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Burp consumes all RAM

Paula | Last updated: Jun 02, 2017 10:16AM UTC

Hi, I'm running Burp installed on linux (not the portable version) and it consumes all RAM on my machine, up to the point it closes itself. Is there a way to launch it, the same way that happens with the .jar version, limiting the memory it is assigned? Thanks in advance.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Jun 02, 2017 11:41AM UTC

It's not quite clear what caused this situation, but the amount of memory shown as used at the OS level doesn't necessarily reflect what Java is actually consuming. If your machine makes available a huge amount of memory to Java, then it will use it for newly created objects but won't necessarily perform any garbage collection on old obsolete objects. So a lot of the space is really free and available within the Java process, but shows as used at the OS level. That said, using a lot of memory shouldn't cause Burp / the OS to shut down. Was it Burp or the OS that crashed? What exactly did you observe when the crash occurred? You can limit the memory assigned to Burp using the VM options file (-Xms512m -Xmx2048m), however, this may make a Burp crash more likely, as Burp has less memory.

Burp User | Last updated: Sep 26, 2017 10:38AM UTC

Hi, We are a team and we have the same problem. The java -Xms , -Xmx , -XX:MaxPermSize and other similar directives are totally ignored by Burp. This means that Burp crashes every day because of the memory consuption. The application easily reach 8 GB of memory used in less than 4000 requests. We tried with java -jar -Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:PermSize=64m -XX:MaxPermSize=128 -Xss512k /home/tools/burp.jar with no results. Other problem is that the memory used by Burp is never released. How we can avoid the continuous crashes? Thank you in advance

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Sep 26, 2017 01:44PM UTC

Please can you send us your debug ID (at User options / Misc / Performance feedback)? You can contact us at support@portswigger.net.

Burp User | Last updated: Dec 13, 2017 07:35AM UTC

Hi, is there a solution for this available, I got the same problem. Burp eats all of my machines memory (16 GB) and then freezes. CPU hangs on 100% (400% actually, all CPUs).

Burp User | Last updated: Dec 13, 2017 07:39AM UTC

Worst was saving the state didn't work. The last state file saved was only 34 bytes and therefor the work was lost. -rw-rw-r-- 1 chris chris 126041033 Dez 12 14:05 as_02_state -rw-rw-r-- 1 chris chris 34 Dez 13 07:30 as_x_save Version: burpsuite_pro_v1.7.26.jar

Burp User | Last updated: Dec 13, 2017 08:12AM UTC

Here is the message from the console: ~/lokal-sw/burp $ java -jar burpsuite_pro_v1.7.26.jar Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work Failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable, consider saving your work ^C ^C Getötet Finally i killed burp since I couldn't save the state or close it.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Dec 13, 2017 09:00AM UTC

We are sorry to hear about this issue Christian. Have you tried using project files? Burp project files hold all of the data and configuration for a particular piece of work. Data is saved incrementally into the file as you work. - https://portswigger.net/burp/help/suite_burp_projects Could you provide us with some additional information to help us debug the issue: Did you have any extensions loaded in Burp? Which Burp tools were you using when this happened? Could you send us your debug ID (User options > Misc > Performance feedback) and diagnostics (Help > Diagnostics)? You can contact us at support@portswigger.net.

Burp User | Last updated: Feb 09, 2018 12:03AM UTC

I have been running into this the past week on OSX. Burp is installed on the OS, not standalone. If I run active scan, memory usage skyrockets. Everything freezes and OSX notifies me it has run out of memory. This has happened at least three times the past week and a half. On top of that, the project gets corrupted so I lose any progress/findings, which is very frustrating.

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Feb 09, 2018 08:45AM UTC

Andrew, thanks for this report. Would it be possible to download Burp Suite 1.7.30 from your account page and check whether the issue persists? Additionally, could you send us your diagnostics via Help > Diagnostics?

Burp User | Last updated: Dec 14, 2018 10:08AM UTC

I am using 1.7.37 version and experiencing crashing problem all the time. My system has 8gb ram and burp is consuming all of it and later it's get freezed. It's really frustrating.

PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Dec 14, 2018 10:15AM UTC

Varun - you may benefit from reducing the maximum heap size, perhaps to 2gb. You can use Java command line arguments do this: - java -Xmx2g -jar burpsuite_pro.jar

Burp User | Last updated: Jul 27, 2019 01:52PM UTC

Burp use all RAM, version 2.1.02 This problem have on all version burp, developer know this problem, but not fixed it... WHY!? If you used burp, do you need (lol): 8 RAM (c) developer Burp Enjoy!

Liam, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Jul 29, 2019 02:46PM UTC

David, do you have any extensions enabled?

HackXBack | Last updated: Jan 21, 2021 10:56PM UTC

i think chromium use the memory and the cpu available in the machine

Michelle, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Jan 22, 2021 09:02AM UTC

Thanks for your message. Are you seeing any current issues with the memory and CPU usage on your installation of Burp?

Oscar | Last updated: Feb 10, 2021 08:39AM UTC

Same thing on Windows with version v2021.2. Had a scan on during the night and when I checked it in the morning I could not navigate the UI. I only saw that the Memory bar was full and then the application only returned a black screen. Had to kill the process after waiting a few hours for the application to respond. System memory consumption was around 80%. Extensions: .NET Beautifier Active Scan++ Detect Dynamic JS Logger++

Michelle, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Feb 10, 2021 12:41PM UTC

Thanks for getting in touch. We've replied to the email you sent about this.

ocapabode | Last updated: Apr 12, 2022 02:55AM UTC

It's the same with me. the allocated memory is 2gb and is full before the middle of the procedure. this is the message I get: failed to allocate memory - behavior may be unstable consider saving your work

Michelle, PortSwigger Agent | Last updated: Apr 12, 2022 08:14AM UTC

Thanks for your message. How much memory does the machine running Burp have available in total? Are you using the installed version or launching Burp from the JAR file? For the best experience with Burp Suite Professional, we recommend using a machine with at least 8 GB of memory and 2 CPU cores. If you are performing large amounts of work or testing large or complex applications, you may need a more powerful machine than this (https://portswigger.net/burp/documentation/desktop/performance). If you still see the issue on a machine with the recommended amount of memory can you please send the following details to support@portswigger.net so we can take a closer look: - The version of Burp are you using - Whether you have any extensions enabled - Details of the tasks you are carrying out when the problem occurs

ocapabode | Last updated: Apr 12, 2022 10:46AM UTC

OK. I just sent an email.

ocapabode | Last updated: Apr 12, 2022 10:46AM UTC

OK. I just sent an email.

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