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Child process' execFile and execFileSync handle arguments different when shell is not falsy #43333
Description
Version
v18.3.0
Platform
Linux *** 5.13.0-44-generic #49~20.04.1-Ubuntu SMP *** x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Subsystem
node:child_process
What steps will reproduce the bug?
- Create an ESM file with the following content:
import { execFile, execFileSync } from "node:child_process"; const stdout = execFileSync( "echo", ["foo", "bar"], { shell: "/bin/bash" }, ); console.log(`execFileSync: ${stdout}`); // Outputs: "execFileSync: \n" execFile( "echo", ["foo", "bar"], { shell: "/bin/bash" }, (_, stdout) => { console.log(`execFile: ${stdout}`); // Output: "execFile: foo bar\n" }, );
- Note that the
optionsobject includes a non-falsy value for theshelloption. (for reference, see thechild_process.execFiledocumentation). - Run the file using the following command to be able to view the
argsargument toexecFile(Sync)after normalization:$ env NODE_DEBUG=child_process node t.js 2>&1 | grep -w args
- Observe the different behaviour:
args: [ '/bin/bash', '-c', '/bin/bash -c echo foo bar' ], args: [ '/bin/bash', '-c', 'echo foo bar' ],
How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?
It always reproduces.
What is the expected behavior?
child_process.execFileSync and child_process.execFile invoke commands in the same way given the same arguments. In particular, I believe the behaviour of execFileSync is expected.
What do you see instead?
child_process.execFileSync and child_process.execFile invoke commands in different ways given the same arguments.
Additional information
This bug reports follows from a discussion in #29466 - in particular the discussion starting with this comment of mine. This bug report is based on @bnoordhuis' comment in that thread.
I tested and was able to reproduce this bug on Node v16.15.0 and v18.3.0.
Activity
bnoordhuis commentedon Jun 7, 2022
For the record: also happens with CJS.
zhmushan commentedon Jun 7, 2022
This is caused by
normalizeSpawnArgumentsbeing called repeatedly. We should avoid using the normalize function for spawn in execFile, even though it works fine most of the time.This issue can be assigned to me.
F3n67u commentedon Jun 7, 2022
Could you help me understand why the behavior of execFileSync is expected?
If
echo foo baris interpreted tobash -c 'echo foo bar'when shell is/bin/bash, thenfoo barshould be printed, right?zhmushan commentedon Jun 8, 2022
@F3n67u Your understanding is correct, but now execFileSync interprets
echo foo baras/bin/bash -c "/bin/bash -c echo foo bar"RaisinTen commentedon Jun 8, 2022
No need to wait for someone to assign you to the issue, feel free to send the PR when your patch is ready. :)
ericcornelissen commentedon Jun 8, 2022
That's based on @bnoordhuis' comments in #29466.
That is actually the topic of the discussion I brought up over at #29466 as well.
fix(scripts): running commands with certain shells
child_process: avoid repeated calls to `normalizeSpawnArguments`
child_process: avoid repeated calls to `normalizeSpawnArguments`
Test both sync and callback versions of explicitly
Update fuzz targets (#697)