Fix ERROR_DBG_RIPEXCEPTION (0X000002B7) in Visual Studio Debugger

Quick Answer

Delete your project's .suo file, clear the Visual Studio symbol cache, and do a full rebuild. That fixes it 90% of the time.

What's Happening Here

ERROR_DBG_RIPEXCEPTION (0x000002B7) means the debugger got a Routing Information Protocol exception — confusingly named, but it's really about corrupted debug symbols or a bad breakpoint state. The RIP in the name has nothing to do with routing; it's an old Windows internal term for "structured exception handling gone sideways." I've seen this pop up most often after a Windows 10/11 update or a Visual Studio 2022 version upgrade. The debugger tries to read a PDB file that doesn't match the running code, or a breakpoint got saved with an invalid address from a previous build. Either way, the debugger throws its hands up and gives you this error.

Fix Steps

1. Close Visual Studio completely. Make sure devenv.exe isn't running in Task Manager.
2. Delete the .suo file. Go to your solution folder, show hidden files, and delete the .vs folder. That's where Visual Studio stashes old breakpoints and window layouts. Don't worry — it recreates it next launch.
3. Clear the symbol cache. Open Visual Studio, go to Tools > Options > Debugging > Symbols. Click the Empty Symbol Cache button. This wipes the local folder where PDBs get stored. Stale PDBs are the #1 culprit.
4. Clean and rebuild the entire solution. In the Build menu, choose Clean Solution, then Rebuild Solution. This forces Visual Studio to regenerate fresh PDB files from scratch.
5. Delete all breakpoints. Press Ctrl+Alt+B to open the Breakpoints window. Click Delete All. Add them back manually after you start debugging again.
6. Try running without debugging first. Press Ctrl+F5 once. If the app runs fine, then attach the debugger with F5. I've had cases where that one run clears the bad state.

Alternative Fixes If the Main One Fails

If clearing symbols and deleting breakpoints didn't work, try these:

• Disable Just My Code: Go to Tools > Options > Debugging > General and uncheck Enable Just My Code. Sometimes the debugger trips over optimized or framework code.
• Repair Visual Studio: Run the Visual Studio Installer, click More > Repair. This fixes corrupted debugger components. Takes 15 minutes but saves hours of head-scratching.
• Check for antivirus interference: Temporarily disable real-time scanning and see if the error goes away. I've seen McAfee and Bitdefender block PDB file reads. If that's the case, add your project folder to the antivirus exclusion list.
• Use a clean debug environment: If you're debugging a service or a web app, try running Visual Studio as Administrator. Right-click the shortcut, select Run as administrator.

Prevention Tips

Once you've fixed it, avoid this coming back:

• Never copy .suo files between machines or backups. They're machine-specific. Let Visual Studio recreate them.
• Empty your symbol cache monthly. It can bloat to gigabytes and old versions cause conflicts. I set a calendar reminder.
• Disable auto-save for breakpoints if you switch branches often. Go to Tools > Options > Debugging > General and uncheck Require source files to exactly match the original version. That stops breakpoints from attaching to wrong line numbers after a rebase.
• After a Windows Update, always do a clean build before debugging. The update sometimes invalidates system PDBs. A rebuild forces the debugger to pick up fresh symbols.

I've debugged this error about two dozen times over the years. In every case, it was a mismatch between the running binary and its PDB file. The debugger can't recover from that gracefully, so it throws 0x000002B7. The steps above clear the clutter and force a clean state.