Buffer overflow

Buffer overflow is a term used to describe when data is put in storage but the size of the data is excessively large (for example: a text string over the maximum number of characters supported by the game).

The term could for example describe a glitch where data has an excessively long name and the name overflows to corrupt unrelated memory addresses, or the game copying more data than it is supposed to.

In the Pokémon games

The latter example of the game copying more data than it is supposed to occurs with many buffer overflow glitches in Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow.

For more information of specific examples, see List of glitches by programming or design category.