[libc++] Fix the behavior of throwing `operator new` under -fno-exceptions (#69498)
In D144319, Clang tried to land a change that would cause some functions
that are not supposed to return nullptr to optimize better. As reported
in https://reviews.llvm.org/D144319#4203982, libc++ started seeing
failures in its CI shortly after this change was landed.
As explained in D146379, the reason for these failures is that libc++'s
throwing `operator new` can in fact return nullptr when compiled with
exceptions disabled. However, this contradicts the Standard, which
clearly says that the throwing version of `operator new(size_t)` should
never return nullptr. This is actually a long standing issue. I've
previously seen a case where LTO would optimize incorrectly based on the
assumption that `operator new` doesn't return nullptr, an assumption
that was violated in that case because libc++.dylib was compiled with
-fno-exceptions.
Unfortunately, fixing this is kind of tricky. The Standard has a few
requirements for the allocation functions, some of which are impossible
to satisfy under -fno-exceptions:
1. `operator new(size_t)` must never return nullptr
2. `operator new(size_t, nothrow_t)` must call the throwing version and
return nullptr on failure to allocate
3. We can't throw exceptions when compiled with -fno-exceptions
In the case where exceptions are enabled, things work nicely.
`new(size_t)` throws and `new(size_t, nothrow_t)` uses a try-catch to
return nullptr. However, when compiling the library with
-fno-exceptions, we can't throw an exception from `new(size_t)`, and we
can't catch anything from `new(size_t, nothrow_t)`. The only thing we
can do from `new(size_t)` is actually abort the program, which does not
make it possible for `new(size_t, nothrow_t)` to catch something and
return nullptr.
This patch makes the following changes:
1. When compiled with -fno-exceptions, the throwing version of `operator
new` will now abort on failure instead of returning nullptr on failure.
This resolves the issue that the compiler could mis-compile based on the
assumption that nullptr is never returned. This constitutes an API and
ABI breaking change for folks compiling the library with -fno-exceptions
(which is not the general public, who merely uses libc++ headers but use
a shared library that has already been compiled). This should mostly
impact vendors and other folks who compile libc++.dylib themselves.
2. When the library is compiled with -fexceptions, the nothrow version
of `operator new` has no change. When the library is compiled with
-fno-exceptions, the nothrow version of `operator new` will now check
whether the throwing version of `operator new` has been overridden. If
it has not been overridden, then it will use an implementation
equivalent to that of the throwing `operator new`, except it will return
nullptr on failure to allocate (instead of terminating). However, if the
throwing `operator new` has been overridden, it is now an error NOT to
also override the nothrow `operator new`. Indeed, there is no way for us
to implement a valid nothrow `operator new` without knowing the exact
implementation of the throwing version.
In summary, this change will impact people who fall into the following
intersection of conditions:
- They use the libc++ shared/static library built with `-fno-exceptions`
- They do not override `operator new(..., std::nothrow_t)`
- They override `operator new(...)` (the throwing version)
- They use `operator new(..., std::nothrow_t)`
We believe this represents a small number of people.
Fixes #60129
rdar://103958777
Differential Revision: https://reviews.llvm.org/D150610
GitOrigin-RevId: 314526557ec66ee627ae8a1c03f6ccc610668fdb
1 file changed
