uutils / uutils/coreutils

bug(od): when $'\xff' the tools hangs while the gnu one rejects it with an error

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U - od
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Hi, uutils mainteners

it is very weird when using a character like $'\xff' that prohbited in UTF8, the uutils old hangs not errors out

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ ./od $'\xff'

as you can see the gnu does not

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ gnuod $'\xff'
gnuod: ''$'\377': Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character
relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ 

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Research direction

Start by reproducing the hang with the shown ./od $'\xff' command and compare its behavior with gnuod. Trace od's handling of invalid UTF-8 arguments and make the command terminate with an error like GNU od; verify the reproduction no longer hangs.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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