• Environment: Citrix CVAD On-Premises (Site Version 2402.0.3100), Windows Server 2019 VDA running VDA version 1912 CU9.

• Symptom: Published applications fail to load relative files, dependencies, or local configuration files because their execution context defaults to C:\Windows\System32 regardless of the Working Directory path configured in Citrix Studio.

• Root Cause: A known parsing issue in VDA 1912 CU9 where the agent fails to pass or set the application working directory property correctly during session launch. This behavior is often exposed when running mixed-version deployments (e.g., CVAD 2402 Controller managing 1912 CU9 VDAs).

Primary Fix: Upgrade the VDA

The definitive resolution is to patch or upgrade the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) component on the affected target images.

• Recommended Action: Upgrade the VDA to 1912 CU10 or higher (or upgrade to matching 2402 LTSR VDAs), where this working directory passing defect is officially resolved.

Workarounds

If an immediate VDA upgrade is not possible, apply one of the following mitigations:

1. Implement a Script Wrapper

Publish a batch (.bat) or PowerShell (.ps1) script instead of calling the target application executable directly. The script explicitly changes the working directory before executing the binary:

@echo off
cd /d "C:\Path\To\Actual\AppDirectory"
start "" "C:\Path\To\Actual\AppDirectory\Application.exe"

2. Hardcode Application Configuration Paths

If the target application relies on relative paths (e.g., ./config.ini), update the application's configuration files or startup parameters to use absolute paths (C:\Path\To\Actual\AppDirectory\config.ini) so it no longer depends on the current working directory.

In Citrix CVAD environments with 1912 CU9 VDAs, published applications ignore the configured working directory and launch with C:\Windows\System32 instead. This behavior stems from an agent-level parsing defect in the VDA release, which causes relative path failures in launched applications.