RedHat/CentOS el7.x86_64 - GDB: Failed to set controlling terminal; Creates a file with name "2"

Originally posted by @FranzDeCopenhague in https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-cpptools/issues/264#issuecomment-352234542

I am also seeing this in CentOS 7.

My launch.json:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "(gdb) Launch",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/bin/syshealth",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/build/bin",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": true,
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "setupCommands": [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ],
            "preLaunchTask": "build"
        }
    ]
}

My c_cpp_properties.json:

{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Linux",
            "includePath": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/**"
            ],
            "defines": [
                "_DEBUG",
                "UNICODE"
            ],
            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
            "cStandard": "c11",
            "cppStandard": "c++11",
            "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64",
            "compileCommands": "${workspaceRoot}/build/compile_commands.json"
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

When I try to launch the debugger, I get a terminal window that appears that says: &"warning: GDB: Failed to set controlling terminal: Operation not permitted\n".

The VSCode debugger is inoperable:

• Clicking on the pause button produces no results (only restart and stop do)
• the debug console prints Unable to perform this action because the process is running. no matter what GDB command I send.
• no variables or symbols appear in the debug pane.

Another interesting symptom is that a file with the name "2" appears in my build/bin directory with the contents -e c 1. This file only appears after I attempt to launch a debugging session.

Running GDB standalone from a separate terminal session doesn't seem to have any problem.