In Review The game Cities: Skylines 2 crashes immediately on launch with the error "Bad PKCS7 padding. Invalid length 0." despite reinstalling and deleting mods

[Leon06100]

Information​

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Summary​

The game Cities: Skylines 2 crashes immediately on launch with the error "Bad PKCS7 padding. Invalid length 0." despite reinstalling and deleting mods and save files. The issue occurs on a Windows 11 PC with the game installed on a secondary SSD via the Xbox app. Logs show a cryptographic exception related to corrupted local or cloud data. No mods are active.

Steps to reproduce​

Launch the game installed on a secondary SSD.

The error appears immediately upon startup, preventing access to the main menu.

Expected Result​

Menu Opening

Actual Result​

The game fails to launch and immediately crashes with the error "Bad PKCS7 padding. Invalid length 0." (CRYPTOGRAPHIC_EXCEPTION). I have tried verifying the game files, deleting mods folders in Documents and AppData, and reinstalling the game, but the error persists. The issue seems related to corrupted cloud or local data.

Game Version​

1.3.3f1 (621.34240) [5841.24171]

What mods do you have installed?​

None

Affected Feature​

• Menu

Platform​

• Microsoft Store (Xbox)

Additional Information​

Additional Information​

PC running Windows 11

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU

Game installed via Xbox app on a secondary SSD

Multiple attempts to reinstall and clear local/cloud data have failed

Dont pay attention to Save game file

Save Game​

Other Attachments​

View attachment Report_2025-07-14_180851570.zip

 

[Thegamerpro0094]

Same here.

First installation

No mods, just a clean install.

 

[Leon06100]

Still waiting for an answer.

 

[AndrewT]

Please try this: Rename the "Cities Skylines II" folder in your C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\LocalLow\Colossal Order (to whatever you want) and then start the game. To see the AppData folder you'll need to enable View Hidden Items in File Explorer.

The game will create a new clean CS2 folder and if that works it means that something in your original folder is corrupt and preventing the game from starting. Do NOT delete your original folder though as your saves are stored there and if you want to keep playing you'll need to move them over to the new fresh folder!

Let us know if that helps you. Good luck!

 

[Leon06100]

Thanks you Andrew, it did create a new folder but I tried to launch the game again still the same error. I restarted my computer still the same error.