Fix 0X8032001C Windows Firewall Null Pointer Error

This error pops up when Windows Firewall hits a null pointer, often after a bad update or third-party firewall install. Here's how to fix it without nuking your system.

You're in the middle of enabling Windows Firewall after installing a VPN or removing a third-party security suite, and bam — FWP_E_NULL_POINTER (0X8032001C). The error says "A required pointer is null," which is about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine. This usually hits right after you reboot or when you try to turn the firewall back on via the Control Panel or wf.msc. I've seen it most often on Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 22H2, but it's not picky.

What's actually going on

The Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) is the engine behind the firewall and IPsec. When it tries to access a filter or provider that's registered but not fully initialized, it hits a null pointer and throws this code. The culprit here is almost always a leftover filter driver from a third-party firewall or a corrupted registry entry from an incomplete update. Don't bother checking your RAM or disk — this isn't a hardware issue.

Another common trigger: you uninstalled Norton or McAfee but their bhk or netfilter drivers are still hanging around. They register with WFP, then fail to load properly, leaving a null pointer where a valid driver should be.

Fix it — step by step

Here's the fix I've used a dozen times. It resets the firewall and clears the junk drivers. You need admin rights.

Boot into Safe Mode with Networking. Press Win + R, type msconfig, go to the Boot tab, tick "Safe boot" and select "Network." Reboot. (You can skip this if you're already in a clean state, but Safe Mode avoids interference from other services.)
Open an elevated command prompt. Click Start, type cmd, right-click "Command Prompt," choose "Run as administrator." Say yes to the UAC prompt.
Reset the firewall policy. Type this and hit Enter:

netsh advfirewall reset

This restores default firewall rules and clears any corrupted entries. You'll see "Ok." — that's good.

Re-register the WFP providers. Run these two commands:

netsh wfp set options netevents = offline
netsh wfp set options netevents = online

That forces the WFP stack to reload its state.

Disable any leftover filter drivers. Type:

fltmc filters

Look for entries like Norton, McAfee, or Malwarebytes. If you see one, note the driver name, then run:

fltmc unload <driver_name>

This only works if the driver is unloaded, so if it's loaded, you'll get an error. In that case, use sc config <driver_name> start= disabled to keep it from starting next boot.

Restart normally. Exit msconfig (uncheck Safe boot), reboot, and try enabling the firewall again via wf.msc or Settings.

Still failing? Check these

If the error persists, three things to look at:

Windows Update pending installs. A failed cumulative update can leave WFP in a half-baked state. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and run "Check for updates." Install everything, reboot, retry.
Third-party firewall leftovers. Use the vendor's removal tool — not the standard uninstaller. Norton has one, McAfee has one, and they actually clean the drivers. This is the number one cause I've seen in the field.
Corrupted system files. Run sfc /scannow from an elevated prompt, then DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. It's slow, but it catches the rare case where a system DLL is the problem.

If none of that works, you're looking at a deeper WFP corruption. At that point, I'd do a repair install (keep files and apps) using the Media Creation Tool. It's a pain, but it beats reimaging the box.

One last thing — if you're running a third-party firewall, don't reinstall it right away. Test the Windows firewall for a day. If it's stable, the third-party app was the problem.