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WSAETOOMANYREFS
WSAETOOMANYREFS is a resource-state error about references to a kernel object. It does not describe TCP retransmission pressure, a full socket receive buffer, or a remote server connection limit. Those conditions have different Winsock errors.
Why the calling context matters
Microsoft gives this code a deliberately broad definition. Therefore the useful question is which Winsock API or service provider produced it and which object lifetime was being extended. In code that duplicates handles, layers providers, or maintains asynchronous operation objects, a reference leak can survive long after the logical connection has ended.
What to collect before retrying
- The exact API, socket/provider identity, thread, and call sequence that returned the code.
- Counts of live sockets, outstanding overlapped operations, event objects, and duplicated handles.
- Whether the failure grows with connection churn and disappears after process restart.
Blind retry loops are a poor diagnostic because they can add more references and obscure the original leak. Compare this code with WSAEMFILE, which is about too many open sockets, and WSAENOBUFS, which indicates insufficient buffer or queue resources.
Microsoft: Winsock error codes · Microsoft: handling Winsock errors
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