php / php/php-src

Assigning property value through readonly array results in "Cannot modify readonly property"

Open
#15,912 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Bug Category: Engine Status: Needs Triage
Dominant language
C
Stars
40.4k
Forks
8.2k
Avg merge
2d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
96

Description

Description

The following code:

<?php
class A {
    public function __construct(
        public readonly array $a,
    ) {}
}

class B {
    public function __construct(
        public string $b,
    ) {
    }
}

$a = new A([ new B('foo') ]);
$a->a[0]->b = 'bar';

echo $a->a[0]->b;

Resulted in this output:

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Cannot modify readonly property A::$a in /test.php:17

But I expected this output instead:

bar

If you try to change the property of an object that is inside a readonly array, based on syntax it thinks you're change the array itself and throws a Fatal, even though that property we're actually trying to change ($a->a[0]->b) is not readonly and can be changed. If the code to change the B::$b property is refactored like this the code works as expected:

$a = new A([ new B('foo') ]);
$b = $a->a[0];
$b->b = 'bar';
PHP Version

8.2.23, 8.3.11

Operating System

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 by running the supplied reproducer on PHP 8.2.23 and 8.3.11 and compare it with the refactored access through a temporary variable. Trace the readonly-property handling for the direct $a->[0]->b expression in the PHP interpreter; done means the direct assignment updates B::$b and prints bar without a fatal error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.