dhenry:
The answer will depend. High voltage (even with very small current) can kill it. Lots of current (even with very low voltage) can kill it. Middle current + middle voltage (lots of power dissipation) can kill it too.
So the datasheet features of a typical (here a 7805)mean nothing and are simply lies?
The internal
current-limiting and thermal-shutdown features of these regulators essentially make them immune to overload.
Lefty