure.

I tried Windows 10 and 11 clean installs and nothing.

Still waiting for the fix from dropbox.

[Hannah]

Hey everyone and thanks for contributing to this thread.

We are aware of this error and our teams are looking into it. 

We will follow back with an update, however, we have no specific timeline for now.

Thanks.

[Gasman247]

it crashes 2 of our terminals with blue screen critical error forces restart, i have already started altering our databases, and softwares to use onedrive instead, sorry dropbox but you will be loosing us as a customer.

[brankogrbac]

What is the status of this ticket? The event log is filled with these errors, usually in batches of 5, every couple of hours.
These are errors, mind you, not warnings. The first report is 2 and a half years old. We got assurance from @Hannah in July that the issue is being worked on, but no update. Since July there have been at least 5 stable release builds and the issue persists. What the hell is going on?

[Walter]

Hey @brankogrbac, thanks for the nudge on this.

I just wanted to mention that the team is still looking into this and we'll update you as soon as possible.

[Foxfan100]

Late to this, but having just upgraded from the Free version to Plus, running on W11 22H2 on a 64bit PC, I am finding the 281 error suddenly occurring frequently and clogging up my Event Viewer,

The version of Dropbox is 182.4.6427, and I've been through the rigmarole of uninstalling, reinstalling, and reinstalling over the existing installation.

I don't recall ever seeing this problem when I was running the free 5gb version, but having paid for more capacity, I now find this cropping up all the time.

It seems to be a longstanding problem, and has anyone got answers as to why and what the surefire fix for it is. I really can't keep experimentally installing etc. on the offchance that something might work.

[Nancy]

Hey @Foxfan100, sorry to hear the same thing is happening to you. 

I had a look into our system, and I can see you've also opened a ticket with our support team. 

Since they have account visibility on their end, I'd suggest continuing with them directly, and they'll look into this further. I've left them an internal note with your comments here, as well.