Microsoft fixes a bug in Windows 11 that could trigger storage usage due to a system file

Microsoft has corrected a problem in Windows 11 that could cause a system file grew out of control and consume tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of storage. The fix arrived with the optional June 2026 update, identified as KB5095093. The company has described it in its official notes as an improvement in disk space usage for the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file.

The case has gained visibility after several users detected anomalous growth within the section System and reserved of Windows 11, without the system clearly showing which specific element was taking up so much space. On some computers, the problem was associated with very high storage figures within “System Files”, something that led us to review the behavior of that specific file in more detail.

CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal is part of the Windows 11 application permissions system. It is related to accesses to functions such as microphone, camera, location or screenshotin addition to other system privacy controls. Technically, it is not the primary database, but rather its write-ahead log, a log file that Windows uses to log changes before consolidating them to the primary database.

This type of file can grow temporarily, but the problem detected in recent months is that, on certain systems, its size was completely different from normal. Several users came to report cases of 70 GB, 110 GB, 200 GB and even more than 500 GBa figure very far from the few megabytes that it usually occupies on unaffected computers.

An incident detected months ago and corrected in June

According to the information available, the bug began to receive reports at the beginning of 2026 and was also reported by users of the Windows Insider program during the following months. The situation indicated that Windows 11 continued to register repeated events linked to access requests or privacy controls, while that record was not properly merged or compacted into the main database.

Microsoft did not publish a detailed technical report on the exact origin of the bug or highlight it as a known issue on the Windows public issues board. However, on June 29, the company updated the KB5095093 documentation with a brief note confirming that the update improve disk space usage from the CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal file.

That move effectively confirmed that Microsoft had introduced a fix for the issue within the June optional package. Shortly after, other publications reported that the company will also incorporate the same solution in the cumulative update of July 2026 Patch Tuesdayso that it reaches more widely to computers that do not install optional updates.

The most relevant element in the timeline is that Microsoft has already deployed the fix and delivered it before the next general monthly patch. That is, the problem does not remain only in user reports, but it already has a official solution included in Windows Update.

How to locate the patch and what symptoms fit the bug

Microsoft distributes the fix through optional update KB5095093accessible from Windows Update within the advanced options and the optional updates section. For those who do not want to install that package manually, the same improvement should arrive with the regular rollout of the July cumulative patch.

The clearest symptoms of the problem are unusual growth of storage within System and reserved and a very high use in System filesespecially when there is no reasonable explanation in the form of a hibernate file, virtual memory, or a particularly old installation. On affected computers, the file CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal It could continue to increase in size until it seriously compromised the free space of the main drive.

With the arrival of KB5095093, the situation is now channeled within the normal system maintenance cycle. The company has chosen to first introduce the fix in an optional June update and then extend it to the general monthly update, thus Windows 11 now has an official patch for one of the most striking storage errors detected in recent months.