Persistent SystemSettings.exe Crash (SettingsHandlers_nt.dll - Exception 0xc0000005) on Lock Screen Settings Page

Hello

I am experiencing an intermittent crash with the Settings app (SystemSettings.exe) on Windows 11 Pro when navigating to or interacting with the Lock Screen settings page (Settings > Personalization > Lock screen), specifically around the Lock Screen Status / Widgets and Cloud Suggestions section.

The issue periodically disappears and reoccurs automatically, which strongly points to a cloud-side content sync or background task update triggering a memory conflict.

Problem Details & Crash Log (Reliability Monitor):

Observed Behavior:

Navigating to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen or clicking on the toggle/selector for lock screen status/widgets causes SystemSettings.exe to close abruptly.

The crash is driven by an Access Violation (0xc0000005) inside SettingsHandlers_nt.dll at offset 000000000003fca8.

Performing a System Restore to a clean state temporarily resolves the issue, but it reoccurs after about 1–2 hours as background cloud content tasks (ContentDeliveryManager) refresh user profile settings.

Troubleshooting Steps Already Attempted:

System Integrity Checks: Executed sfc /scannow and DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. Both reported clean results with no corruption found in system components.

System Restore: Restored the OS to a clean state; the page functioned normally for a brief period before crashing again after background sync occurred.

App Reset: Reset and re-registered Microsoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager and Windows Web Experience Pack.

It appears that an unexpected cloud payload or registry parameter in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager triggers a null pointer or memory violation inside SettingsHandlers_nt.dll when the UI attempts to parse the widget state.

Is there an upcoming cumulative update or server-side fix addressing this specific Bucket ID (43c89c652e30dae597c3354fc5c728e7)?

Thank you for your assistance.