nodejs / nodejs/node

stream: Writable.toWeb()/Duplex.toWeb() settles write() before a mutable chunk is consumed

Open
#64,549 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
122k
Forks
37.3k
Avg merge
4d 2h
Merged PRs (30d)
283

Description

Version

v24.15.0

Platform
Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 x64
Subsystem

stream, webstreams

What steps will reproduce the bug?

When fs.WriteStream is converted using Writable.toWeb(), the promise returned
by writer.write() can settle before the file stream has consumed the supplied
Uint8Array.

This makes it unsafe to reuse a buffer after awaiting writer.write().

const fs = require('node:fs');
const os = require('node:os');
const path = require('node:path');
const { Writable } = require('node:stream');

(async () => {
  const file = path.join(
    os.tmpdir(),
    `node-writable-to-web-${process.pid}.bin`,
  );

  const fileStream = fs.createWriteStream(file);
  const writer = Writable.toWeb(fileStream).getWriter();

  // Reusable scratch buffer.
  const storage = new Uint8Array(4);

  storage.set([1, 2, 3, 4]);
  await writer.write(storage.subarray());

  // The previous write promise has settled, so reuse the buffer.
  storage.set([5, 6, 7, 8]);
  await writer.write(storage.subarray());

  await writer.close();

  const content = fs.readFileSync(file);
  console.log([...content]);

  fs.unlinkSync(file);
})().catch(console.error);

Run:

$ node repro.js
[
  5, 6, 7, 8,
  5, 6, 7, 8
]
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

It reproduces consistently when:

  1. A mutable Uint8Array or subarray() is written.
  2. The native writable.write() call returns true.
  3. The backing buffer is reused after the Web Streams write() promise settles.
  4. The native writable has not yet consumed the original bytes.

The problem can depend on chunk size. When the native write() returns false,
the adapter waits for backpressure, so larger chunks may appear to work.

The writable side returned by Duplex.toWeb() is affected by the same adapter
behavior.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

The file should contain the values supplied by the two completed writes:

[
  1, 2, 3, 4,
  5, 6, 7, 8
]

The producer mutates the buffer only after the first writer.write() promise
has settled.

The Web Streams specification advises producers not to mutate a mutable chunk
until the promise returned by write() settles:

https://streams.spec.whatwg.org/#default-writer-write

Following that guidance should ensure that the underlying sink processes the
same bytes that were passed to write().

What do you see instead?

The file contains the second value twice:

[
  5, 6, 7, 8,
  5, 6, 7, 8
]

The first writer.write() promise settles while fs.WriteStream still retains
a reference to the first subarray(). Reusing the backing buffer therefore also
changes the bytes of the pending file write.

Changing subarray() to slice() avoids the corruption because slice() copies
the bytes, but it requires an allocation and copy for every write.

What do you see instead?

The boolean returned by native writable.write() only represents backpressure.
It does not indicate that the specific chunk has finished being processed.

Node's native writable API provides a per-write callback:

writable.write(chunk, callback);

https://nodejs.org/api/stream.html#writablewritechunk-encoding-callback

A possible fix would be for the Web Streams adapter to:

  • Settle the Web write() promise from the native per-write callback.
  • If native write() returns false, also honor the drain event.
  • Reject the Web write promise if the callback reports an error.

This would allow callers to safely reuse mutable buffers after awaiting
writer.write() without requiring slice() copies.

Additional information

No response

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the Writable.toWeb() and Duplex.toWeb() entry points and trace how native writable.write() settles the Web Streams write promise. Reproduce the issue with the provided fs.WriteStream script, then add a regression test for reusing a mutable Uint8Array; done when each completed write preserves its original bytes and backpressure or callback errors remain handled.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, node.js
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.