python / python/cpython

`IPv6Network.next_network()` raises the wrong error when addresses run out

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stdlib type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug description:

_BaseNetwork.next_network() guards address-space exhaustion with except OverflowError, which only the IPv4 path raises, so on IPv6 the internal ValueError from _string_from_ip_int() escapes instead.

from ipaddress import IPv4Network, IPv6Network

for net in (IPv4Network('255.255.255.0/24'),
            IPv6Network('ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:0/112')):
    try:
        net.next_network()
    except ValueError as e:
        print(f"{net}: {e}")

Output:

255.255.255.0/24: out of address space, cannot make another /24 network
ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:ffff:0/112: IPv6 address is too large

Expected: out of address space, cannot make another /112 network, the message Doc/library/ipaddress.rst gives for next_network().

CPython versions tested on:

CPython main branch

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

Linked PRs
  • gh-156681
  • gh-157280

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Review _BaseNetwork.next_network() and the next_network() wording in Doc/library/ipaddress.rst, then reproduce the IPv4 and IPv6 examples from the issue. Done means IPv6 address-space exhaustion reports the documented “out of address space” message for the /112 network instead of “IPv6 address is too large”.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
networking
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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