Re: alpha: Properly handle local weak undefined symbols

Project / Subsystem

binutils / alpha

Date

2026-05-27

Proposer

Alan Modra <amodra@gmail.com>

Source type

public_inbox

Consensus

Proposed

Sentiment

/10

Technical tradeoffs

  • Adds a null check, which has a minimal performance impact.
  • Prevents a crash and improves robustness.

All attributes

project
binutils
subsystem
alpha
patch_id
discussion_id
ahbpFYH6noihSaKO@squeak.grove.modra.org
source_type
public_inbox
title
Re: alpha: Properly handle local weak undefined symbols
headline
alpha: Properly handle local weak undefined symbols
tldr
Fixes a null pointer dereference in the alpha backend that caused ASan failures when handling local weak undefined symbols.
proposer
Alan Modra <amodra@gmail.com>
consensus
Proposed
outcome
proposed
sentiment_score
technical_tradeoffs
  • Adds a null check, which has a minimal performance impact.
  • Prevents a crash and improves robustness.
series_id
series_role
standalone
series_parts
[]
tags
  • alpha
  • linker
  • relocation
  • asan
  • undefined symbol
bugzilla_url
date
2026-05-27T00:00:00.000Z

Re: alpha: Properly handle local weak undefined symbols

A patch addresses a null pointer dereference in the alpha backend of binutils when processing local weak undefined symbols. The issue triggered AddressSanitizer (ASan) errors, leading to test failures related to TLS with various configurations (e.g., -fpic -shared). The fix involves checking for a null h pointer before accessing its members, preventing the dereference and resolving the ASan complaint.