WSL fails with Wsl/ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST on all operations; also fails during InstallDistro after full reinstall

Summary

WSL fails with Wsl/ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST on every operation (wsl --status, wsl -l -v, launching a distro), and with Wsl/InstallDistro/ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST when attempting a fresh distro install after a full uninstall/reinstall.

This appears to be the same underlying issue as #13645 and #11882 (both open, no resolution posted), but I've done significantly deeper diagnosis that may help narrow it down.

Environment

• Windows 11 Pro, build 10.0.22631.6199
• WSL client version: 2.7.14.0 (confirmed current via wsl --update)
• Kernel version: 6.1.83.2-2

What I've ruled out

• Not a stopped-service issue: LxssManager, vmms, vmcompute, HvHost, StateRepository, RpcSs, RpcEptMapper, DcomLaunch, COMSysApp/EventSystem, AppXSvc, and ClipSVC were all confirmed running (many started manually) — error persists identically regardless.
• Hyper-V hypervisor confirmed active ((Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem).HypervisorPresent = True, bcdedit shows hypervisorlaunchtype Auto).
• LxssManager COM/registry registration intact: AppID {e82567ae-2ea4-4dbc-bc68-8b0a0526d8d5} and its CLSID {4f476546-b412-4579-b64c-123df331e3d6} are correctly registered; LxssManager.dll present and correctly referenced.
• Full feature cycle performed: Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature then Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature for both Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux and VirtualMachinePlatform, with a full restart between each step. No change.
• Full uninstall/reinstall attempted: Removed CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu and MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForLinux AppX packages, cleaned HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss, then ran wsl --install -d Ubuntu --web-download. Failed at the InstallDistro step with the identical error.
• sfc /scannow: completed clean, no integrity violations.
• DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth: no component store corruption.
• Not a per-user-profile issue: created a brand-new local admin account and ran wsl --status under that account's credentials via Start-Process -Credential. Identical failure — rules out profile-specific corruption.
• Not domain/MDM managed (dsregcmd /status shows AzureAdJoined/DomainJoined/EnterpriseJoined all NO), so not a policy restriction.
• Windows Update is current, nothing pending.
• One relevant System event around when this was first noticed: Hyper-V Virtual Machine Management service (vmms) crashed once with "Ran out of memory" shortly after a reboot, though vmms has run fine on manual starts since and the WSL error is unaffected either way.

Repro

PS> wsl --status
The specified service does not exist as an installed service.
Error code: Wsl/ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST

PS> wsl --install -d Ubuntu --web-download
...
The specified service does not exist as an installed service.
Error code: Wsl/InstallDistro/ERROR_SERVICE_DOES_NOT_EXIST

Logs

Collected via collect-wsl-logs.ps1. Happy to attach — the file is small (~40KB). Will follow up with a link once I've confirmed what's safe to post publicly (it includes registry exports and network config).

Current impact

Existing Ubuntu WSL2 distro's disk image was manually backed up (raw ext4.vhdx copy, verified byte-for-byte) before troubleshooting further, so no data was lost, but WSL/Ubuntu are currently uninstalled on this machine pending a fix.