Decimal byte array constructor in Binaryformatter Serialization

Decimal byte array constructor in Binaryformatter Serialization

I am facing a very nasty problem that I cannot identify.
I am running a very large business ASP.Net application containing many
thousands of objects; It uses serialization/deserialization in memory with
MemoryStream to clone the state of the application (insurance contracts)
and pass it on to other modules. It worked fine for years. Now sometimes,
NOT SISTEMATICALLY, in the serialization it throws the exception:
Decimal byte array constructor requires an array of length four containing
valid decimal bytes.
Running the same application with the same data, 3 times out of 5 it
works. I enabled all the CLR exceptions, Debug - Exceptions - CLR
Exception - Enabled, so I guess that if a wrong initialization/assignment
to decimal field occurs, the program should stop. It doesn't happen.
I tried to split serialization in more elementary objects but it's very
difficult, to try to identify the field causing problem. From the working
version in production and this one I passed from .Net 3.5 to .NET 4.0 and
consistent changes to the UI part, not the business part, have been made.
Patiently I'll go through all the changes.
It looks like old fashioned C problems when char *p is writing where it
shouldn't, and only in the serialization process when it examines all the
data the problem pops out.
Is something like this possible in the managed environment of .Net ? The
application is huge but I cannot see abnormal memory growths. What could
be a way to debug and track down the problem?
Below is part of the stacktrace:
[ArgumentException: Decimal byte array constructor requires an array of
length four containing valid decimal bytes.]
System.Decimal.OnSerializing(StreamingContext ctx) +260
[SerializationException: Value was either too large or too small for a
Decimal.]
System.Decimal.OnSerializing(StreamingContext ctx) +6108865
System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationEvents.InvokeOnSerializing(Object
obj, StreamingContext context) +341
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.WriteObjectInfo.InitSerialize(Object
obj, ISurrogateSelector surrogateSelector, StreamingContext context,
SerObjectInfoInit serObjectInfoInit, IFormatterConverter converter,
ObjectWriter objectWriter, SerializationBinder binder) +448
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.ObjectWriter.Write(WriteObjectInfo
objectInfo, NameInfo memberNameInfo, NameInfo typeNameInfo) +969
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.ObjectWriter.Serialize(Object
graph, Header[] inHeaders, __BinaryWriter serWriter, Boolean fCheck)
+1016
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.Serialize(Stream
serializationStream, Object graph, Header[] headers, Boolean fCheck)
+319
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter.Serialize(Stream
serializationStream, Object graph) +17
Allianz.Framework.Helpers.BinaryUtilities.SerializeCompressObject(Object
obj) in
D:\SVN\SUV\branches\SUVKendo\DotNet\Framework\Allianz.Framework.Helpers\BinaryUtilities.cs:98
Allianz.Framework.Session.State.BusinessLayer.BLState.SaveNewState(State
state) in
Sorry for the long story and the undetermined question, I'll really
appreciate any help.
Marco