WSL 2 (Ubuntu 24.04): Time/Clock Drift - Needs Permanent Sync Fix

[vreddy10]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.6899]

WSL Version

2.6.2.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

Linux version 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2 (root@439a258ad544) (gcc (GCC) 11.2.0, GNU ld (GNU Binutils) 2.37) #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jun 5 18:30:46 UTC 2025

Distro Version

Ubuntu-24.04

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

wsl --install Ubuntu-24.04
Downloading: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Installing: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Distribution successfully installed. It can be launched via 'wsl.exe -d Ubuntu-24.04'
Launching Ubuntu-24.04...
Provisioning the new WSL instance Ubuntu-24.04
This might take a while...
Create a default Unix user account: vreddy10
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
To run a command as administrator (user "root"), use "sudo ".
See "man sudo_root" for details.

vreddy10@IND6LXPKL3:/mnt/c/Users/VREDDY10$ date
Wed Dec 10 10:12:09 UTC 2025
vreddy10@IND6LXPKL3:/mnt/c/Users/VREDDY10$ cd
vreddy10@IND6LXPKL3:~$ exit
exit

C:\Users\VREDDY10>wsl --version
WSL version: 2.6.2.0
Kernel version: 6.6.87.2-1
WSLg version: 1.0.71
MSRDC version: 1.2.6353
Direct3D version: 1.611.1-81528511

Expected Behavior

The Expected Behavior is that the WSL 2 Linux distribution's system clock should remain accurately synchronized with the Windows Host system's time, especially after events like sleep, hibernation, or a system reboot.

Actual Behavior

Actual Behaviour
The clock inside the Ubuntu 24.04 WSL 2 instance consistently fails to track the actual passage of time, especially when the Windows host system's VM is paused (during sleep, hibernation, or long periods of inactivity).

Specific Manifestations of the Issue
Time Lag: The time reported by the date command inside the WSL distro will be significantly behind the correct time on the Windows host system. This time difference can range from several minutes to hours, depending on the duration of sleep or inactivity.

System Errors: The time skew causes various applications and system processes to fail, including:

apt Errors: Package updates fail with messages like Release file is not valid yet or invalid for another X hours.

SSL/TLS Failures: Security-sensitive operations (like curl, git clone, or browsing) fail due to certificates appearing to be "not yet valid" or having an expired timestamp.

Build/Commit Issues: Files and Git commits get inaccurate timestamps.

Diagnostic Logs

No response

[github-actions]

Logs are required for review from WSL team

If this a feature request, please reply with '/feature'. If this is a question, reply with '/question'.
Otherwise, please attach logs by following the instructions below, your issue will not be reviewed unless they are added. These logs will help us understand what is going on in your machine.

How to collect WSL logs

Download and execute collect-wsl-logs.ps1 in an administrative powershell prompt:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WSL/master/diagnostics/collect-wsl-logs.ps1" -OutFile collect-wsl-logs.ps1
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
.\collect-wsl-logs.ps1

The script will output the path of the log file once done.

If this is a networking issue, please use collect-networking-logs.ps1, following the instructions in Collect WSL logs for networking issues

Once completed please upload the output files to this GitHub issue.

See Collect WSL logs (recommended method).

If you choose to email these logs instead of attaching them to the bug, please send them to wsl-gh-logs@microsoft.com with the GitHub issue number in the subject, and include a link to your GitHub issue comment in the message body, and reply with '/emailed-logs'.