Connecting to WinRM fails. 'Bad SOAP Packet'

Issue

• The WinRM library [winrm (1.1.3)] that came with CloudForms (cfme-5.3.5.4-1.el6cf.x86_64) fails sometimes with the error: "Bad SOAP Packet returned. Sometimes
  a retry will solve this error."

Retrying the operation 7 times with a 10 second pause still results in the same error.

code snippet
require 'winrm'
...


connect_params = {
      :realm           => krb5_realm,
      :user            => "#{user_name}@#{krb5_realm}",  # Example: user@realm
      :pass            => password,
      :basic_auth_only => false,
      :disable_sspi    => false
  }

  endpoint = "http://#{windows_host_name}:#{windows_host_port}/wsman"   

  log(:info, "Connecting to WinRM on URL: #{endpoint} with user #{connect_params[:user]}")
  log(:info, "Using Realm: #{krb5_realm}")

  max_retries = 3
  retries=1
  begin
    if retries <= max_retries
      winrm = WinRM::WinRMWebService.new(endpoint, :kerberos, connect_params)
    else
          send_status_update "Unable to make WinRM connection. Exceeded max retries."
    end  

    rescue Timeout::Error => e
      log(:info, "Times out: #{e}")
      retry
    rescue => e
      log(:info, "ERROR: #{e}")
      retries += 1
      retry
  end