Segmentation Fault (Segfault)

A segmentation fault is often caused by errors in the programming of a process or application in which the program is led to access memory that was not allocated for it but for other programs or for the system itself. A process is not allowed to touch memory not reserved for it, as it must always request memory before using it. Therefore, when it accidentally touches memory that is not assigned to it, an access violation occurs.

Segfaults can also be caused by a recursive function, which can use up all of the stack space it is assigned and quickly encroach on memory not assigned to it. In some systems, this is considered a stack overflow, but for others it is simply a kind of access violation.

A segmentation fault can be handled by a process through a custom signal handler, but often it is the OS's default signal handler that is used, which usually results in the offending process being terminated abnormally, called a crash, or the OS forcing a core dump.