What occurs when a program exceeds its allocated memory on the call stack?

When a program exceeds its allocated memory on the call stack, a stack overflow occurs. This situation arises when the call stack, which keeps track of active subroutines in a program, becomes fuller than its limit, typically due to deep or infinite recursion or allocating large local variables.

In this scenario, the program attempts to push more information onto the stack than is available, leading to an overflow. This often results in unexpected behavior, and in many environments, it can cause the program to crash or produce an error. A stack overflow signifies that the program’s management of its execution context has failed, and this is primarily associated with the structure and limits of the call stack itself.

In contrast, a buffer overflow involves writing data beyond the limits of a buffer, typically leading to security vulnerabilities. A memory leak refers to failing to release memory that is no longer needed, leading to wasted memory resources over time. An infinite loop is a scenario where a loop continues to execute indefinitely due to some logic condition not allowing it to terminate, but this does not directly relate to the issues of the call stack. Thus, the situation at hand specifically pertains to a stack overflow when memory allocation on the call stack is exceeded.