Tech: explorer alert

Subject: Tech: explorer alert
From: GUEST,Pogo
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 06:46 PM

When I go to one message board (a longtime haunt of mine BTW) I keep getting a message popping up that says " Stack overflow at line: 33 "

being completely unversed in tech-speak what does this mean and what do I need to do about it?

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 07:29 PM

Are you using a Mac or a PC? I came across a lot of chatter in a google search, but did find this, a list of explanations of various error codes. I think they're all for Macs.

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 07:45 PM

It means that a reserved area of memory, called the stack, was forced to overflow by line 33 of a program -- I would suspect a java program is causing this error message. There's no guarantee the message is accurate. It is not a Mac message necessarily although it could be. This typically happens when too many operations use the stack space without resetting the memory they use when they are done.

If your system doesn't hang on it, the message is probably bogus, I would say at a guess, and you can happily ignore it.

A

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jun 04 - 11:24 PM

I 'occasionally' get stack overflow messages...they usually tell you (on a PC)that you can increase the "stack pages" allowable if the problem persists. If it is a rare thing, then like Amos says, ignore it.

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: pavane
Date: 14 Jun 04 - 06:36 AM

Stack overflow can be either

a) Valid - the stack is not big enough for the current process.

b) Invalid. Usually caused by a program error, often incorrect recursion. Each time a program function calls itself to perform a subtask, it uses space on the stack. If this is repeated too much, all the stack space will be used up.

But this probably won't help you at all!

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: mack/misophist
Date: 14 Jun 04 - 02:17 PM

Unless you have detailed instructions that make sense to you, I recommend that ytou ignore it.

Subject: RE: Tech: explorer alert
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 14 Jun 04 - 07:04 PM

If you are using Win98 or something earlier you can change the space allocated for stack memory by editing your config.sys (or config.dos in some setups) file. This is a simple change, but will not help except for programs running on your own machine. Similar "adjustments" may apply to some MAC versions.

Troubleshooting Stack Overflow Errors: Note that this article (KB 145799) applies only to Win98 and earlier versions of Windows, and only to programs running locally on your own machine.

Later Windows versions use dynamic memory management that should pretty much eliminate the problem without your attention.

Since you only get the error at a specific site, it's likely that you're seeing an error on the site server, and changing your machine won't help. Most stack overflows are considered "program errors," and merit a complaint to the site; but there's little you can do on your own machine that will help, since the program at fault isn't (shouldn't be) running on your machine.

On some server systems, stack overflow can be "exploited" in a way similar to the "buffer overflow" holes in numerous user programs, to load malicious software on the server; but there are no reported "exploits" applicable to user machines (at least not in the past 20 years). The sudden appearance of this message could mean that someone has tried to "take over" the page server, probably for purposes of sending spam or for a DDNS attack somewhere. It does not necessarily mean the attempt was successful, if the page admins were just not thorough about completely cleaning up the worm that made the attack. Decent AV software would block any virus "payload," but might not stop the "agent" that produces the stack overflow.

If an attack on the server was successful, it means that the page/site management has failed to apply security fixes that have been available for at least several years - a good enough reason to bring it to the attention of their sysadmin; although what you're seeing is most likely just a poorly constructed page script.

The advice to ignore is probably appropriate in your case, although I would suggest complaining (politely?) to the affected site.

John