What is a potential outcome when memory or resources are improperly managed between processes?

When memory or resources are improperly managed between processes, one significant potential outcome is a loss of data security due to data remanence. Data remanence refers to the residual physical representation of data that remains after attempts have been made to purge it.

If processes do not correctly manage memory—such as failing to clear sensitive data when no longer needed—there can be traces of that data left in memory. This could lead to unauthorized access, where another process or user could potentially retrieve that residual data. Such vulnerabilities could expose sensitive information, leading to security breaches and violations of privacy standards.

Improper resource management can also result in memory leaks and increased risk of system crashes, which may indirectly contribute to security issues, but fundamentally, the primary concern in this context relates to how sensitive data might linger in memory and become accessible to other processes, thereby compromising the overall security of the system.