skylot/jadx · error · JadxRuntimeException

Iterative traversal limit reached: limit: {}, visitor: {}, b

Error message

Iterative traversal limit reached: limit: {}, visitor: {}, blocks count: {}

What it means

Thrown as JadxRuntimeException by DepthRegionTraversal.traverseIterative() (and traverseIncludingExcHandlers) when an iterative region visitor requests re-traversal more than 5 times the number of basic blocks in the method. Iterative visitors return a boolean 'repeat' indicating they made structural changes and want another pass; a limit prevents infinite loops from visitors that always report changes. The limit is ITERATIVE_LIMIT_MULTIPLIER (5) multiplied by the method's basic block count.

Source

Thrown at jadx-core/src/main/java/jadx/core/dex/visitors/regions/DepthRegionTraversal.java:49

		traverseInternal(mth, visitor, container);
	}

	public static <R> @Nullable R traversePartial(MethodNode mth, IRegionPartialVisitor<R> visitor) {
		return traversePartialInternal(mth, visitor, mth.getRegion());
	}

	public static <R> @Nullable R traversePartial(MethodNode mth, IContainer container, IRegionPartialVisitor<R> visitor) {
		return traversePartialInternal(mth, visitor, container);
	}

	public static void traverseIterative(MethodNode mth, IRegionIterativeVisitor visitor) {
		boolean repeat;
		int k = 0;
		int limit = ITERATIVE_LIMIT_MULTIPLIER * mth.getBasicBlocks().size();
		do {
			repeat = traverseIterativeStepInternal(mth, visitor, mth.getRegion());
			if (k++ > limit) {
				throw new JadxRuntimeException("Iterative traversal limit reached: "
						+ "limit: " + limit + ", visitor: " + visitor.getClass().getName()
						+ ", blocks count: " + mth.getBasicBlocks().size());
			}
		} while (repeat);
	}

	public static void traverseIncludingExcHandlers(MethodNode mth, IRegionIterativeVisitor visitor) {
		boolean repeat;
		int k = 0;
		int limit = ITERATIVE_LIMIT_MULTIPLIER * mth.getBasicBlocks().size();
		do {
			repeat = traverseIterativeStepInternal(mth, visitor, mth.getRegion());
			if (!repeat) {
				for (ExceptionHandler h : mth.getExceptionHandlers()) {
					repeat = traverseIterativeStepInternal(mth, visitor, h.getHandlerRegion());
					if (repeat) {
						break;
					}

View on GitHub (pinned to e738a26571)

Solutions

Report to jadx developers with the input file, the visitor class name from the error message, and the block count.
Try the latest jadx version — convergence bugs in region visitors are frequently patched.
As a workaround, use --decompilation-mode that uses simpler region processing, or skip specific visitors via debug flags.
If developing jadx, inspect the named visitor class for oscillation bugs — ensure it returns true only when it actually made a net structural change.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Try / catch

try {
    DepthRegionTraversal.traverseIterative(mth, visitor);
} catch (JadxRuntimeException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().contains("Iterative traversal limit reached")) {
        LOG.warn("Visitor {} did not converge for method {} ({} blocks), skipping",
            visitor.getClass().getSimpleName(), mth, mth.getBasicBlocks().size());
        // Continue decompilation without this visitor's transformations
    } else {
        throw e;
    }
}

Prevention

This is primarily triggered by problematic/obfuscated bytecode; keep jadx updated.
If developing jadx region visitors, ensure visit() returns true only on actual structural change, never unconditionally.
Test visitors on obfuscated inputs to check convergence.
Report inputs that trigger this with the visitor class name from the error message.

When it happens

Trigger: An IRegionIterativeVisitor's visit method returns true (repeat) on every pass without converging, exceeding the 5 * blockCount limit. This typically happens with visitors that make progress-detected-incorrect changes (oscillating between two states) or visitors that unconditionally return true.

Common situations: Decompiling heavily obfuscated bytecode, malformed DEX files, or code with pathological control flow (deeply nested loops, large switch statements, exception-heavy code) that causes a region visitor to fail to converge. Common with R8/ProGuard-obfuscated APKs. The error message identifies the specific visitor class and block count for diagnosis.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of skylot/jadx@e738a26571 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/0f6b800f6d2f4efe. Report an issue: GitHub.