[BUG] Claude Code spawned ~3,000 parallel bash processes in 17 seconds, causing OOM crash and hard reboot.

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Code spawns thousands of bash subprocesses in parallel within seconds, exhausting all system memory and triggering the kernel OOM killer. This has occurred multiple times.

~3,079 bash processes were spawned between PID 21300 and PID 24379 in approximately 17 seconds (12:38:41–12:38:58 local time). All processes were owned by UID 1000, all carried oom_score_adj:100 (set by Claude Code). The code process itself reached ~1.4 TB virtual memory allocation. Usually this results in a total lock up of the host and requires a full reboot.

What Should Happen?

Bash subprocesses are spawned sequentially or with a reasonable concurrency limit that respects system memory.

Error Messages/Logs

Kernel OOM log evidence (journalctl -b -1 -k --no-pager | grep -A 50 "Out of memory"):
Mai 25 12:38:41 <hostname> kernel: Out of memory: Killed process 5301 (code) total-vm:1463373852kB, anon-rss:200640kB, file-rss:2916kB, shmem-rss:2076kB, UID:1000 pgtables:2096kB oom_score_adj:300
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21300]  1000 21300    61965     2732     2285      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21301]  1000 21301    61313     2468     2023      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21303]  1000 21303    61967     2673     2226      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21304]  1000 21304    61313     2475     2030      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21305]  1000 21305    61967     2705     2258      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21306]  1000 21306    61314     2444     1999      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21307]  1000 21307    61314     2477     2032      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21308]  1000 21308    62001     2646     2199      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21309]  1000 21309    61315     2445     2000      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21310]  1000 21310    62001     2710     2263      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21311]  1000 21311    61315     2513     2036      477         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21312]  1000 21312    61316     2482     2037      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21313]  1000 21313    62002     2654     2207      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21314]  1000 21314    61316     2485     2040      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21315]  1000 21315    62002     2718     2271      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21316]  1000 21316    61317     2454     2009      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21317]  1000 21317    61318     2490     2045      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21318]  1000 21318    62003     2687     2240      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21319]  1000 21319    61319     2458     2013      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21320]  1000 21320    62003     2751     2304      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21321]  1000 21321    61319     2527     2082      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21322]  1000 21322    62004     2659     2212      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21323]  1000 21323    61320     2464     2019      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21324]  1000 21324    61320     2500     2055      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21325]  1000 21325    62004     2723     2276      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21326]  1000 21326    61321     2468     2023      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21327]  1000 21327    62006     2663     2216      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21328]  1000 21328    61321     2536     2091      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21329]  1000 21329    62006     2727     2280      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21330]  1000 21330    61322     2504     2059      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21331]  1000 21331    61322     2508     2063      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21332]  1000 21332    62007     2669     2222      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21333]  1000 21333    61323     2509     2032      477         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21334]  1000 21334    62007     2733     2286      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21335]  1000 21335    61358     2513     2068      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21336]  1000 21336    61358     2513     2068      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21337]  1000 21337    62008     2673     2226      447         0    90112     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21338]  1000 21338    61359     2521     2076      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21339]  1000 21339    62008     2737     2290      447         0    90112     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21340]  1000 21340    61359     2489     2044      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21341]  1000 21341    61360     2522     2077      445         0    77824     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21342]  1000 21342    62009     2677     2230      447         0    94208     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21343]  1000 21343    61360     2491     2046      445         0    77824     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21344]  1000 21344    62009     2773     2326      447         0    94208     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21345]  1000 21345    61361     2559     2114      445         0    81920     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21346]  1000 21346    62010     2682     2235      447         0    94208     1888           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21347]  1000 21347    61361     2495     2050      445         0    81920     1408           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21348]  1000 21348    61362     2531     2086      445         0    81920     1376           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21349]  1000 21349    62010     2778     2331      447         0    94208     1824           100 bash
Mai 25 12:38:57 <hostname> kernel: [  21350]  1000 21350    61362     2500     2055      445         0    81920     1408           100 bash
--
Mai 25 12:38:58 <hostname> kernel: Out of memory: Killed process 13836 (Web Content) total-vm:2821064kB, anon-rss:7324kB, file-rss:3604kB, shmem-rss:1216kB, UID:1000 pgtables:580kB oom_score_adj:233

Steps to Reproduce

Fresh install of claude code, no changes in any settings.

This happens specifically when claude decides to read files or use the find command.
Having extracted a bash command that previously caused an issue, I can reproduce the issue by entering the prompt:

"run this bash command: find /Path/ -maxdepth 3 -type f \( -name ".tex" -name ".makefile" -o -name "Makefile" \) 2>/dev/null | head -30 && echo "---" && find /Path/-maxdepth 3 -type d | head -20)"

Where /Path/ is a working path and manual execution of the bash command works.

System info

• OS: Fedora 42
• Kernel: 6.19.14-101.fc42.x86_64
• RAM: 32 GB
• Shell: fish

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.150 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_