Hi there,

There is a reachable assert in resolv/resolv_conf.c:update_from_conf:

  /* The overlapping parts of both configurations should agree after
     initialization.  */
  assert (resolv_conf_matches (resp, conf));

resolv_conf_matches returns negative in the case of:

            /* resp->dnsrch is truncated if the number of elements
               exceeds MAXDNSRCH, or if the combined storage space for
               the search list exceeds what can be stored in
               resp->defdname.  */
            if (i == MAXDNSRCH || search_list_size > sizeof (resp->dnsrch))
              break;
            /* Otherwise, a mismatch indicates a match failure.  */
            return false;
          }
Specifically, if the combined storage space for the search line is in excess, it is already truncated update_from_conf:
    for (i = 0; i < size && i < MAXDNSRCH; ++i)
      {
        resp->dnsrch[i] = alloc_buffer_copy_string
          (&buffer, conf->search_list[i]);
        if (resp->dnsrch[i] == NULL)
          /* No more space in resp->defdname.  Truncate.  */
          break;
      }
    resp->dnsrch[i] = NULL;
  }




An example:

echo "search example.org example.com example.net corp.corp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.examcorp.exam" >> /etc/resolv.conf
# ping example.com
ping: resolv_conf.c:570: update_from_conf: Assertion `resolv_conf_matches (resp, conf)' failed.
Aborted


Cheers,
Josh