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Re: [PATCH 2/3] parse_pack_header_option(): avoid unaligned memory writes

From
Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date
Jan 18, 2025, 09:36 UTC
Message-ID
<20250118093612.GC3474411@coredump.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To
<xmqq7c6s52ti.fsf@gitster.g>
On Fri, Jan 17, 2025 at 05:27:21PM -0800, Junio C Hamano wrote:
Show 16 quoted lines
> static inline void put_be32(void *ptr, uint32_t value)
> {
> 	unsigned char *p = ptr;
> 	p[0] = value >> 24;
> 	p[1] = value >> 16;
> 	p[2] = value >>  8;
> 	p[3] = value >>  0;
> }
> 
> But sparse seems not to like that.
> 
> compat/bswap.h:175:22: error: cast truncates bits from constant value (5041 becomes 41)
> compat/bswap.h:176:22: error: cast truncates bits from constant value (504143 becomes 43)
> compat/bswap.h:177:22: error: cast truncates bits from constant value (5041434b becomes 4b)
> 
> Of course we could do the mask, but should we have to?

Cute. I think the above is well defined in terms of the C standard. But I could see how a linter might want to remind you that you're truncating a constant.

It is kind of lame that it only flags the call with a constant. If you want to warn people that they are accidentally truncating, surely it's obvious in the code above that truncation is _possible_ depending on the value. It seems like it's either worth flagging as a dangerous construct, or not; but doing it only for a constant is not super helpful.

> I think the real compiler would be clever ehough to produce the
> identical binary with the following patch that is only needed to
> squelch this error, but I feel dirty after writing this.

I checked with "gcc -s" and it produces the same asm before and after your patch, with both -O0 and -O2. So I don't think there's a practical downside. As far as feeling dirty, I dunno. It is basically telling any linter "yes, I know we are truncating here". Since it is contained within put_be32() and won't spread across the code base, I'm not too offended by it.

I guess the other option is to pass -Wno-cast-truncate to sparse.
Show 6 quoted lines
> By the way, a "git grep" finds 
> 
> 	put_be32(&hdr_version, INDEX_EXTENSION_VERSION2);
> 
> in the fsmonitor.c file, which does not get flagged only because the
> CPP macro expands to a small integer (2).  That is doubly insulting.
Heh. Yeah, that goes back to my "kind of lame" comment above. ;)
-Peff
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Jeff King
Message 10 of 22 in “[BUG] git crashes with a SIGBUS on sparc64 during pull”
  1. KoakumaJan 17, 2025
  2. Jeff KingJan 17, 2025
  3. Jeff KingJan 17, 2025
  4. 1/3 packfile: factor out --pack_header argument parsingJeff King, Jan 17, 2025
  5. Junio C HamanoJan 17, 2025
  6. Jeff KingJan 18, 2025
  7. KoakumaJan 18, 2025
  8. 2/3 parse_pack_header_option(): avoid unaligned memory writesJeff King, Jan 17, 2025
  9. Junio C HamanoJan 18, 2025
  10. Jeff KingJan 18, 2025
  11. 3/3 index-pack, unpack-objects: use skip_prefix to avoid magic numberJeff King, Jan 17, 2025
  12. KoakumaJan 17, 2025
  13. Jeff KingJan 18, 2025
  14. KoakumaJan 18, 2025
  15. 0/5 git crashes with a SIGBUS on sparc64 during pullJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  16. 1/5 bswap.h: squelch potential sparse -Wcast-truncate warningsJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  17. 2/5 packfile: factor out --pack_header argument parsingJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  18. 3/5 parse_pack_header_option(): avoid unaligned memory writesJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  19. 4/5 index-pack, unpack-objects: use get_be32() for reading pack headerJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  20. 5/5 index-pack, unpack-objects: use skip_prefix to avoid magic numberJeff King, Jan 19, 2025
  21. KoakumaJan 20, 2025
  22. Junio C HamanoJan 21, 2025

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