Programming :: Mishandling Of Mutex Leads To CPU Load 100% On Hp Ia64 Platform

I am working on an issue in mishandling of mutex. A process was holding onto to a valid mutex for running, within this routine, it created a local mutex variable, copied the content of the valid mutex into this local mutex variable, freed the valid mutex, then used the address of the local mutex variable as the parameter to functions pthread_mutex_unlock() and pthread_mutex_destroy(). It was observed that CPU load 100% with scheduler staying in a loop. The program was halted. I try to seek an explanation to the relation between the CPU load and mutex mishandling in this scenario. I also hope some one will share the experience how this bug might manifest into problems on other platforms.