Fix backtraces with -C panic=abort on linux; emit unwind tables by default

The linux backtrace unwinder relies on unwind tables to work properly,
and generating and printing a backtrace is done by for example the
default panic hook.

Begin emitting unwind tables by default again with `-C panic=abort` (see
history below) so that backtraces work.

History
=======

Backtraces with `-C panic=abort` used to work in Rust 1.22 but broke in
Rust 1.23, because in 1.23 we stopped emitting unwind tables with `-C
panic=abort` (see 24cc38e3b0).

In 1.45 (see cda994633e) a workaround in the form
of `-C force-unwind-tables=yes` was added.

`-C panic=abort` was added in [Rust
1.10](https://blog.rust-lang.org/2016/07/07/Rust-1.10/#what-s-in-1-10-stable)
and the motivation was binary size and compile time. But given how
confusing that behavior has turned out to be, it is better to make
binary size optimization opt-in with `-C force-unwind-tables=no` rather
than default since the current default breaks backtraces.

Besides, if binary size is a primary concern, there are many other
tricks that can be used that has a higher impact.
This commit is contained in:
Martin Nordholts 2025-07-07 22:36:23 +02:00
parent 15283f6fe9
commit fe66eaa67a
6 changed files with 74 additions and 9 deletions

View file

@ -758,7 +758,8 @@ impl Session {
// ELF x86-64 abi, but it can be disabled for some compilation units.
//
// Typically when we're compiling with `-C panic=abort` we don't need
// `uwtable` because we can't generate any exceptions!
// `uwtable` because we can't generate any exceptions! But note that
// some targets require unwind tables to generate backtraces.
// Unwind tables are needed when compiling with `-C panic=unwind`, but
// LLVM won't omit unwind tables unless the function is also marked as
// `nounwind`, so users are allowed to disable `uwtable` emission.

View file

@ -8,10 +8,6 @@ pub(crate) fn opts() -> TargetOptions {
base.tls_model = TlsModel::Emulated;
base.has_thread_local = false;
base.supported_sanitizers = SanitizerSet::ADDRESS;
// This is for backward compatibility, see https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/49867
// for context. (At that time, there was no `-C force-unwind-tables`, so the only solution
// was to always emit `uwtable`).
base.default_uwtable = true;
base.crt_static_respected = true;
base
}

View file

@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ pub(crate) fn opts() -> TargetOptions {
relro_level: RelroLevel::Full,
has_thread_local: true,
crt_static_respected: true,
// We want backtraces to work by default and they rely on unwind tables
// (regardless of `-C panic` strategy).
default_uwtable: true,
supported_split_debuginfo: Cow::Borrowed(&[
SplitDebuginfo::Packed,
SplitDebuginfo::Unpacked,

View file

@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ pub(crate) fn target() -> Target {
max_atomic_width: Some(64),
mcount: "\u{1}__gnu_mcount_nc".into(),
llvm_mcount_intrinsic: Some("llvm.arm.gnu.eabi.mcount".into()),
// The default on linux is to have `default_uwtable=true`, but on
// this target we get an "`__aeabi_unwind_cpp_pr0` not defined"
// linker error, so set it to `true` here.
// FIXME(#146996): Remove this override once #146996 has been fixed.
default_uwtable: false,
..base::linux_gnu::opts()
},
}

View file

@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
// An `.eh_frame` section in an object file is a symptom of an UnwindAction::Terminate
// being inserted, useful for determining whether or not unwinding is necessary.
// This is useless when panics would NEVER unwind due to -C panic=abort. This section should
// therefore never appear in the emit file of a -C panic=abort compilation, and this test
// checks that this is respected.
// See https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/112403
// This is useless when panics would NEVER unwind due to -C panic=abort and when we don't need
// being able to generate backtraces (which depend on unwind tables on linux). This section should
// therefore never appear in the emit file of a -C panic=abort compilation
// with -C force-unwind-tables=no, and this test checks that this is respected.
// See https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/112403 and
// https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/pull/143613.
//@ only-linux
// FIXME(Oneirical): the DW_CFA symbol appears on Windows-gnu, because uwtable
@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ fn main() {
.panic("abort")
.edition("2021")
.arg("-Zvalidate-mir")
.arg("-Cforce-unwind-tables=no")
.run();
llvm_objdump().arg("--dwarf=frames").input("foo.o").run().assert_stdout_not_contains("DW_CFA");
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
//! Test that with `-C panic=abort` the backtrace is not cut off by default
//! (i.e. without using `-C force-unwind-tables=yes`) by ensuring that our own
//! functions are in the backtrace. If we just check one function it might be
//! the last function, so make sure the backtrace can continue by checking for
//! two functions. Regression test for
//! <https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/81902>.
//@ run-pass
//@ needs-subprocess
// We want to test if unwind tables are emitted by default. We must make sure
// to disable debuginfo to test that, because enabling debuginfo also means that
// unwind tables are emitted, which prevents us from testing what we want.
// We also need to set opt-level=0 to avoid optimizing away our functions.
//@ compile-flags: -C panic=abort -C opt-level=0 -C debuginfo=0
//@ no-prefer-dynamic
//@ ignore-apple
//@ ignore-arm-unknown-linux-gnueabihf FIXME(#146996) Try removing this once #146996 has been fixed.
//@ ignore-msvc Backtraces on Windows requires debuginfo which we can't use here
static FN_1: &str = "this_function_must_be_in_the_backtrace";
fn this_function_must_be_in_the_backtrace() {
and_this_function_too();
}
static FN_2: &str = "and_this_function_too";
fn and_this_function_too() {
panic!("generate panic backtrace");
}
fn run_test() {
let output = std::process::Command::new(std::env::current_exe().unwrap())
.arg("whatever")
.env("RUST_BACKTRACE", "full")
.output()
.unwrap();
let backtrace = std::str::from_utf8(&output.stderr).unwrap();
fn assert(function_name: &str, backtrace: &str) {
assert!(
backtrace.contains(function_name),
"ERROR: no `{}` in stderr! actual stderr: {}",
function_name,
backtrace
);
}
assert(FN_1, backtrace);
assert(FN_2, backtrace);
}
fn main() {
let args: Vec<String> = std::env::args().collect();
if args.len() == 1 {
run_test();
} else {
this_function_must_be_in_the_backtrace();
}
}