Sending many signals to a Python process crashes the interpreter
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Description
Bug report
Bug description:
Consider the following simple program (test-breakage.py):
from time import sleep
import os
import signal
class Foreman:
def __init__(self):
signal.signal(signal.SIGUSR1, self.handle_sigusr1)
pid = os.getpid()
print("Test script created, my pid is %s", pid)
with open("/tmp/test-breakage.pid", "w") as f:
f.write(str(pid))
def handle_sigusr1(self, sig, frame):
print("handle_sigusr1")
def run_forever(self):
sleep(3600)
Foreman().run_forever()
Now, a tool to send "a lot" of signal to it:
import os
import sys
import signal
pid = int(sys.argv[1])
iterations = int(sys.argv[2])
for i in range(iterations):
os.kill(pid, signal.SIGUSR1)
Or, if you want the signals to be sent more quickly, implemented in c:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <signal.h>
int main(int argc, char*argv[]) {
long pid, iterations;
if (argc > 2) {
pid = strtol(argv[1], NULL, 0);
iterations = strtol(argv[2], NULL, 0);
for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) {
kill(pid, SIGUSR1);
}
}
return 0;
}
Running these scripts with "sufficiently high" numbers results in various crashes in test-breakage
- Exit with "User defined signal 1" (shouldn't happen, we've defined a handler)
RuntimeErrorwithout any further information- Exit without any printed string
- RuntimeError: reentrant call inside <_io.BufferedWriter name=''>
(In all cases, after repeating "handle_sigusr1" a number of times first)
tested on Linux w. Python 3.10
CPython versions tested on:
3.10
Operating systems tested on:
Linux
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reproducing the failure with the test-breakage.py signal handler and the Python or C signal-sending scripts on Linux. Compare the reported outcomes under sustained SIGUSR1 delivery; done means the interpreter remains stable and the registered handler continues to behave correctly without the listed crashes or unintended termination.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 42/100