CORBA24 — chunked value encoding:

a chunk can be followed by:

1. a new chunk (starting with its size tag)
(1 <= chunk_size_tag < 0x7fffff00
2. a new value (value_tag | 0 | value_ref)
(0x7fffff00 <= value_tag <= 0x7fffffff)
(valueref = 0xffffffff)
3. an end tag
(0x80000000 <= end_tag <= 0xffffffff)

A value indirection and a "top-level" end tag, both have the same tag (0xffffffff).
Consequently, the 0xffffffff tag marks the end of the current value but it is not clear whether or not a new value (indirection) has started.

An example where this situation occurs is a ring buffer that is chunked encoded.

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