On a Windows 10 desktop today there was this error message...
“The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application. This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application“
Any suggestion as to what the problem is and how to rectify the problem?
This sounds like an error generated from something written in C++
As the message refers to a specific application, it could be that by inspecting that dialogue window you could determine its origin.
E.g. using
Window Detective Alternatives and Similar Software - AlternativeTo.net
- has a target you can drag over a window to identify the process- as does
Process Explorer (from MS)
Have you installed a new program recently? Updated one? Added any new hardware?
If you search for
The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application
as I assume you have, you will find many results - nothing that's immediately helpful quickly- but worth looking through if you spend some time. Some are simply waffle and no solution.
Beware of pages that are constructed as if to give some solution but look as if some bot has simply put together some generic text blocks, along with a recommendation to download some tool with the dreaded big green download button.
Make sure you read things from reputable sites only e.g. this technical discussion
Kernel_Security_Check_Failure | Tom's Hardware Forum
- where you will find
ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000409 - The system detected an overrun of a stack-based buffer in this application. This overrun could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this application.
There it's indicating a problem in low level software- nothing necessarily malicious.
If you can identify the source, you're part way there. If it's a driver - and some programs install drivers other than those needed purely as hardware drivers- a program like Autoruns can let you disable startups in the hope of identifying the source by elimination.
To be able to do that, the message needs to be reproducible- when does it occur? Each time you log in? Each time you run a particular program? How often?
For me the error occurred since the GDI handle count of the explorer.exe process was exceeding 10000 handles. This happened when I had too many Edge tabs open. Somehow it affected the GDI handle count in explorer.exe
I solved the issue by increasing the `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\GDIProcessHandleQuota` parameter in Registry. The maximum allowed value is 65536 in decimal (10000 in hex).
In order to enable system to acommodate more GDI handles safely, I also increased SharedSection sizes under `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Windows` parameter. If GDI handle limit is increased but SharedSection is not increased, then I read somewhere that the system may not boot. I increased the second list entry under SharedSection to 65536, the original value of the second list entry was 20480. Just in case I increased also other SharedSection list entries, so in my registry, the SharedSection=12288,65536,9216. The original value was SharedSection=1024,20480,768.
If you still have problems booting, maybe you also need to increase SessionViewSize and SessionPoolSize under `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management`. Just in case I updated my SessionViewSize = 60 (3c in hex), the original value was 48 (30 in hex). And also updated SessionPoolSize = 16 (10 in hex), the original value was 4.
Have not had problems with this new configuration for years and been able to peacefully work with as many tabs as I like.
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