[BUG] PostgreSQL crashes with ThreadSanitizer during early initialization
Emmanuel Sibi <emmanuelsibi.mec@gmail.com>
From: Emmanuel Sibi <emmanuelsibi.mec@gmail.com>
To: pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org
Date: 2025-09-08T04:45:49Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers
Attachments
- tsan_segfault.patch (application/x-patch) patch
Hi hackers, I've found a bug that causes PostgreSQL to crash during startup when built with ThreadSanitizer (-fsanitize=thread). My environment Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (kernel 6.14.0-29-generic) clang 18 PostgreSQL 17.2 Build Configuration: ./configure --enable-debug --enable-cassert CFLAGS="-fsanitize=thread -g" PostgreSQL compiled with ThreadSanitizer (-fsanitize=thread) crashes with SIGSEGV during program initialization, before reaching main(). Steps to Reproduce 1. Configure PostgreSQL with ThreadSanitizer 2. ./configure --enable-debug CFLAGS="-fsanitize=thread -g" 3. make 4. Run any PostgreSQL command: ./postgres --version Expected Behavior: Program should start normally and display version information. Actual Behavior: Segmentation fault during early initialization Root Cause: The __ubsan_default_options() function in main.c is compiled with TSan instrumentation, creating a circular dependency during sanitizer runtime initialization. 1. TSan initialization calls __ubsan_default_options() 2. TSan tries to instrument the function 3. Instrumentation requires initialized ThreadState 4. ThreadState isn't ready because TSan init isn't complete 5. Segfault/crash occurs Proposed Fix: Move __ubsan_default_options() to a separate compilation unit built without sanitizer instrumentation. The below attached patch moves the function to a separate compilation unit with a custom Makefile rule that uses -fno-sanitize=thread,address,undefined. The reached_main check is preserved to avoid calling getenv() before libc is fully initialized and to handle cases where set_ps_display() breaks /proc/$pid/environ. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like further details. Thanks & Regards, Emmanuel Sibi
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API reference →
-
Avoid possible crash within libsanitizer.
- d4baa327a1c9 19 (unreleased) landed
- c775bf048abd 16.11 landed
- a9515f294de1 17.7 landed
- 6d8acb777715 18.1 landed