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BUGS
    By default, Linux follows an  optimistic  memory  allocation  strategy.
    This  means  that  when malloc() returns non-NULL there is no guarantee
    that the memory really is available. This is a really bad bug.  In case
    it  turns  out  that the system is out of memory, one or more processes
    will be killed by the infamous OOM killer.  In case Linux  is  employed
    under  circumstances  where it would be less desirable to suddenly lose
    some randomly picked processes, and moreover the kernel version is suf-
    ficiently recent, one can switch off this overcommitting behavior using
    a command like
       # echo 2 > /proc/sys/vm/overcommit_memory
    See also  the  kernel  Documentation  directory,  files  vm/overcommit-
    accounting and sysctl/vm.txt.

Checking malloc()'s return value is always a good idea (or, not checking 
is a bad idea, as is potential null pointer dereference). But default 
behaviour may not be entirely what you expect.
Disabling overcommitting may sound nice, but is a far from ideal 
solution... hence it's not the default.

On the other hand, out of memory (OOM) situations being caused by icecast 
are very unlikely. Icecast is not a heavy application wrt memory.
And, if you encounter an OOM situation on a server running icecast, simply 
abort()ing icecast is not likely to resolve the OOM situation, and other 
measures need to be taken.
That's where the OOM killer comes in to kill the most likely culprit, 
based on scoring, so it will probably kill another process to make room 
for icecast's needs. But the OOM killer should work only as a reminder to 
take preventive measures, like ulimit-ing buggy programs or users.


-- 
Maarten