[PATCH 01/11] alpha: initialize every field of a new got entry
Project / Subsystem
binutils / alpha
Date
2026-09-01
Proposer
Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com>
Source type
public_inbox
Consensus
Proposed
Sentiment
—/10
Technical tradeoffs
- • Improves memory safety and correctness by ensuring proper initialization.
- • Uses `bfd_zalloc` for safer default initialization.
All attributes
- project
- binutils
- subsystem
- alpha
- patch_id
- —
- discussion_id
- 20260901023318.3503991-2-mattst88@gmail.com
- source_type
- public_inbox
- title
- [PATCH 01/11] alpha: initialize every field of a new got entry
- headline
- alpha: initialize every field of a new got entry
- tldr
- Initialize all fields of GOT entries, especially flags and plt_offset, to prevent errors.
- proposer
- Matt Turner <mattst88@gmail.com>
- consensus
- Proposed
- outcome
- proposed
- sentiment_score
- —
- technical_tradeoffs
-
- • Improves memory safety and correctness by ensuring proper initialization.
- • Uses `bfd_zalloc` for safer default initialization.
- series_id
- binutils:alpha: initialize every field of a new got entry
- series_role
- reply
- series_parts
- []
- tags
-
- • alpha
- • linker
- • got
- • initialization
- • tls
- bugzilla_url
- —
- date
- 2026-09-01T00:00:00.000Z
[PATCH 01/11] alpha: initialize every field of a new got entry
This patch addresses an initialization issue in the alpha ELF linker where newly allocated GOT (Global Offset Table) entries were not fully initialized, specifically their flags and plt_offset fields. This oversight, found via Valgrind, could lead to incorrect behavior when merging GOT entries or when handling TLS relocations. By using bfd_zalloc to zero-initialize the entries and explicitly assigning only non-zero initial values, the patch ensures all fields are properly set, preventing potential bugs.