python / python/cpython

Inconsistent `Popen.communicate()` behavior if stdin/stdout/stderr is closed `PIPE`

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stdlib type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug report

Bug description:

The behavior with Popen.communicate() if stdin/stdout/stderr are PIPEs and they are closed before calling communicate() is rather strange.

If both stdout and stderr are PIPEs and one (or both) is closed, communicate() succeeds. If only one of them is a PIPE and it is closed, the behavior changes and there's a ValueError instead:

>>> from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
>>>
>>> p = Popen(['python', '-V'], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
>>> p.stdout.close()
>>> p.communicate()
(b'', b'')
>>>
>>> p = Popen(['python', '-V'], stdout=PIPE)
>>> p.stdout.close()
>>> p.communicate()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<python-input-7>", line 1, in <module>
    p.communicate()
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.14/subprocess.py", line 1207, in communicate
    stdout = self.stdout.read()
ValueError: read of closed file

If stdin is a closed PIPE, the behavior is pretty much the opposite of the above. If other streams are not PIPEs, communicate() succeeds, but if the are other PIPEs, we get a ValueError:

>>> from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
>>>
>>> p = Popen(['python', '-c', 'pass'], stdin=PIPE)
>>> p.stdin.close()
>>> p.communicate()
(None, None)
>>> 
>>> p = Popen(['python', '-c', 'pass'], stdin=PIPE, stdout=PIPE)
>>> p.stdin.close()
>>> p.communicate()
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<python-input-14>", line 1, in <module>
    p.communicate()
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.14/subprocess.py", line 1220, in communicate
    stdout, stderr = self._communicate(input, endtime, timeout)
                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.14/subprocess.py", line 2081, in _communicate
    self.stdin.flush()
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
ValueError: flush of closed file

This inconsistency seems to be caused by an optimization that leads to two different code paths depending on the number of PIPEs. I needed to spend some time to understand why our tests behaved seemingly inconsistently after code was refactored.

It would be easy to fix problems by changing code like if self.stdout: to if self.stdout and not self.stdout.closed:. I guess it could be argued that raising a ValueError is the correct way to handle these situations, but in that case it should be raised always.

Tested with Python 3.14 alpha 5. Occurs also with earlier ones.

CPython versions tested on:

3.14

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

Contributor guide

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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

Reproduce the closed-PIPE examples first, then inspect Lib/subprocess.py around the communicate() optimization linked near line 1194 and the stdin/stdout handling shown in the traceback. Decide and confirm the intended consistent behavior for closed streams, then add regression coverage for the affected combinations and verify the existing subprocess tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
operating-systems
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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