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[PATCH v3 0/4] Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ish

From
Toon Claes <toon@iotcl.com>
Date
Jan 16, 2026, 13:08 UTC
Message-ID
<20260116-toon-last-modified-tree-v3-0-e6ade4dc35ab@iotcl.com>
In-Reply-To
<20260114-toon-last-modified-tree-v2-0-ba3b1860898f@iotcl.com>
Recently there was a bug reported[1] passing a tree OID triggers a BUG:
    $ git last-modified fb06ce04173d47aaaa498385621cba8b8dfd7584
    BUG: builtin/last-modified.c:456: paths remaining beyond boundary in last-modified
    [1]    690163 IOT instruction (core dumped)  git last-modified
    `fb06ce04173d47aaaa498385621cba8b8dfd7584` is the tree commit id of web_src. I
    suppose this should've returned a nice error message or blank output.
Fix this bug by checking the revision argument.
[1]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/03f96860-29fc-42a7-a220-c3ec65eb8516@codeberg.org/
---
Changes in v3:
- Split the change to plug the leak into a separate commit.
- Small changes to commit messages.
- Link to v2: https://patch.msgid.link/20260114-toon-last-modified-tree-v2-0-ba3b1860898f@iotcl.com
Changes in v2:
- Prepend the change with a commit that modifies the error message
  when more than one revision is given.
- Prepend another commit that removes double error message.
- Add test to ensure the command works with annotated tags too.
- Link to v1: https://patch.msgid.link/20260112-toon-last-modified-tree-v1-1-ecbc78341f76@iotcl.com
---
Toon Claes (4):
      last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision given
      last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one revision is given
      last-modified: remove double error message
      last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ish
 builtin/last-modified.c  | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
 t/t8020-last-modified.sh | 15 ++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 28 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
Range-diff versus v2:
-:  ---------- > 1:  053c119ab1 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision given
1:  5c9936500b ! 2:  827b1500fe last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision given
    @@ Metadata
     Author: Toon Claes <toon@iotcl.com>
     
      ## Commit message ##
    -    last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision given
    +    last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one revision is given
     
    -    When more than one revision is passed to the git-last-modified(1)
    -    command, this error message was printed:
    -
    -        error: last-modified can only operate on one tree at a time
    -
    -    Calling these a "tree" is technically not correct. git-last-modified(1)
    -    expects revisions that peel to a commit.
    -
    -    Rephrase the error message to:
    -
    -        error: last-modified can only operate on one revision at a time
    -
    -    While at it, also fix a memory leak that remained uncovered so far.
    +    When more than one revision is given, the function
    +    populate_paths_from_revs() leaks a `struct pathspec`. Plug it.
     
         Signed-off-by: Toon Claes <toon@iotcl.com>
     
    @@ builtin/last-modified.c: static int populate_paths_from_revs(struct last_modifie
      			continue;
      
     -		if (num_interesting++)
    --			return error(_("last-modified can only operate on one tree at a time"));
    +-			return error(_("last-modified can only operate on one revision at a time"));
     +		if (num_interesting++) {
     +			ret = error(_("last-modified can only operate on one revision at a time"));
     +			goto out;
    @@ builtin/last-modified.c: static int populate_paths_from_revs(struct last_modifie
      }
      
      static void last_modified_emit(struct last_modified *lm,
    -
    - ## t/t8020-last-modified.sh ##
    -@@ t/t8020-last-modified.sh: test_expect_success 'setup' '
    - 	test_commit 3 a/b/file
    - '
    - 
    --test_expect_success 'cannot run last-modified on two trees' '
    -+test_expect_success 'cannot run last-modified on two revision' '
    - 	test_must_fail git last-modified HEAD HEAD~1
    - '
    - 
2:  5c964488fd = 3:  7748574724 last-modified: remove double error message
3:  cb6ff40853 ! 4:  6846722750 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ish
    @@ Commit message
             git last-modified HEAD^{tree}
             BUG: builtin/last-modified.c:456: paths remaining beyond boundary in last-modified
     
    -    Fix this error by verifying the parsed revision peels to a commit-ish.
    -
    -    While at it, also fix a memory leak in populate_paths_from_revs().
    +    Fix this error by verifying the parsed revision is a commit-ish.
     
         Reported-by: Gusted <gusted@codeberg.org>
         Signed-off-by: Toon Claes <toon@iotcl.com>

--- base-commit: 7264e61d87e58b9d0f5e6424c47c11e9657dfb75 change-id: 20260112-toon-last-modified-tree-fdd96b2feaf7

Previous: Toon ClaesNext: Toon Claes
Message 23 of 55 in “last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ish”
  1. last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 12, 2026
  2. Junio C HamanoJan 12, 2026
  3. Patrick SteinhardtJan 13, 2026
  4. 0/3 Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ishToon Claes, Jan 14, 2026
  5. 1/3 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision givenToon Claes, Jan 14, 2026
  6. Patrick SteinhardtJan 14, 2026
  7. Toon ClaesJan 15, 2026
  8. Patrick SteinhardtJan 15, 2026
  9. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJan 15, 2026
  10. Patrick SteinhardtJan 16, 2026
  11. Toon ClaesJan 16, 2026
  12. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  13. Patrick SteinhardtJan 19, 2026
  14. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJan 25, 2026
  15. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJan 15, 2026
  16. 2/3 last-modified: remove double error messageToon Claes, Jan 14, 2026
  17. Patrick SteinhardtJan 14, 2026
  18. 3/3 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 14, 2026
  19. Patrick SteinhardtJan 14, 2026
  20. Kristoffer HaugsbakkJan 15, 2026
  21. Junio C HamanoJan 15, 2026
  22. Toon ClaesJan 16, 2026
  23. 0/4 Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ishToon Claes, Jan 16, 2026
  24. 1/4 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision givenToon Claes, Jan 16, 2026
  25. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  26. 2/4 last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one revision is givenToon Claes, Jan 16, 2026
  27. 3/4 last-modified: remove double error messageToon Claes, Jan 16, 2026
  28. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  29. 4/4 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 16, 2026
  30. Junio C HamanoJan 16, 2026
  31. 0/4 Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ishToon Claes, Jan 23, 2026
  32. 1/4 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one revision givenToon Claes, Jan 23, 2026
  33. Junio C HamanoJan 23, 2026
  34. 2/4 last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one revision is givenToon Claes, Jan 23, 2026
  35. Junio C HamanoJan 23, 2026
  36. 3/4 last-modified: remove double error messageToon Claes, Jan 23, 2026
  37. Junio C HamanoJan 23, 2026
  38. 4/4 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 23, 2026
  39. Junio C HamanoJan 23, 2026
  40. Junio C HamanoJan 23, 2026
  41. 0/4 Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ishToon Claes, Jan 27, 2026
  42. 1/4 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one commit givenToon Claes, Jan 27, 2026
  43. 2/4 last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one commit is givenToon Claes, Jan 27, 2026
  44. 3/4 last-modified: remove double error messageToon Claes, Jan 27, 2026
  45. 4/4 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 27, 2026
  46. Junio C HamanoJan 27, 2026
  47. Toon ClaesJan 29, 2026
  48. 0/4 Fix git-last-modified(1) bug triggered when passing a tree-ishToon Claes, Jan 30, 2026
  49. 1/4 last-modified: rewrite error message when more than one commit givenToon Claes, Jan 30, 2026
  50. 2/4 last-modified: fix memory leak when more than one commit is givenToon Claes, Jan 30, 2026
  51. 3/4 last-modified: remove double error messageToon Claes, Jan 30, 2026
  52. 4/4 last-modified: verify revision argument is a commit-ishToon Claes, Jan 30, 2026
  53. Patrick SteinhardtFeb 6, 2026
  54. Junio C HamanoJan 30, 2026
  55. Patrick SteinhardtFeb 6, 2026

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