mv: two self-referential symlinks cause very long runtime
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U - mv
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- Rust
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Description
coreutils 0.11.0 (multi-call binary)
commit 4a41d0ba51f (latest)
Commit 175cfdc (mv: don't put a symlink in its target's hardlink group) causes mv to burn hours of cpu cycles:
mkdir -p /tmp/poc/d /tmp/dest
ln -s . /tmp/poc/d/l1
ln -s . /tmp/poc/d/l2
mv /tmp/poc/d /tmp/dest/
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 issue with the mkdir, symlink, and mv commands shown in the report, then inspect the mv implementation and the handling introduced by commit 175cfdc. Trace why two self-referential symlinks keep the operation running and add a regression test for this reproduction. Done means mv terminates promptly without the reported hours of CPU use.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100