What can cause "corrupted double-linked list" error?

c++ memory free
hanno picture hanno · Nov 30, 2009 · Viewed 35.8k times · Source

I am having problems with a fairly complex code. I wasn't able to produce a short snippet that reproduces the error, so I'll try to explain the problem in words.

The code crashes randomly with the error

*** glibc detected *** gravtree: corrupted double-linked list: 0x000000001aa0fc50 ***

Debugging showed that it comes from the line where the codes frees an object. There seems to be nothing wrong with the object. It exists, and I can access it's data at the time the error occurs. The object's destructor is trivial and doesn't do anything.

So, I'm kind of stuck. In what kind of circumstances do you expect 'free' to fail?

Answer

Warren Young picture Warren Young · Nov 30, 2009

Try running your program under Valgrind. It may point you to an earlier cause, whereas gdb is only breaking in where damage has already occurred.

Related questions

C++ freeing static variables

I would like my class to have a static pointer to a dynamically allocated region of memory. I understand how to initialize it - in my case I will initialize it when the first object needs it. However, I don't …

Read More
How to determine CPU and memory consumption from inside a process?

I once had the task of determining the following performance parameters from inside a running application: Total virtual memory available Virtual memory currently used Virtual memory currently used by my process Total RAM available RAM currently used RAM currently used …

Read More
Is Python faster and lighter than C++?

I've always thought that Python's advantages are code readibility and development speed, but time and memory usage were not as good as those of C++. These stats struck me really hard. What does your experience tell you about Python vs …

Read More