Bug 809122 - internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset
Summary: internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED WONTFIX
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: binutils
Version: 17
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Nick Clifton
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2012-04-02 14:23 UTC by Jim Meyering
Modified: 2014-06-20 14:59 UTC (History)
5 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2013-08-01 05:38:47 UTC
Type: ---
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Jim Meyering 2012-04-02 14:23:21 UTC
Description of problem:
While linking coreutils' src/group from two concurrent processes on F17,
I got this:

/usr/bin/ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset
/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): binutils-2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17.x86_64

How reproducible: about 1 in 10-20 trials, when running this command:

rm -f src/{users,groups}{.o,}; make -j20 CFLAGS= WARN_CFLAGS= WERROR_CFLAGS= syntax-check

Here is sample output from a few of the failing runs:

useless_cpp_parens
vulnerable_makefile_CVE-2009-4029
  CC       groups.o
  CC       uname-arch.o
  CC       hostname.o
  CC       groups.o
  CC       groups.o
  CCLD     arch
  CC       hostname.o
  CCLD     arch
  CCLD     arch
  CC       hostname.o
  CCLD     hostname
  CCLD     groups
/usr/bin/ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset

/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
mv: cannot stat `.deps/groups.Tpo': No such file or directory
  CCLD     hostname
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
make[1]: *** [groups.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
make: *** [sc_check-AUTHORS] Error 2
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
  CCLD     groups
make: *** [sc_option_desc_uppercase] Error 2
  CCLD     hostname

==========================================================
0.66 prohibit_canonicalize_without_use
  CCLD     groups
0.66 prohibit_emacs__indent_tabs_mode__setting
0.66 prohibit_cloexec_without_use
0.67 prohibit_c_ctype_without_use
  CCLD     groups
0.67 prohibit_cvs_keyword
0.67 prohibit_empty_lines_at_EOF
0.67 prohibit_fail_0
0.67 prohibit_dirent_without_use
0.68 prohibit_have_config_h
0.67 prohibit_error_without_use
0.68 prohibit_intprops_without_use
0.68 prohibit_hash_pjw_without_use
0.67 prohibit_framework_failure
0.67 prohibit_getopt_without_use
0.69 prohibit_long_options_without_use
0.68 prohibit_hash_without_use
0.69 prohibit_jm_in_m4
/usr/bin/0.70 prohibit_quote_without_use
0.69 prohibit_magic_number_exit
ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c
line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset

/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
==========================================================

useless_cpp_parens
vulnerable_makefile_CVE-2009-4029
  CC       groups.o
  CC       groups.o
  CC       groups.o
0.57 GFDL_version
0.58 NEWS_two_empty_lines
0.57 GPL_version
0.59 Wundef_boolean
0.60 cast_of_alloca_return_value
0.60 bindtextdomain
0.59 cast_of_argument_to_free
0.60 avoid_if_before_free
0.60 changelog
0.60 copyright_check
  CCLD     groups
0.60 cast_of_x_alloc_return_value
0.60 const_long_option
0.60 dd_max_sym_length
0.61 error_message_uppercase
0.61 error_exit_success
0.61 error_message_warn_fatal
0.61 dd_O_FLAGS
0.61 m4_quote_check
0.61 error_message_period
0.61 makefile_TAB_only_indentation
0.61 file_system
0.61 makefile_at_at_check
0.61 makefile_path_separator_check
0.62 cross_check_PATH_usage_in_tests
0.61 immutable_NEWS
0.61 obsolete_symbols
0.61 no_exec_perl_coreutils
/usr/bin/ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset

/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
0.61 preprocessor_indentation
0.62 program_name
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
0.62 prohibit_HAVE_MBRTOWC
make: *** [sc_check-AUTHORS] Error 2
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
0.62 prohibit_always_true_header_tests
0.62 prohibit_S_IS_definition
0.62 prohibit_argmatch_without_use
  CCLD     groups
0.63 prohibit_assert_without_use
0.63 prohibit_c_ctype_without_use
0.63 prohibit_atoi_atof
0.63 prohibit_canonicalize_without_use
0.63 prohibit_cloexec_without_use
0.63 prohibit_backup_files
0.63 prohibit_continued_string_alpha_in_column_1
0.63 prohibit_close_stream_without_use
/usr/bin/ld: can not read symbols: File truncated
/usr/bin/ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset

/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
make: *** [sc_man_file_correlation] Error 2
  CCLD     groups

==================================================================

unmarked_diagnostics
useless_cpp_parens
vulnerable_makefile_CVE-2009-4029
  CC       groups.o
  CC       groups.o
  CC       groups.o
  CCLD     groups
groups.o: file not recognized: File truncated
collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
make: *** [sc_check-AUTHORS] Error 2
make: *** Waiting for unfinished jobs....
  CCLD     groups
/usr/bin/ld: BFD version 2.22.52.0.1-10.fc17 20120131 internal error, aborting at merge.c line 877 in _bfd_merged_section_offset

/usr/bin/ld: Please report this bug.

collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status
make[1]: *** [groups] Error 1
make: *** [sc_option_desc_uppercase] Error 2
  CCLD     groups

Comment 1 Jim Meyering 2012-04-02 14:24:34 UTC
Yes, I know that coreutils' "make syntax-check" rule should not be running multiple concurrent jobs that may build the same files in parallel.
This might be the impetus finally to fix that buglet.

Comment 2 Alan Modra 2012-05-17 04:45:37 UTC
I've seen this running the mainline binutils testsuite on my x86_64 box, and with the system (Ubuntu 11.10) binutils.  Like Jim, I saw it only with make -j.  I modified merge.c to execute an illegal instruction rather than aborting, to generate a core.  The core dump of .debug_str shows what looks very much like a memory bit flip, a string terminating \000 being replaced with \001.  This code in _bfd_merged_section_offset

	  p = secinfo->contents + offset - 1;
	  while (p >= secinfo->contents && *p)
	    --p;
	  ++p;

steps back over the flipped terminator, you look up the wrong string, eventually resulting in the abort.  Possibly a random failure, but this particular abort is reported fairly regularly so I find it hard to discount.  Another possibility is 
http://it.slashdot.org/story/12/03/06/0136243/amd-confirms-cpu-bug-found-by-dragonfly-bsds-matt-dillon  A few more core files might help nail down the problem.

Comment 4 Fedora End Of Life 2013-07-04 01:19:29 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 17 is nearing its end of life.
Approximately 4 (four) weeks from now Fedora will stop maintaining
and issuing updates for Fedora 17. It is Fedora's policy to close all
bug reports from releases that are no longer maintained. At that time
this bug will be closed as WONTFIX if it remains open with a Fedora 
'version' of '17'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 17's end of life.

Bug Reporter:  Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that 
we may not be able to fix it before Fedora 17 is end of life. If you 
would still like  to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it 
against a later version  of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 
'version' to a later Fedora version prior to Fedora 17's end of life.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 5 Fedora End Of Life 2013-08-01 05:38:52 UTC
Fedora 17 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2013-07-30. Fedora 17 is 
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further 
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of 
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version.

Thank you for reporting this bug and we are sorry it could not be fixed.

Comment 6 Dan Kegel 2014-06-20 14:59:31 UTC
I just ran into something like this.  It started happening when I started
invoking make -j with two targets instead of one, on a Makefile generated
by cmake.  Evidently cmake's dependencies are not correct enough, and
it ran the linker twice at the same time with the same commandline.
This jibes with comment #1.
See http://www.cmake.org/pipermail/cmake/2014-June/057897.html


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