The YouTube bug “devours” up to 7 GB of RAM and slows down processors

Users of popular browsers encountered abnormal behavior of YouTube: video hosting began to consume an excessive amount of system resources. Due to a hidden bug in the interface, individual tabs with video can use more than 7 gigabytes of RAM, which causes fatal tabs to freeze and slow down the entire operating system.

The problem, which gained notoriety thanks to reports on Reddit, is related to an uncontrollable error in the front-end logic of the site. At first, users assumed that browser updates or new algorithms to combat ad blockers were to blame, but further research pointed to a defect in the code of the platform itself.

Memory leak and CPU load

The main symptoms of the bug are a sharp jump in RAM consumption and processor overload. In some cases, RAM usage per active tab exceeded 7 GB. At the same time, the processor cores begin to work at maximum capacity, trying to process endless commands for rendering the interface, which makes managing the page almost impossible.

Error occurrence mechanism

Investigation in the Bugzilla system showed that the root of the problem lies in the menu block under the video player (where the buttons “Like”, “Share”, etc. are located). YouTube’s algorithm endlessly checks that elements fit within the allotted space. If the button does not fit, it is hidden, which changes the width of the block. The system immediately decides that the space is free, returns the button back, and this process is repeated thousands of times per second.

Which browsers are at risk?

The first complaints came from Firefox users, but it soon became clear that the bug was not tied to a specific browser. Similar problems with “freezing” tabs and RAM leakage were confirmed by users of Brave and Microsoft Edge. This confirms that the source of the problem is solely on the YouTube code side.