From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
To: Michael J Gruber <git@grubix.eu>
Cc: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>, git@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH 1/4] revision: make handle_dotdot() interface less confusing
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:04:44 -0400 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260326190444.GA415796@coredump.intra.peff.net> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260326190243.GA412983@coredump.intra.peff.net>
There are two very subtle bits to the way we parse ".." (and "...")
range operators:
1. In handle_dotdot_1(), we assume that the incoming arguments "dotdot"
and "arg" are part of the same string, with the first digit of the
range-operator blanked to a NUL. Then when we want the full name
(e.g., to report an error), we replace the NUL with a dot to restore
the original string.
2. In handle_dotdot(), we take in a const string, but then we modify it
by overwriting the range operator with a NUL. This has worked OK in
practice since we tend to pass in buffers that are actually
writeable (including argv), but segfaults with something like:
handle_revision_arg("..HEAD", &revs, 0, 0);
On top of that, building with recent versions of glibc causes the
compiler to complain, because it notices when we use strchr() or
strstr() to launder away constness (basically detecting the
possibility of the segfault above via the type system).
Instead of munging the buffer, let's instead make a temporary copy of
the left-hand side of the range operator. That avoids any const
violations, and lets us pass around the parsed elements independently:
the left-hand side, the right-hand side, the number of dots (via the
"symmetric" flag), and the original full string for error messages.
Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
---
revision.c | 42 +++++++++++++++++++-----------------------
1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)
diff --git a/revision.c b/revision.c
index 31808e3df0..f61262436f 100644
--- a/revision.c
+++ b/revision.c
@@ -2038,41 +2038,32 @@ static void prepare_show_merge(struct rev_info *revs)
free(prune);
}
-static int dotdot_missing(const char *arg, char *dotdot,
+static int dotdot_missing(const char *full_name,
struct rev_info *revs, int symmetric)
{
if (revs->ignore_missing)
return 0;
- /* de-munge so we report the full argument */
- *dotdot = '.';
die(symmetric
? "Invalid symmetric difference expression %s"
- : "Invalid revision range %s", arg);
+ : "Invalid revision range %s", full_name);
}
-static int handle_dotdot_1(const char *arg, char *dotdot,
+static int handle_dotdot_1(const char *a_name, const char *b_name,
+ const char *full_name, int symmetric,
struct rev_info *revs, int flags,
int cant_be_filename,
struct object_context *a_oc,
struct object_context *b_oc)
{
- const char *a_name, *b_name;
struct object_id a_oid, b_oid;
struct object *a_obj, *b_obj;
unsigned int a_flags, b_flags;
- int symmetric = 0;
unsigned int flags_exclude = flags ^ (UNINTERESTING | BOTTOM);
unsigned int oc_flags = GET_OID_COMMITTISH | GET_OID_RECORD_PATH;
- a_name = arg;
if (!*a_name)
a_name = "HEAD";
- b_name = dotdot + 2;
- if (*b_name == '.') {
- symmetric = 1;
- b_name++;
- }
if (!*b_name)
b_name = "HEAD";
@@ -2081,15 +2072,13 @@ static int handle_dotdot_1(const char *arg, char *dotdot,
return -1;
if (!cant_be_filename) {
- *dotdot = '.';
- verify_non_filename(revs->prefix, arg);
- *dotdot = '\0';
+ verify_non_filename(revs->prefix, full_name);
}
a_obj = parse_object(revs->repo, &a_oid);
b_obj = parse_object(revs->repo, &b_oid);
if (!a_obj || !b_obj)
- return dotdot_missing(arg, dotdot, revs, symmetric);
+ return dotdot_missing(full_name, revs, symmetric);
if (!symmetric) {
/* just A..B */
@@ -2103,7 +2092,7 @@ static int handle_dotdot_1(const char *arg, char *dotdot,
a = lookup_commit_reference(revs->repo, &a_obj->oid);
b = lookup_commit_reference(revs->repo, &b_obj->oid);
if (!a || !b)
- return dotdot_missing(arg, dotdot, revs, symmetric);
+ return dotdot_missing(full_name, revs, symmetric);
if (repo_get_merge_bases(the_repository, a, b, &exclude) < 0) {
commit_list_free(exclude);
@@ -2132,16 +2121,23 @@ static int handle_dotdot(const char *arg,
int cant_be_filename)
{
struct object_context a_oc = {0}, b_oc = {0};
- char *dotdot = strstr(arg, "..");
+ const char *dotdot = strstr(arg, "..");
+ char *tmp;
+ int symmetric = 0;
int ret;
if (!dotdot)
return -1;
- *dotdot = '\0';
- ret = handle_dotdot_1(arg, dotdot, revs, flags, cant_be_filename,
- &a_oc, &b_oc);
- *dotdot = '.';
+ tmp = xmemdupz(arg, dotdot - arg);
+ dotdot += 2;
+ if (*dotdot == '.') {
+ symmetric = 1;
+ dotdot++;
+ }
+ ret = handle_dotdot_1(tmp, dotdot, arg, symmetric, revs, flags,
+ cant_be_filename, &a_oc, &b_oc);
+ free(tmp);
object_context_release(&a_oc);
object_context_release(&b_oc);
--
2.53.0.1081.gf77a8b8145
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-03-26 19:04 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 24+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-26 15:22 [PATCH 0/6] ISOC23: quell warnings on discarding const Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 1/6] do not discard const: the simple cases Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 17:34 ` Jeff King
2026-03-26 17:45 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 19:23 ` [PATCH] config: store allocated string in non-const pointer Jeff King
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 2/6] do not discard const: make git-compat-util ISOC23-like Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 3/6] do not discard const: adjust to non-const data types Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 17:28 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 4/6] do not discard const: declare const where we stay const Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 5/6] do not discard const: keep signature Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 17:18 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 15:22 ` [PATCH 6/6] do not discard const: the ugly truth Michael J Gruber
2026-03-26 17:07 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 17:42 ` Jeff King
2026-03-26 19:02 ` [PATCH 0/4] fix const issues in revision parser Jeff King
2026-03-26 19:04 ` Jeff King [this message]
2026-03-26 19:28 ` [PATCH 1/4] revision: make handle_dotdot() interface less confusing Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 23:14 ` Jeff King
2026-03-27 15:55 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 19:05 ` [PATCH 2/4] rev-parse: simplify dotdot parsing Jeff King
2026-03-26 19:13 ` [PATCH 3/4] revision: avoid writing to const string for parent marks Jeff King
2026-03-26 19:14 ` [PATCH 4/4] rev-parse: " Jeff King
2026-03-26 16:26 ` [PATCH 0/6] ISOC23: quell warnings on discarding const D. Ben Knoble
2026-03-27 17:45 ` Michael J Gruber
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