Malware
Fork Bomb
Also known as: Wabbit, Rabbit virus
Definition
A denial-of-service technique in which a process repeatedly forks itself, exhausting process tables, memory, and CPU on the host.
Examples
- The bash one-liner `:(){ :|:& };:` used as a textbook DoS demonstration.
- Buggy CI scripts that accidentally fork inside an infinite loop.
Related terms
Wabbit
A self-replicating program that stays on a single host and exhausts its resources by spawning endless copies of itself, without spreading over the network.
Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack
An attack that exhausts a system's bandwidth, compute, memory, or application resources so that legitimate users can no longer access the service.
Logic Bomb
Malicious code that lies dormant inside a program and activates its payload only when a specific logical condition is met.
System Hardening
Reducing the attack surface of a system by removing unnecessary features, tightening configurations, and enforcing secure defaults.
Fileless Malware
Malware that runs primarily in memory and leverages trusted system tools, avoiding the use of traditional executable files on disk.
Malware
Any software intentionally designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computers, networks, or data.