Is there any Buffer overflow attack mechanism that can break a vulnerable server without breaking the ongoing connection?

[Xin Zhao <uszhaoxin@gmail.com>]

We are working on a mechanism that monitors the connections of a
server and detects potential intrusions via broken connection
(incoming request received, but no reply).  We want to thoroughly
understand the possibility of mounting a buffer overflow attack
against a server process without cutting off the connection.

Any insight on this?

Thanks in advance!

Xin