overrun screw - A variety of fandango on core produced by a C program
scribbling past the end of an array (C implementations
typically have no checks for this error). This is relatively
benign and easy to spot if the array is static; if it is
auto, the result may be to smash the stack - often
resulting in heisenbugs of the most diabolical subtlety.
The term "overrun screw" is used especially of scribbles
beyond the end of arrays allocated with malloc; this
typically overwrites the allocation header for the next block
in the arena, producing massive lossage within malloc and
often a core dump on the next operation to use stdio or
malloc itself.
See spam, overrun; see also memory leak, memory smash,
aliasing bug, precedence lossage, fandango on core,
secondary damage. | |