buffer overflow

2 definitions found

buffer overflow - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  buffer overflow
  
     <programming> What happens when you try to store more data in
     a buffer than it can handle.  This may be due to a mismatch
     in the processing rates of the producing and consuming
     processes (see overrun and firehose syndrome), or because
     the buffer is simply too small to hold all the data that must
     accumulate before a piece of it can be processed.  For
     example, in a text-processing tool that crunches a line at a
     time, a short line buffer can result in lossage as input
     from a long line overflows the buffer and overwrites data
     beyond it.  Good defensive programming would check for
     overflow on each character and stop accepting data when the
     buffer is full.
  
     See also spam, overrun screw.
  
     [Jargon File]
  
     (1996-05-13)
  

buffer overflow - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :

  buffer overflow
   n.
  
     What happens when you try to stuff more data into a buffer (holding
     area) than it can handle. This problem is commonly exploited by
     crackers to get arbitrary commands executed by a program running
     with root permissions. This may be due to a mismatch in the
  processing
     rates of the producing and consuming processes (see overrun and
     firehose syndrome), or because the buffer is simply too small to
     hold all the data that must accumulate before a piece of it can be
     processed. For example, in a text-processing tool that crunches a
     line at a time, a short line buffer can result in lossage as input
     from a long line overflows the buffer and trashes data beyond it.
  Good
     defensive programming would check for overflow on each character and
     stop accepting data when the buffer is full up. The term is used of
     and by humans in a metaphorical sense. "What time did I agree to meet
     you? My buffer must have overflowed." Or "If I answer that phone my
     buffer is going to overflow." See also spam, overrun screw.