A program unexpectedly terminates on an application server. The server administrator connects to the server via SSH and notices multiple instances of the application that terminated consuming system…

A runaway process is an application or service that consumes excessive system resources (like CPU or memory) or fails to terminate correctly, often leading to multiple lingering instances after a crash. This behavior aligns with the description of multiple terminated application instances consuming resources.

A fragmented hard disk primarily affects read/write performance and file access, not directly causing application termination or leaving multiple resource-consuming processes.

While the application is failing, 'service failure' is too broad; 'runaway process' more specifically describes the observed aftermath of multiple resource-consuming terminated instances.

A memory leak involves an application failing to release memory, which can *lead* to a runaway process, but 'runaway process' better describes the overall observed symptom of multiple instances consuming resources after termination.