QFile::open throws std::bad_alloc for no obvious reason

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Constructing QFile object:

QFile file("file.ext");

QFile file("file.ext");

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"file.ext" is present in working directory. Calling file.open(QFile::ReadOnly | QFile::Text) terminates application with error:

terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::bad_alloc'
what(): std::bad_alloc

This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

The same happens if I try to open embedded resource file.
It can't be the lack of memory because I have 2 of 4 GB of RAM free, neither the lack of available file handles to acquire, since Windows imposes no limitations on this.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. The code that tries to open the file is loaded and executed from shared library, but I highly doubt that it can be the case.
P.P.S. Qt 4.6, Windows XP SP3