VSCode Remote-SSH SSH tunnel stuck on WSL2 2.7.1

[learning310]

Windows Version

10.0.26200.8039

WSL Version

2.7.1

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

6.6.114.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2

Distro Version

Ubuntu 24.04

Other Software

VSCode: 1.114.0
Remote-SSH extension 0.122.0
Network Mode：mirrored

Repro Steps

Run two WSL2 distros on the same Windows host (e.g. Ubuntu 22.04 × 2)
From distro A, open VSCode and connect via Remote-SSH to 127.0.0.1 (distro B's sshd)
Observe the connection hang

Expected Behavior

VSCode connects and the remote workspace opens normally.

Actual Behavior

The log shows the remote server starts successfully, then hangs permanently at:

Starting forwarding server. local port 45771 -> socksPort 45387 -> remotePort 45137

The remote vscode-server is listening and the SSH session is authenticated, but the SOCKS5 forwarding layer never completes the connection.

Diagnostic Logs

After upgrading WSL2 from 2.7.0 to 2.7.1, VSCode Remote-SSH hangs indefinitely when setting up the SSH tunnel. The connection succeeds and the remote vscode-server starts and reports its port, but the forwarding server never completes. Downgrading to 2.7.0 restores normal behaviour.

Manual SOCKS5 handshake via Node.js confirms the proxy itself works: SOCKS5 request granted, SSH banner received.

Direct ssh username@127.0.0.1 from distro A to distro B succeeds normally.
The issue is specific to WSL2 2.7.1 — likely a change in loopback / inter-distro networking behaviour that affects how VSCode's forwarding server process (Node.js) completes the SOCKS5 tunnel.

[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-wsl-logs.ps1 -LogProfile networking instead, 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'.