notepad-plus-plus / notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus

Crash after closing tabs / Win32Exception (Access violation)

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Dominant language
C++
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Description

After starting Notepad++ and dragging & dropping a few files into it, then closing a few tabs, Notepad++ crashes with an AV.

The error message is:


Win32Exception

An exception occured. Notepad++ cannot recover and must be shut down.

The exception details are as follows:
Code: 0xC0000005
Type: Access violation
Exception address: 0x0000062B

It tries to create a dump file in the program directory of Notepad++ ("C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\NppDump.dmp"), but can't create it since N++ is not started as admin. Why not store the dmp file into AppData or Documents?

Steps to Reproduce the Issue
  1. Start Notepad++ with loading of recently opened files activated
  2. Open several new files per Drag&Drop from Explorer
  3. Close a few of the recently opened tabs/files (from step 2) => AV after 5-6 or so tabs
Expected Behavior

Normally closing tabs, without a sudden AV.

Actual Behavior
Debug Information

Notepad++ v7.9.3 (32-bit)
Build time : Feb 14 2021 - 03:12:31
Path : C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\notepad++.exe
Admin mode : OFF
Local Conf mode : OFF
OS Name : Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
OS Build : 9600.0
Current ANSI codepage : 1252
Plugins : mimeTools.dll NppConverter.dll NppExport.dll Tidy2.dll

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No source file or test is identified in the issue. Start by reproducing the drag-and-drop and tab-closing sequence on the stated Notepad++ and Windows versions, then inspect the resulting access-violation dump and dump-file creation behavior. Done means closing the affected tabs no longer crashes and a dump can be created without requiring administrator mode.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop, operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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