DMARC-Filter:	OpenDMARC Filter v1.4.2 delorie.com 60NGEK7b3036031
Authentication-Results:	delorie.com; dmarc=pass (p=none dis=none) header.from=cygwin.com
Authentication-Results:	delorie.com; spf=pass smtp.mailfrom=cygwin.com
DKIM-Filter:	OpenDKIM Filter v2.11.0 delorie.com 60NGEK7b3036031
X-Recipient:	archive-cygwin AT delorie DOT com
X-Original-To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Delivered-To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
DMARC-Filter:	OpenDMARC Filter v1.4.2 sourceware.org 630F64BA2E2D
ARC-Filter:	OpenARC Filter v1.0.0 sourceware.org 630F64BA2E2D
ARC-Seal:	i=2; a=rsa-sha256; d=sourceware.org; s=key; t=1769184839; cv=pass;
	b=ICyCDOH8ADzabiGcdFryInjnFK/52c73mGX/9GLlVAoZkUrFQhxr5+eP+v8UlcEiqreJnd1wzYeGWAz2otdHYjDuox6CEUeQkgOwDxwmMv8R80ojz2AlX7u6TMuDUdlwddLtaB6qjklx60EjrAqxVr9rllCTjRld0kchBu9530E=
ARC-Message-Signature:	i=2; a=rsa-sha256; d=sourceware.org; s=key;
	t=1769184839; c=relaxed/simple;
	bh=jI3a4eNnSiMkTv87dreV7MG+8iaJIV7mlfmVDH3FtUI=;
	h=DKIM-Signature:DKIM-Signature:From:To:Subject:Date:Message-ID:
	MIME-Version;
	b=NkuHWnvk82JUuipi6u5K32aedsktPIb6K58wGSR0w9HZvNO01w7fECpv9HqDO8s1Enu/jU+npRWqtp7+eLic9tj7ZIzr7hz1nYe1RNGSgxG6BJOl0g6lWv3299rpFTyFflhR0JDJ2q8DeHjcl8W+MgWtT0nSfpGmyJFX2VWFLV4=
ARC-Authentication-Results:	i=2; server2.sourceware.org
DKIM-Filter:	OpenDKIM Filter v2.11.0 sourceware.org 630F64BA2E2D
X-CSE-ConnectionGUID:	8Y8ggJZXSuCvquKir3jdRA==
X-CSE-MsgGUID:	HwcobL1+RGeT6eTHojQXpQ==
X-SBRS-Extended:	Low
X-IronPortListener:	ces-out
X-IronPort-AV:	E=Sophos;i="6.21,248,1763442000"; d="scan'208";a="31561883"
ARC-Seal:	i=1; a=rsa-sha256; s=arcselector10001; d=microsoft.com; cv=none;
	b=WLmdmU3D6Ah7dWOGltkgtHAU7k0gY86BpEKjdmbi+XIRmMY8i85z8Apx9qAc9yaUicvB7Ev0SHapoYvMq5J4zNaY+xSomQBGO1Y0mJOQvK89vqJoR0pHP3f9m+YbZa6r6y62YkfEVeIVAyDqWvYxUmlbY6eWLExdlgHovA3wQERxsJxWQPZKWIU1lY/oq5XCT4LxfCIW5U62hWOFYKGzdMHT7QpvEPunanm27Gp91nMCpVZmfsI6nx4Ny9vs+fzOZ8B7AWyu6Dxo6P8uT6q2IV4W0Rvo+7GHOhjlzDXGaIfCASiHMRMxkSJf4fNBPsb4vhsi3Qvc5fHJPskeJwLEKw==
ARC-Message-Signature:	i=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=microsoft.com;
	s=arcselector10001;
	h=From:Date:Subject:Message-ID:Content-Type:MIME-Version:X-MS-Exchange-AntiSpam-MessageData-ChunkCount:X-MS-Exchange-AntiSpam-MessageData-0:X-MS-Exchange-AntiSpam-MessageData-1;
	bh=uekINNO5BxjH/1UayuNpa0yKqiLQcywp1DDy85Q2Lrk=;
	b=rsOvW6mxehlhyTeNkUA/q/gGQkFr8uAjaj5YxV1K0qsGYsp5a/Ia3jJiUXsKjjJTx9Hp54o67q4SjeLh/AJ3kG9L5BjHutYAEKVt0Rz/VZRnBc1w9gBBCZXUrE2OAf3l3MxhsDN+rdifYPxCMbj8xX8uSIDYHh6hPPVR/QAqqP8TV4zun1mq+HnZ9nQbODX98/RDTuVMbpMIb8vkQsNpks6oqV12F11mE0RVMOqk8x3xOQyVRUF39Vc6vnZ3rBuj+ux3ZfpVUJXVT4EozX9elPty2roSB4iECI6PfYweFnlpy00MUbEF9yc2rt/rgacUd8oOe6mp4XAoW9k84EfIsg==
ARC-Authentication-Results:	i=1; mx.microsoft.com 1; spf=pass
	smtp.mailfrom=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; dmarc=pass action=none
	header.from=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; dkim=pass header.d=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov; arc=none
To:	"cygwin AT cygwin DOT com" <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
CC:	Corinna Vinschen <corinna-cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
Subject:	RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: Fork bomb question about Cygwin
Thread-Topic:	[EXTERNAL] Re: Fork bomb question about Cygwin
Thread-Index:	AdyLFUrSBD0SBG2bS3iuU9cZphK9IQAcVLAAAD7aK9A=
Date:	Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:13:15 +0000
Deferred-Delivery:	Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:12:11 +0000
Message-ID:	<MN2PR09MB4923E9791ACE7A72130C5992A594A@MN2PR09MB4923.namprd09.prod.outlook.com>
References:	<MN2PR09MB492382DA1F993B72742E1A98A596A AT MN2PR09MB4923 DOT namprd09 DOT prod DOT outlook DOT com>
	<aXH2YPIcgWqd8zyX AT calimero DOT vinschen DOT de>
In-Reply-To:	<aXH2YPIcgWqd8zyX@calimero.vinschen.de>
Accept-Language:	en-US
X-MS-Has-Attach:
X-MS-TNEF-Correlator:
x-ms-publictraffictype:	Email
x-ms-traffictypediagnostic:	MN2PR09MB4923:EE_|SJ0PR09MB10052:EE_
x-ms-office365-filtering-correlation-id:	eac68c7e-aecf-4545-9e3e-08de5a9a6177
x-ms-exchange-senderadcheck:	1
x-ms-exchange-antispam-relay:	0
x-microsoft-antispam:	BCL:0;ARA:13230040|1800799024|366016|38070700021;
x-microsoft-antispam-message-info:	=?us-ascii?Q?rtr9Y3IRc7WL2avqGOn9R83GEW32+Livj1HUMOoKKYj5wAfoXmlfU5b/BZm6?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?+F6St0t01qFoejDnSJvNdhqM4nq24oYK0OtRtDqYs8Jk/1Kq55vUfJ/7b3Cc?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?loeMRWjUHljNZBtZGQrUDOA0ULBcbJA7rmWIXxLdz/754ZSe+RxHQQehHRt4?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?Xpgray5tDkiyioTShWUtAsT63BYTX2wd1dW+SUfjdEL3hf7pfLdBgR/POEoQ?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?hc7b8VPwoY69lrKu0WsQiT7zKS2cpfYhemo+7Fnq/wobocCItVv5zR3Q2nrf?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?m75u3Rg9tXO6B7Z2NJNar1VhKvhx8S80G6S7wOAx1C5x0QmlIJyJZezgEL7M?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?g5wFrow0890AGbTSxnxr0RI8oXsDYbsBK3CUTdIei5D9vQWvk2M2KUWex+Ku?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?f4zUiQ85xv8NXw9XfyYlZlRcU2E1DjdH7SEhrekkMS7JWXDun6M5A3Dlsec5?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?KOG5cs3x1W20eEHrqd3mNzPjDK7T2mCUDVffNUHAnGUcX0YpP2ZQ4R+lTG51?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?bTp/gm7rPEAHHA183WPkhypCkA2SeVj6j7xtEMVaLOJ51K6g2aUNwrzjpBCN?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?hyaxlebGhT+tRffiniY2kjW6KLziVYEi1Ew1y7/eakdsDl3GbSPpKbjWIcKu?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?KWVcUJqRE6SLFXEvrLylykygWZrEZAknYU3De4zl0fV4CmQ/w7XYX5jild3Y?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?RUfCsRzfsndZR6jfqYqEgXfbcu1mRAmkfqihV7fe0XopHYSi6LUAPOL2Rf3U?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?EuDPGhK88UIA8q5yQS6anuJIQsKc6OpI96AGYwxrherPt/spTKmasKPUAKhs?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?k5jIYVriN66BFLuINL7Gzl3ItSqTbq0oryV6ZP1uGSLUqpvYszJIxY4RzTaw?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?iXMI4w8TEt4uqJAW/jTFhjeEpAKzysPtY0tSyAo61QihIZMGM7QMsmOWRRSk?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?+NFcZJY7jl2jy2LxebN51ON5UTV6MCcQGQCXrdG/PyTGrWfpCgwbd8ybL7ZZ?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?OwPVlF5gkiF1WhlhZuwgf4lmBLFhXI2/I/IE8Eb3Ba+GjvdZ4mqi0Lg+bkkG?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?nj4K8923xDM4zkL2SJXW2GytnjLUqgnpqvBYa89NY9U9Bn51/gWisUERtYYI?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?+0qTYsrLbAYWZETnDslhqnotADZU+OlY+zU8weQq4UTcMJiB7MIWlq88RdHy?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?PyEeie0eUFzoj4d79EseVGJFmnxoe+zgmfVXaVWqkrwwV07P6yV31uvg7ekL?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?gJlU5E8ADmAc7F7f6Zlnslpi7ZkeTd1QZ+0JSzqqtE8ncX1gMB8ZKSCUkc6K?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?pk+MNahIQ5Fi4f/+3LEf5KlaVbw64YgSLrMIFh1TIbdMYMNKD/p0BAs6jSnd?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?PwoKN5QzrQL4UOEEScJiYX06wt/23f1r4CGUpNGj7I8P+LyD5qAx+4BsCuX7?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?5I9GJRf9YBVh5jYF5kbEoJqG72hBc5YkllJmcKSZ+jO2DlO+PnbgIXPHiU5v?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?cZlBWFvzLBfsEARKqOdyGooIvLdimtV6b4FAjdrfKM3K2zGQRW8Sk7ypLgiy?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?hLKH2LWmgX/s7VKr4+sjzpHrvjl7hIqwDFt10oDBzNHscLVwOAdQU15IlUs8?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?JJHmP4KG/gM2/GuKl3+oJEs=3D?=
x-forefront-antispam-report:	CIP:255.255.255.255; CTRY:; LANG:en; SCL:1; SRV:;
	IPV:NLI; SFV:NSPM; H:MN2PR09MB4923.namprd09.prod.outlook.com; PTR:; CAT:NONE;
	SFS:(13230040)(1800799024)(366016)(38070700021); DIR:OUT; SFP:1101;
x-ms-exchange-antispam-messagedata-chunkcount:	1
x-ms-exchange-antispam-messagedata-0:	=?us-ascii?Q?+0X3CYfDTNyk7TzQXnL0m6H1TqPeevtdJK5jjZMbIuKJ/hiPnNScG2lvjo0w?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?ICT1qvdgSgLV5SScNrkqrxy5U2gRKL1tOYgQVBdEkROEjl7BOKLJl0hGMrHS?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?oLR17iiQ16G4fN3sXLXIVProAHjNttpOZVsuPB7lldrgCnRzvMvTXEhXrL4a?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?MHhgwMNYIp+OviFm/XQL9hgOR/R/AisaQFTOtS52f2Oa6XuvZ5BPwTgNzxBb?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?/YLMSyLm45rRJ9PsqRHJTlpAb1z/QQrCK/ijC2xFmQ4V6aOsm3U11LdLCyHO?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?QNQ0QOP5OdHgfmgsqRgIGozKZMpkg8IOnYpvkW6TdJtXI1P+e+lsniDfsfpf?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?kguykAV99TLCyNkAKwNF8X/N6smZ7PpKsHuaa7IlnTPxd2ZUTn96xph1QU1q?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?4HQCS9/5ochBWsM/ek8ZwGPU/cC0rbhKbkTL2/6NEmDzmFxTgdo2s2PtdeVS?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?izc40PQN78ToSu7UK4jEbRK63TQG/Hq+Hqn3HLyV2x2acJh/J0cP34xORWYY?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?trTs5SiHlR2tZU/4kWAXTpf/F+oGJBgWVLobfI1sreRVxMzuDGeIGQxCupcH?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?JP48HSbtx4D5jv6EWVsJS9APkAGfiuFBcD5Kq+JDeVKahEkpHAHDDhm1MSZM?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?s8G3uegbz5RbU/YImQSqQSSWlyDIPjDmm5ZA1pbsXMF9jumgSmOWWkc8b/AY?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?lQiaR9Ls1FPuMnWXXDk8LVHFpaVpyWYt0uu5lu/VyEWtORvbep9HzF5ATUjG?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?h3jJRs4RtJcBZBbtWY8U0Cc+WvxIWKa6Jwey4TFzp9B8kfITVmqKf9nGU87s?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?R/Wmed1wGOJwKtDB8jeBOrFzHjMKlBsfwAS67Ea2zKEBhWHOC7m3GJ7mqAdO?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?HCOwv7O4m+MFQ2Ed0dvI1sSuXQceFX/pFMWTV8vD/dzIdiIMyNXt0LWh3A53?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?RiQ6R+GCBTLt8Sz5CPYdr7DyGQCvS0lqseXmJflz5v4n4QzrceeExGK4d5A5?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?v5QQt3urN1NKc2ZuV/us50IqMQbR62D0x/XbVafTkjuH4+0s8KDYfRHD8as8?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?ZV6fkPeJzrF5Oyc7in7OR52ZRHpHKnhCrojPMWW/6syFmrGfFTqiCBxBvcDY?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?KhH8nVB+qSCwkK9d6SVshSMzAGNeywetpCn5r003TsGHdwQzuOEZnKvN4Jqg?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?JaFhN8BkC71rSeX6zrexoJItqICde1i4bk1MJyPXbosE+bIFVSCJVCzmcyUB?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?V4JSB6FauD6gHMbYrsHWc0aTmliPKCdBQFBLmlkvxlm/uAcm8GcqXusX2vff?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?M72XTmhMdLNX+uCnwZR95HkPjRxYqPJKvxz7acpshcjGUC7jnMfjXG8pSCUL?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?1jegJcWvX6uUjMJ4B2DgWOtLhJedqF4vlGuBLs3BiXMzkzeumVy0uvSUawNU?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?p423w2N1x35oHE/xjmZENH/NuqhTH/PM3FCWurs4vAVDlYbu/WUsI+kZX6lE?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?CCX2xFADVD5aeuR7rLrDT81zqN3Cv8eJMhyDfmn/xyImhoxGkp3uRuoLLTvk?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?FQ4JVJ/HY/gu7O5DdRXslwNk2j2mFiy6To8y6Zk/ywpmPzUVnMP55xHdxOwF?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?MPngtqfaCeCDweEHfC7s2GqOSMX7w6QnhFGR5t4t7feqgET6O/hl6Ub+HGKA?=
	=?us-ascii?Q?HOK12w8zNIrjSGYPjHCDMaepJsItoD7RvFvuNugOhHhcM8Tp?=
MIME-Version:	1.0
X-MS-Exchange-AntiSpam-ExternalHop-MessageData-ChunkCount:	1
X-MS-Exchange-AntiSpam-ExternalHop-MessageData-0:	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
X-OriginatorOrg:	ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-AuthAs:	Internal
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-AuthSource:	MN2PR09MB4923.namprd09.prod.outlook.com
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-Network-Message-Id:	eac68c7e-aecf-4545-9e3e-08de5a9a6177
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-originalarrivaltime:	23 Jan 2026 16:13:43.9094 (UTC)
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-fromentityheader:	Hosted
X-MS-Exchange-CrossTenant-id:	14b77578-9773-42d5-8507-251ca2dc2b06
X-MS-Exchange-Transport-CrossTenantHeadersStamped:	SJ0PR09MB10052
X-BeenThere:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
X-Mailman-Version:	2.1.30
List-Id:	General Cygwin discussions and problem reports <cygwin.cygwin.com>
List-Archive:	<https://cygwin.com/pipermail/cygwin/>
List-Post:	<mailto:cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
List-Help:	<mailto:cygwin-request AT cygwin DOT com?subject=help>
List-Subscribe:	<https://cygwin.com/mailman/listinfo/cygwin>,
	<mailto:cygwin-request AT cygwin DOT com?subject=subscribe>
From:	"Lavrentiev, Anton \(NIH/NLM/NCBI\) \[C\] via Cygwin" <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
Reply-To:	"Lavrentiev, Anton \(NIH/NLM/NCBI\) \[C\]" <lavr AT ncbi DOT nlm DOT nih DOT gov>
Sender:	"Cygwin" <cygwin-bounces~archive-cygwin=delorie DOT com AT cygwin DOT com>

> Yes.  As on Linux and other systems, there's no default restriction(*)
> for the number of processes of an unprivileged user.

> This is not something controlled by Cygwin, rather by the OS.  Cygwin
> provides the POSIX calls getrlimit/setrlimit, but obviously those have
> to be implemented in terms of OS functions or faked.
> 
> The only implemented limits are RLIMIT_AS, RLIMIT_CORE, RLIMIT_NOFILE
> and RLIMIT_STACK, and only RLIMIT_AS is actually calling into the OS to
> install a restriction.

Thank you, Corinna, for all the explanations!

So basically, Windows is inherently susceptible for the fork bomb attack, and there's nothing Cygwin-specific in this vulnerability, or something that Cygwin can add to make it worse than it already is.

Anton Lavrentiev
Contractor NIH/NLM/NCBI

P.S. As a "regular" Linux user, I do have the process limit in my environment set as 2048, and I think that's effectively protects the system from the runaway situation.  Also, it looks like I have never hit this limit in the real use-case scenarios so it is quite adequate not to interfere with the day-to-day work.

-- 
Problem reports:      https://cygwin.com/problems.html
FAQ:                  https://cygwin.com/faq/
Documentation:        https://cygwin.com/docs.html
Unsubscribe info:     https://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple

- Raw text -