Steam crashes with failed memory allocation due to Out of Memory

[whinis]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date): 1726604483
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Arch
• Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] Yes
• Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes
• Steam Logs: steam-logs.tar.gz
• GPU: AMD 5700xt

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

So my client keeps crashing between 45 seconds and 40 minutes after launch. The only log I get is

***** OUT OF MEMORY! attempted allocation size: 1715036786 ****
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : OUT OF MEMORY
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : OUT OF MEMORY
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : Fatal assert; application exiting
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : Fatal assert; application exiting
assert_20240925122105_46.dmp[34282]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20240925122105_46.dmp
assert_20240925122105_46.dmp[34282]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20240925122105_46.dmp[34282]: response: CrashID=bp-53a8aaf6-fc26-49cc-8c65-bc4f72240925
assert_20240925122105_46.dmp[34282]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20240925122105_46.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-53a8aaf6-fc26-49cc-8c65-bc4f72240925''

While my system ram does not appear to actually be affected I can see using top that 2 steamwebhelpers request all my of free memory with each requesting over 48G of VIRT ram. They can sit this way for awhile before crashing, I assume by me doing any task that might actually use the remaining ram.

[ktechies]

Getting the same error when trying to launch palworld (it was fine yesterday):

Steam client version (build number or date): 1726604483 Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Ubuntu (KDE) Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes GPU: AMD 7900xtx

Fossilize INFO: Setting autogroup scheduling.
***** OUT OF MEMORY! attempted allocation size: 1701012798 ****
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : OUT OF MEMORY
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : OUT OF MEMORY
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : Fatal assert; application exiting
src/tier0/memstd.cpp (3033) : Fatal assert; application exiting
assert_20240927181108_35.dmp[8023]: Uploading dump (out-of-process)
/tmp/dumps/assert_20240927181108_35.dmp
assert_20240927181108_35.dmp[8023]: Finished uploading minidump (out-of-process): success = yes
assert_20240927181108_35.dmp[8023]: response: CrashID=bp-21507732-ec5d-43cb-9ce3-bb1852240927
assert_20240927181108_35.dmp[8023]: file ''/tmp/dumps/assert_20240927181108_35.dmp'', upload yes: ''CrashID=bp-21507732-ec5d-43cb-9ce3-bb1852240927''

clearing download cache didn't help but after uninstalling and reinstalling the game the error seems gone, must have been some corruption somewhere