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A memory leak occurs when you open a Web page that contains a circular reference in an iframe

Article ID: 975736 - View products that this article applies to.

SYMPTOMS

Consider the following scenario:

You view a Web page that uses the window.open method to open a second Web page in a new window.
The newly opened window contains an IFRAME element that loads a page having circular references.

In this scenario, a memory leak occurs every time that you open the window.

This leak can also occur if the iframe loads a page containing a Telerik RadGrid control for ASP.NET. In this scenario, you notice that the Private Bytes increase by 3 MB for every window.open operation. After some open and close operations, the system performance decreases significantly.

To monitor system performance, use Performance Monitor (Perfmon.exe). In Performance Monitor, check the Private Bytes for Internet Explorer.

Note If you browse to the page hosted in the iframe directly, then the issue does not occur.

RESOLUTION

Security update information

To resolve this problem, install the most recent cumulative security update for Internet Explorer. To install the most recent updates, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://update.microsoft.com

(http://update.microsoft.com)

For more technical information about the most recent cumulative security update for Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx

(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx)

Note This update was first included in security update 2416400 (MS10-090). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

2416400

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2416400/ )

MS10-090: Cumulative security update for Internet Explorer

Registry information

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

After you install the update for Internet Explorer 6 and 7 on the computer, you must add a registry value to enable the fix. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
Locate and then click the one of the following registry subkeys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN\FeatureControl

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
Type FEATURE_ADDITIONAL_MEMORY_CLEANUP_KB975736, and then press ENTER.
Right-click FEATURE_ADDITIONAL_MEMORY_CLEANUP_KB975736, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type Iexplore.exe, and then press ENTER.
Right-click Iexplore.exe, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor.

Note Applications that host the WebBrowser control (WebOC) or MSHTML can opt into the fix by adding the above registry entry. Replace the DWORD value from "iexplore.exe" to the name of the application (<appname>.exe).

The problem does not occur in Internet Explorer 8 or in Internet Explorer 9, However, with either of the Internet Explorer versions installed, if you use applications that host the WebBrowser control(WebOC) or MSHTML browse to the page, then the problem still occurs. Such applications can opt into the fix by adding a registry entry. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
Locate and then click the one of the following registry subkeys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN\FeatureControl

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
Type FEATURE_ADDITIONAL_IE8_MEMORY_CLEANUP, and then press ENTER.
Right-click FEATURE_ADDITIONAL_IE8_MEMORY_CLEANUP, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type <appname>.exe, and then press ENTER.
Right-click <appname>.exe, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
Exit Registry Editor.

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

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MORE INFORMATION

For more information about the window.open method, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms536651(VS.85).aspx

(http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms536651(VS.85).aspx)

For more information about the IFRAME element, visit the following Microsoft website:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535258(VS.85).aspx

(http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535258(VS.85).aspx)

For more information about Circular references, visit the following Microsoft website

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250448(VS.85).aspx

(http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb250448(VS.85).aspx)

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

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