The Old New Thing's Journal

Brief Q&A on the HeapEnableTerminationOnCorruption heap information flag

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2013/12/27/10484882.aspx

Question: What type of heaps are controlled by the HeapEnableTerminationOnCorruption flag?

Answer: Any user-mode heap created by the HeapCreate function. This includes the process heap (GetProcessHeap) but not the managed heap. Some components use HeapCreate under the hood. If so, then those heaps would also be affected.

Question: What versions of Windows support HeapEnableTerminationOnCorruption?

Answer: The flag was introduced in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. It is also available on Windows XP Service Pack 3. In table form:

Support	Client	Server
☹ Not Available	... Windows 2000 Windows XP RTM, SP1, SP2	... Windows Server 2000 Windows Server 2003
Available ☺	Windows XP SP3 Windows Vista Windows 7 ...	Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2008 R2 ...

Question: For operating systems that support it, under what conditions will termination on corruption be enabled?

Answer:

For all 64-bit processes.
For all 32-bit processes whose executable sets the subsystem major version to 6 or higher in the image header.
If you call HeapSetInformation with the HeapEnableTerminationOnCorruption parameter.

Question: What is the effect of setting the subsystem major version in a DLL? Will that control whether termination on corruption is enabled for any heaps created by my DLL?

Answer: No. For the purpose of rule 2 above, it is the major subsystem of the executable that decides whether termination on corruption. The major subsystem of any DLLs loaded by the process have no effect. This is consistent with other process decisions.

Question: Can I enable termination on corruption for some heaps but not others?

Answer: No. Turning on termination on corruption turns it on for all heaps in the process.

Question: Can I disable termination on corruption after it has been enabled?

Answer: No. It is a one-way door.