If the JVM tries to load a .pfb file that is not a valid font file it may fall into a infinite loop.

To reproduce the problem, copy the attached file IndexBase.pfb to <jre>/lib/fonts. Then compile and run the attached class BadFontBug. The JVM will go into an infinte loop in native code while trying to parse the invalid .pfb file.

This case is a simplification of the case encountered by the ISV. In the real application, the .pfb file is part of the files installed by the application (it is a device configuration file for a 3D input device). The application is installed using pkgadd, which leads to the .pfb file being listed in /var/sadm/install/contents. The JVM searches /var/sadm/install/contents looking for fonts, finds the .pfb file and tries to parse it to determine the font's characteristics. Since the file isn't a valid font file, the parser gets confused, leading to an infinite loop.

The problem repored by the user happens only under Solaris, with Java 1.3 and Java 1.4