Symptoms
Assume that you use Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, or SQL Server 2014. When you execute a query by using TOP N and ORDER BY, the query hits an assert failure similar to the following:
Location: "qstopsrt.cpp":384
Expression: fFalse
SPID: <SPID>
Process ID: <ProcessID>
Location: qxcntxt.cpp:1052
Expression: cref == 0
SPID: <SPID>
Process ID: <ProcessID>
Msg 3624, Level 20, State 1, Line 2
A system assertion check has failed. Check the SQL Server error log for details. Typically, an assertion failure is caused by a software bug or data corruption. To check for database corruption, consider running DBCC CHECKDB. If you agreed to send dumps to Microsoft during setup, a mini dump will be sent to Microsoft. An update might be available from Microsoft in the latest Service Pack or in a QFE from Technical Support.
Msg 0, Level 20, State 0, Line 0
A severe error occurred on the current command. The results, if any, should be discarded.
Note The fix may also apply to that the query plan contains "Sort (Top N Sort)."
Cause
The issue occurs because an internal error in the query execution engine.
Resolution
The issue was first fixed in the following cumulative update of SQL Server.
Cumulative Update 1 for SQL Server 2012 SP2 /en-us/help/2976982
Cumulative Update 2 for SQL Server 2014 /en-us/help/2967546
Cumulative Update 10 for SQL Server 2012 SP1 /en-us/help/2954099
Cumulative Update 12 for SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2 /en-us/help/2938478
Each new cumulative update for SQL Server contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous cumulative update. Check out the latest cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
