[ruby-core:121506] [Ruby Bug#21210] IO::Buffer gets invalidated on GC compaction

Issue #21210 has been updated by hanazuki (Kasumi Hanazuki).


alanwu (Alan Wu) wrote in #note-5:
> Another option that maintains validity across movement (untested):
> 
> ```diff
> diff --git a/io_buffer.c b/io_buffer.c
> index 0534999319..13102b561d 100644
> --- a/io_buffer.c
> +++ b/io_buffer.c
> @@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ rb_io_buffer_type_for(VALUE klass, VALUE string)
>      }
>      else {
>          // This internally returns the source string if it's already frozen.
> -        string = rb_str_tmp_frozen_acquire(string);
> +        string = rb_str_tmp_frozen_no_embed_acquire(string);
>          return io_buffer_for_make_instance(klass, string, RB_IO_BUFFER_READONLY);
>      }
>  }
> ```

So this will copy the embedded String content to a malloc'ed memory, right?

The default GC embeds up to 640 bytes minus RSTRING header (IIUC). I think we need to evaluate the performance impact of adding such size of copies.
```ruby
packet = "x" * 600
buf = IO::Buffer.for(packet)
buf.get_value(:U8, 32)
```

> Looks like the mutable string buffer code paths pin using rb_str_locktmp().

Ah, yes. rb_str_locktmp was not relevant to `IO::Buffer.for` without a block.

In case of `IO::Buffer.for` with a block, the source String is referred to by a C stack variable, and so the object will not be moved.

----------------------------------------
Bug #21210: IO::Buffer gets invalidated on GC compaction
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/21210#change-112528

* Author: hanazuki (Kasumi Hanazuki)
* Status: Open
* ruby -v: ruby 3.5.0dev (2025-04-01T16:11:01Z master 30e5e7c005) +PRISM [x86_64-linux]
* Backport: 3.1: DONTNEED, 3.2: DONTNEED, 3.3: DONTNEED, 3.4: DONTNEED
----------------------------------------
commit:6012145299cfa4ab561360c78710c7f2941a7e9d implemented compaction for `IO::Buffer`.
It looks like this doesn't work well with an `IO::Buffer` that shares memory region with a String object.
I think the problem is that an `IO::Buffer` holds the raw pointer to the String content, and now the content can be moved by GC when the String is embedded.

```ruby
str = +"hello"
buf = IO::Buffer.for(str)
p buf.valid?

GC.verify_compaction_references(expand_heap: true, toward: :empty)

p buf.valid?  #=> should be true
```

This example should print two trues. Actually:
```
% ./ruby -v --disable-gems test.rb
ruby 3.5.0dev (2025-04-01T16:11:01Z master 30e5e7c005) +PRISM [x86_64-linux]
true
false
```



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