Deprecate accepting out of range values for unsigned integers in PyArg_Parse
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- Dominant language
- Python
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Description
Feature or enhancement
For unsigned integer formats (B, H, I, k, K) in PyArg_Parse, there is no overflow check. If the Python integer value is out of range of the corresponding C type, only the lowest bits are stored, and the higher bits are silently dropped. There are two reasons for this:
- The signess of the C type accepted by the C API (like uid_t, etc) is not always known. We need to accept values that fit in corresponding both signed and unsigned C types.
- Even if the type is unsigned, some small negative integers (casted to the unsigned tyep) can have special meaning. It is convenient if we can pass -1 instead of 0xffff_ffff or 0xffff_ffff_ffff_ffff, depending on platform.
But values that cannot be represented neither in unsigned not in signed C type, are obviously invalid. Silently accepting them can provoke bugs.
At first, I propose to emit a deprecation warning for such values. Later they will became errors.
Linked PRs
- gh-132630
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 reading the PyArg_Parse handling for the unsigned integer formats B, H, I, k, and K, then review linked PR gh-132630 for the work already underway. Done means out-of-range values that fit neither the signed nor unsigned C type emit the proposed deprecation warning while supported negative values retain their intended behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c, python
- Domain
- api, backend
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100