JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow (max=51200)global reference table dump:

Title: JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow during high-frequency SSE/streaming with cronet_http

Description:

When using cronet_http (v1.8.0) to establish an SSE (Server-Sent Events) connection or a long-polling loop against a server that pushes data at a very high frequency (e.g., AI text streaming output), the app crashes after keeping the connection alive for a few minutes.

The crash is caused by a JNI global reference table overflow.

Environment

Package: cronet_http latest (1.8.0)
OS: Android
Flutter: 3.35.6 (Channel stable)
Dart: 3.9.2

Steps to Reproduce

Use cronet_http to establish an SSE connection (e.g., using http.Request or streaming client) against an endpoint that pushes high-frequency chunks.
Listen to the response stream and process the data.
Keep the stream alive for several minutes.
Observe the JNI crash.

Expected Result

SSE / long-polling connections remain stable indefinitely regardless of callback frequency. Memory and JNI references should be recycled properly.

Actual Result

After sustained high-frequency callbacks, the app crashes with:
JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow (max=51200)

Crash Stacktrace (Expand)

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow (max=51200)global reference table dump:
pid: 0, tid: 22938 >>> chat.aimimo.mimo <<<

backtrace:
  #00  pc 0x000000000008cc54  /apex/com.android.runtime/lib64/bionic/libc.so (abort+164)
  #01  pc 0x00000000008fdfb0  /apex/com.android.art/lib64/libart.so (art::Runtime::Abort(char const*)+1004)
  #02  pc 0x000000000001654c  /apex/com.android.art/lib64/libbase.so (android::base::SetAborter(std::__1::function<void (char const*)>&&)::$_0::__invoke(char const*)+80)
  #03  pc 0x0000000000015a4c  /apex/com.android.art/lib64/libbase.so (android::base::LogMessage::~LogMessage()+548)
  #04  pc 0x00000000003ed170  /apex/com.android.art/lib64/libart.so (art::JavaVMExt::AddGlobalRef(art::Thread*, art::ObjPtr<art::mirror::Object>)+1528)
  #05  pc 0x000000000064ccb4  /apex/com.android.art/lib64/libart.so (art::JNI<false>::NewGlobalRef(_JNIEnv*, _jobject*)+268)
  #06  pc 0x000000000000ef9c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libdartjni.so (globalEnv_CallObjectMethod+356) (BuildId: 35ceae377ffd5d09ff92bbe4e9a16c71c89e10f9)
  #07  pc 0x000000000046158c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #08  pc 0x0000000000a351dc  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #09  pc 0x0000000000a3de34  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #10  pc 0x0000000000a3dd4c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #11  pc 0x00000000009ef2f4  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #12  pc 0x0000000000a347a8  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #13  pc 0x00000000004b1a00  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #14  pc 0x0000000000a341c0  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #15  pc 0x0000000000afd79c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #16  pc 0x000000000046d654  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #17  pc 0x000000000046d73c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #18  pc 0x000000000046dc30  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #19  pc 0x000000000046da48  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #20  pc 0x000000000046b01c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #21  pc 0x000000000046aca0  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #22  pc 0x000000000046ac0c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #23  pc 0x000000000046e21c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #24  pc 0x000000000046e2d0  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #25  pc 0x0000000000a69f10  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #26  pc 0x0000000000a6b9a8  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #27  pc 0x000000000046aa5c  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #28  pc 0x000000000046a950  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #29  pc 0x000000000046a914  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #30  pc 0x0000000000463c90  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk (BuildId: dbcf9df9c669f5f412fa88923bec5b37)
  #31  pc 0x00000000008b1080  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (dart::DartEntry::InvokeFunction(dart::Function const&, dart::Array const&, dart::Array const&)) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #32  pc 0x00000000009f46e0  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (Dart_InvokeClosure) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #33  pc 0x0000000000814f14  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (tonic::DartMicrotaskQueue::RunMicrotasks()) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #34  pc 0x00000000004a5fd4  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (fml::MessageLoopImpl::RunExpiredTasksNow()) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #35  pc 0x00000000004a9c54  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (fml::MessageLoopAndroid::MessageLoopAndroid()::$_0::__invoke(int, int, void*)) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #36  pc 0x0000000000018224  /system/lib64/libutils.so (android::Looper::pollInner(int)+1060)
  #37  pc 0x0000000000017da0  /system/lib64/libutils.so (android::Looper::pollOnce(int, int*, int*, void**)+112)
  #38  pc 0x00000000000185e4  /system/lib64/libandroid.so (ALooper_pollOnce+100)
  #39  pc 0x00000000004a9d64  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (fml::MessageLoopAndroid::Run()) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #40  pc 0x00000000004a7f88  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (std::_fl::__function::__func<fml::Thread::Thread(std::_fl::function<void (fml::Thread::ThreadConfig const&)> const&, fml::Thread::ThreadConfig const&)::$_0, std::_fl::allocator<fml::Thread::Thread(std::_fl::function<void (fml::Thread::ThreadConfig const&)> const&, fml::Thread::ThreadConfig const&)::$_0>, void ()>::operator()()) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #41  pc 0x00000000004a7dc4  /data/app/~~d7Ene3tPHLJpJSL5w7SMeg==/chat.aimimo.mimo-gYA74N_4CWEDE0ozLwFr_w==/split_config.arm64_v8a.apk!libflutter.so (fml::ThreadHandle::ThreadHandle(std::_fl::function<void ()>&&)::$_0::__invoke(void*)) (BuildId: 131eeda3d8b650ac635d8e496936981e3f591338)
  #42  pc 0x00000000000fb7cc  /apex/com.android.runtime/lib64/bionic/libc.so (__pthread_start(void*)+204)
  #43  pc 0x000000000008e490  /apex/com.android.runtime/lib64/bionic/libc.so (__start_thread+64)

Flutter doctor -v

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Hypothesis

It appears to be a classic mismatch between Dart's GC and JNI memory pressure. In high-frequency streaming scenarios (like AI SSE), jnigen or the native binding layer creates JNI Global References for incoming data chunks/callbacks. However, because these objects appear small to Dart, the Dart Garbage Collector doesn't run frequently enough to trigger the NativeFinalizers, causing the JNI Global Reference count to continuously grow until it hits the Android limit (51200) and crashes.

My questions :

Explicit Release Strategy: Is there any way to manually .release() or .dispose() the JNI references of the streamed chunks immediately after processing them in Dart, rather than waiting for Dart's GC? (similar to what jnigen offers with JObject.release()).
Buffer Reuse: Could cronet_http be optimized internally to use Direct ByteBuffers or reuse existing buffers for streamed responses to avoid generating massive amounts of intermediate JObject references?
Local References Optimization: Ensure that any temporary objects created during the callback handling in the C++ layer are using Local References and are properly deleted (DeleteLocalRef) before returning to Dart, strictly bounding the number of Global Refs created.

Any guidance or workarounds for high-frequency streaming scenarios would be greatly appreciated!

@goderbauer

@goderbauer

To answer your questions:

The Stream interface of Uint8List doesn't provide any obvious way of signaling that we are done with the Uint8List
cronet_http uses one direct ByteBuffer per request (see

http/pkgs/cronet_http/lib/src/cronet_client.dart

Line 227 in 30013eb

JByteBuffer? jByteBuffer;

). cronet_http copies part of that buffer into a Uint8List when sending the data to dart (see

http/pkgs/cronet_http/lib/src/cronet_client.dart

Line 375 in 30013eb

final data =

)
I'm not sure what this means.

cronet_http 1.8 tries to eagerly release as much Java memory as possible.

Could you explain how you are using it in a bit more detail? Do you have many clients? Many concurrent requests?

@liamappelbe

FYI @liamappelbe

/// SSE Listener with Dio
Future listenStream(
String url, {
Map<String, String>? headers,
Map<String, dynamic>? params,
Map<String, dynamic>? data,
Options? options,
ProgressCallback? onSendProgress,
ProgressCallback? onReceiveProgress,
HttpMethod method = HttpMethod.get,
CancelToken? cancelToken,
required void Function(String data) onEvent,
void Function()? onDone,
void Function(dynamic error)? onError,
}) async {
if (data != null) {
data.removeWhere((key, value) => value == null);
}
headers ??= {};
headers["Accept"] = "text/event-stream";
options ??= Options(
method: methodValues[method],
responseType: ResponseType.stream,
headers: headers,
sendTimeout: const Duration(seconds: 30),
receiveTimeout: const Duration(seconds: 30),
);

try {

  final response = await _dio.request(url,
      data: data,
      queryParameters: params,
      options: options,
      cancelToken: cancelToken,
      onSendProgress: onSendProgress,
      onReceiveProgress: onReceiveProgress);

  (response.data.stream as Stream)
      .cast<List<int>>()
      .transform(const Utf8Decoder()) 
      .transform(const LineSplitter())
      .listen((line) {
    final String parsedEvent = _parseSSEEvent(line);
    if (parsedEvent.isNotEmpty) {
      if (parsedEvent.startsWith("[error]")) {
        Map<String, dynamic> errorJson =
            jsonDecode(parsedEvent.substring(7));
        _handleError(
            ApiException(errorJson["status"], errorJson["message"]),
            onError);
        onDone = null;
      } else {
        onEvent(parsedEvent);
      }
    }
  }, onDone: () {
    onDone?.call();
  },
          onError: (e) => _handleError(e, onError),
          cancelOnError: true);
} on DioException catch (e) {
  onError?.call(e);
  logUtil.e(e.toString());

  switch (e.response?.statusCode) {
    case 401:
      showNormalToast(IntlState.current.toast_token_invalid);
      UserUtil.onLogout();
      break;
    default:
      AnalysisService.reportFirebaseCrashlytics(e, e.stackTrace,
          reason: e.requestOptions.path);
      throw ApiException(e.response?.statusCode ?? -1, e.message);
  }
} catch (e) {
  onError?.call(e);
  AnalysisService.reportFirebaseCrashlytics(e, null);
  logUtil.e(e.toString());
}

}

String _parseSSEEvent(String line) {
if (line.startsWith("data:")) {
final data = line.substring(5);
return data;
} else {
return "";
}
}

void _handleError(dynamic error, void Function(dynamic error)? onError) {
onError?.call(error);
logUtil.e(error.toString());
}
This is the SSE listening logic I implemented using DIO. I'm developing two apps, both of which basically integrate Cronet_http in the same way. This crash occurred in an AI chat application that uses SSE to receive message streams. The other app doesn't have SSE logic, and I haven't seen this crash reported in Google Play either. Therefore, I infer that the crash was caused by SSE.

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JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow (max=51200)global reference table dump: #1886

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JNI ERROR (app bug): global reference table overflow (max=51200)global reference table dump: #1886

Description

Environment

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Expected Result

Actual Result

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brianquinlan commented on Mar 2, 2026

goderbauer commented on Mar 3, 2026

Embrace0611 commented on Mar 3, 2026

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