[PATCH v9] setup: improve error diagnosis for invalid .git files

From

Tian Yuchen <a3205153416@gmail.com>

Date

Feb 21, 2026, 08:30 UTC

Message-ID

<20260221083001.220061-1-a3205153416@gmail.com>

In-Reply-To

<20260220164512.216901-1-a3205153416@gmail.com>

To preserve the original intent of the setup process:
1. Update 'read_gitfile_error_die()' to treat 'IS_A_DIR' as a no-op
   (like 'ENOENT'), while still calling 'die()' on true 'NOT_A_FILE'
   errors.
2. Unconditionally pass '&error_code' to 'read_gitfile_gently()'. This
   eliminates an uninitialized variable hazard that occurred when
   'die_on_error' was true and 'NULL' was passed.
3. Only invoke 'is_git_directory()' when we explicitly receive
   'READ_GITFILE_ERR_IS_A_DIR', avoiding redundant filesystem checks.
4. Correctly return 'GIT_DIR_INVALID_GITFILE' on unrecognized errors
   when 'die_on_error' is false.

Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <a3205153416@gmail.com>
---
 setup.c                       | 42 ++++++++++++++------
 setup.h                       |  2 +
 t/meson.build                 |  1 +
 t/t0009-git-dir-validation.sh | 72 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 105 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)
 create mode 100755 t/t0009-git-dir-validation.sh

diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index c8336eb20e..2869d10669 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -897,10 +897,14 @@ int verify_repository_format(const struct repository_format *format,
 void read_gitfile_error_die(int error_code, const char *path, const char *dir)
 {
 	switch (error_code) {
-	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_FAILED:
-	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_NOT_A_FILE:
+	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_ENOENT:
+	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_IS_A_DIR:
 		/* non-fatal; follow return path */
 		break;
+	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_FAILED:
+		die(_("error reading %s"), path);
+	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_NOT_A_FILE:
+		die(_("not a regular file: %s"), path);
 	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_OPEN_FAILED:
 		die_errno(_("error opening '%s'"), path);
 	case READ_GITFILE_ERR_TOO_LARGE:
@@ -941,8 +945,14 @@ const char *read_gitfile_gently(const char *path, int *return_error_code)
 	static struct strbuf realpath = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	if (stat(path, &st)) {
-		/* NEEDSWORK: discern between ENOENT vs other errors */
-		error_code = READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_FAILED;
+		if (errno == ENOENT)
+			error_code = READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_ENOENT;
+		else
+			error_code = READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_FAILED;
+		goto cleanup_return;
+	}
+	if (S_ISDIR(st.st_mode)) {
+		error_code = READ_GITFILE_ERR_IS_A_DIR;
 		goto cleanup_return;
 	}
 	if (!S_ISREG(st.st_mode)) {
@@ -1578,20 +1588,28 @@ static enum discovery_result setup_git_directory_gently_1(struct strbuf *dir,
 		if (offset > min_offset)
 			strbuf_addch(dir, '/');
 		strbuf_addstr(dir, DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT);
-		gitdirenv = read_gitfile_gently(dir->buf, die_on_error ?
-						NULL : &error_code);
+		gitdirenv = read_gitfile_gently(dir->buf, &error_code);
 		if (!gitdirenv) {
-			if (die_on_error ||
-			    error_code == READ_GITFILE_ERR_NOT_A_FILE) {
-				/* NEEDSWORK: fail if .git is not file nor dir */
+			switch (error_code) {
+			case READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_ENOENT:
+				/* no .git in this directory, move on */
+				break;
+			case READ_GITFILE_ERR_IS_A_DIR:
 				if (is_git_directory(dir->buf)) {
 					gitdirenv = DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT;
 					gitdir_path = xstrdup(dir->buf);
 				}
-			} else if (error_code != READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_FAILED)
-				return GIT_DIR_INVALID_GITFILE;
-		} else
+				/* otherwise, it is an empty/unrelated directory, move on */
+				break;
+			default:
+				if (die_on_error || error_code == READ_GITFILE_ERR_NOT_A_FILE)
+					read_gitfile_error_die(error_code, dir->buf, NULL);
+				else
+					return GIT_DIR_INVALID_GITFILE;
+			}
+		} else {
 			gitfile = xstrdup(dir->buf);
+		}
 		/*
 		 * Earlier, we tentatively added DEFAULT_GIT_DIR_ENVIRONMENT
 		 * to check that directory for a repository.
diff --git a/setup.h b/setup.h
index 0738dec244..ed4b13f061 100644
--- a/setup.h
+++ b/setup.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ int is_nonbare_repository_dir(struct strbuf *path);
 #define READ_GITFILE_ERR_NO_PATH 6
 #define READ_GITFILE_ERR_NOT_A_REPO 7
 #define READ_GITFILE_ERR_TOO_LARGE 8
+#define READ_GITFILE_ERR_STAT_ENOENT 9
+#define READ_GITFILE_ERR_IS_A_DIR 10
 void read_gitfile_error_die(int error_code, const char *path, const char *dir);
 const char *read_gitfile_gently(const char *path, int *return_error_code);
 #define read_gitfile(path) read_gitfile_gently((path), NULL)
diff --git a/t/meson.build b/t/meson.build
index f80e366cff..c4afaacee5 100644
--- a/t/meson.build
+++ b/t/meson.build
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ integration_tests = [
   't0006-date.sh',
   't0007-git-var.sh',
   't0008-ignores.sh',
+  't0009-git-dir-validation.sh',
   't0010-racy-git.sh',
   't0012-help.sh',
   't0013-sha1dc.sh',
diff --git a/t/t0009-git-dir-validation.sh b/t/t0009-git-dir-validation.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..9b3925c85f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t0009-git-dir-validation.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='setup: validation of .git file/directory types
+
+Verify that setup_git_directory() correctly handles:
+1. Valid .git directories (including symlinks to them).
+2. Invalid .git files (FIFOs, sockets) by erroring out.
+3. Invalid .git files (garbage) by erroring out.
+'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'setup: create parent git repository' '
+	git init parent &&
+	test_commit -C parent "root-commit"
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS 'setup: .git as a symlink to a directory is valid' '
+	mkdir -p parent/link-to-dir &&
+	(
+		cd parent/link-to-dir &&
+		git init real-repo &&
+		ln -s real-repo/.git .git &&
+		git rev-parse --git-dir >actual &&
+		echo .git >expect &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success PIPE 'setup: .git as a FIFO (named pipe) is rejected' '
+	mkdir -p parent/fifo-trap &&
+	(
+		cd parent/fifo-trap &&
+		mkfifo .git &&
+		test_must_fail git rev-parse --git-dir 2>stderr &&
+		grep "not a regular file" stderr
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success SYMLINKS,PIPE 'setup: .git as a symlink to a FIFO is rejected' '
+	mkdir -p parent/symlink-fifo-trap &&
+	(
+		cd parent/symlink-fifo-trap &&
+		mkfifo target-fifo &&
+		ln -s target-fifo .git &&
+		test_must_fail git rev-parse --git-dir 2>stderr &&
+		grep "not a regular file" stderr
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup: .git with garbage content is rejected' '
+	mkdir -p parent/garbage-trap &&
+	(
+		cd parent/garbage-trap &&
+		echo "garbage" >.git &&
+		test_must_fail git rev-parse --git-dir 2>stderr &&
+		grep "invalid gitfile format" stderr
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'setup: .git as an empty directory is ignored' '
+	mkdir -p parent/empty-dir &&
+	(
+		cd parent/empty-dir &&
+		mkdir .git &&
+		git rev-parse --git-dir >actual &&
+		echo "$TRASH_DIRECTORY/parent/.git" >expect &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_done

-- 
2.43.0