-$Id$
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BUGS
- Curl and libcurl have grown substantially since the beginning. At the time
- of writing (end of March 2003), there are 35000 lines of source code, and by
- the time you read this it has probably grown even more.
+ 1. Bugs
+ 1.1 There are still bugs
+ 1.2 Where to report
+ 1.3 Security bugs
+ 1.4 What to report
+ 1.5 libcurl problems
+ 1.6 Who will fix the problems
+ 1.7 How to get a stack trace
+ 1.8 Bugs in libcurl bindings
+ 1.9 Bugs in old versions
+
+ 2. Bug fixing procedure
+ 2.1 What happens on first filing
+ 2.2 First response
+ 2.3 Not reproducible
+ 2.4 Unresponsive
+ 2.5 Lack of time/interest
+ 2.6 KNOWN_BUGS
+ 2.7 TODO
+ 2.8 Closing off stalled bugs
+
+==============================================================================
+
+1.1 There are still bugs
+
+ Curl and libcurl keep being developed. Adding features and changing code
+ means that bugs will sneak in, no matter how hard we try not to.
Of course there are lots of bugs left. And lots of misfeatures.
To help us make curl the stable and solid product we want it to be, we need
bug reports and bug fixes.
-WHERE TO REPORT
+1.2 Where to report
If you can't fix a bug yourself and submit a fix for it, try to report an as
detailed report as possible to a curl mailing list to allow one of us to
- have a go at a solution. You should also post your bug/problem at curl's bug
- tracking system over at
+ have a go at a solution. You can optionally also post your bug/problem at
+ curl's bug tracking system over at
- http://sourceforge.net/bugs/?group_id=976
+ https://github.com/curl/curl/issues
- (but please read the sections below first before doing that)
+ Please read the rest of this document below first before doing that!
If you feel you need to ask around first, find a suitable mailing list and
- post there. The lists are available on http://curl.haxx.se/mail/
+ post there. The lists are available on https://curl.haxx.se/mail/
+
+1.3 Security bugs
+
+ If you find a bug or problem in curl or libcurl that you think has a
+ security impact, for example a bug that can put users in danger or make them
+ vulnerable if the bug becomes public knowledge, then please report that bug
+ using our security development process.
+
+ Security related bugs or bugs that are suspected to have a security impact,
+ should be reported by email to curl-security@haxx.se so that they first can
+ be dealt with away from the public to minimize the harm and impact it will
+ have on existing users out there who might be using the vulnerable versions.
-WHAT TO REPORT
+ The curl project's process for handling security related issues is
+ documented here:
- When reporting a bug, you should include information that will help us
+ https://curl.haxx.se/dev/secprocess.html
+
+1.4 What to report
+
+ When reporting a bug, you should include all information that will help us
understand what's wrong, what you expected to happen and how to repeat the
bad behavior. You therefore need to tell us:
- - your operating system's name and version number (uname -a under a unix
- is fine)
+ - your operating system's name and version number
+
- what version of curl you're using (curl -V is fine)
+
+ - versions of the used libraries that libcurl is built to use
+
- what URL you were working with (if possible), at least which protocol
and anything and everything else you think matters. Tell us what you
enable us to help you quicker and more accurately.
Since curl deals with networks, it often helps us if you include a protocol
- debug dump with your bug report. The output you get by using the -v
- flag. Usually, you also get more info by using -i so that is likely to be
- useful when reporting bugs as well.
+ debug dump with your bug report. The output you get by using the -v or
+ --trace options.
If curl crashed, causing a core dump (in unix), there is hardly any use to
send that huge file to anyone of us. Unless we have an exact same system
- setup as you, we can't do much with it. What we instead ask of you is to get
- a stack trace and send that (much smaller) output to us instead!
+ setup as you, we can't do much with it. Instead we ask you to get a stack
+ trace and send that (much smaller) output to us instead!
- The address and how to subscribe to the mailing list is detailed in the
+ The address and how to subscribe to the mailing lists are detailed in the
MANUAL file.
-HOW TO GET A STACK TRACE
+1.5 libcurl problems
+
+ When you've written your own application with libcurl to perform transfers,
+ it is even more important to be specific and detailed when reporting bugs.
+
+ Tell us the libcurl version and your operating system. Tell us the name and
+ version of all relevant sub-components like for example the SSL library
+ you're using and what name resolving your libcurl uses. If you use SFTP or
+ SCP, the libssh2 version is relevant etc.
+
+ Showing us a real source code example repeating your problem is the best way
+ to get our attention and it will greatly increase our chances to understand
+ your problem and to work on a fix (if we agree it truly is a problem).
+
+ Lots of problems that appear to be libcurl problems are actually just abuses
+ of the libcurl API or other malfunctions in your applications. It is advised
+ that you run your problematic program using a memory debug tool like
+ valgrind or similar before you post memory-related or "crashing" problems to
+ us.
+
+1.6 Who will fix the problems
+
+ If the problems or bugs you describe are considered to be bugs, we want to
+ have the problems fixed.
+
+ There are no developers in the curl project that are paid to work on bugs.
+ All developers that take on reported bugs do this on a voluntary basis. We
+ do it out of an ambition to keep curl and libcurl excellent products and out
+ of pride.
+
+ But please do not assume that you can just lump over something to us and it
+ will then magically be fixed after some given time. Most often we need
+ feedback and help to understand what you've experienced and how to repeat a
+ problem. Then we may only be able to assist YOU to debug the problem and to
+ track down the proper fix.
+
+ We get reports from many people every month and each report can take a
+ considerable amount of time to really go to the bottom with.
+
+1.7 How to get a stack trace
First, you must make sure that you compile all sources with -g and that you
don't 'strip' the final executable. Try to avoid optimizing the code as
well, remove -O, -O2 etc from the compiler options.
- Run the program until it dumps core.
+ Run the program until it cores.
Run your debugger on the core file, like '<debugger> curl core'. <debugger>
should be replaced with the name of your debugger, in most cases that will
crashed. Include the stack trace with your detailed bug report. It'll help a
lot.
+1.8 Bugs in libcurl bindings
+
+ There will of course pop up bugs in libcurl bindings. You should then
+ primarily approach the team that works on that particular binding and see
+ what you can do to help them fix the problem.
+
+ If you suspect that the problem exists in the underlying libcurl, then
+ please convert your program over to plain C and follow the steps outlined
+ above.
+
+1.9 Bugs in old versions
+
+ The curl project typically releases new versions every other month, and we
+ fix several hundred bugs per year. For a huge table of releases, number of
+ bug fixes and more, see: https://curl.haxx.se/docs/releases.html
+
+ The developers in the curl project do not have bandwidth or energy enough to
+ maintain several branches or to spend much time on hunting down problems in
+ old versions when chances are we already fixed them or at least that they've
+ changed nature and appearance in later versions.
+
+ When you experience a problem and want to report it, you really SHOULD
+ include the version number of the curl you're using when you experience the
+ issue. If that version number shows us that you're using an out-of-date
+ curl, you should also try out a modern curl version to see if the problem
+ persists or how/if it has changed in appearance.
+
+ Even if you cannot immediately upgrade your application/system to run the
+ latest curl version, you can most often at least run a test version or
+ experimental build or similar, to get this confirmed or not.
+
+ At times people insist that they cannot upgrade to a modern curl version,
+ but instead they "just want the bug fixed". That's fine, just don't count on
+ us spending many cycles on trying to identify which single commit, if that's
+ even possible, that at some point in the past fixed the problem you're now
+ experiencing.
+
+ Security wise, it is almost always a bad idea to lag behind the current curl
+ versions by a lot. We keeping discovering and reporting security problems
+ over time see you can see in this table:
+ https://curl.haxx.se/docs/vulnerabilities.html
+
+2. Bug fixing procedure
+
+2.1 What happens on first filing
+
+ When a new issue is posted in the issue tracker or on the mailing list, the
+ team of developers first need to see the report. Maybe they took the day
+ off, maybe they're off in the woods hunting. Have patience. Allow at least a
+ few days before expecting someone to have responded.
+
+ In the issue tracker you can expect that some labels will be set on the
+ issue to help categorize it.
+
+2.2 First response
+
+ If your issue/bug report wasn't perfect at once (and few are), chances are
+ that someone will ask follow-up questions. Which version did you use? Which
+ options did you use? How often does the problem occur? How can we reproduce
+ this problem? Which protocols does it involve? Or perhaps much more specific
+ and deep diving questions. It all depends on your specific issue.
+
+ You should then respond to these follow-up questions and provide more info
+ about the problem, so that we can help you figure it out. Or maybe you can
+ help us figure it out. An active back-and-forth communication is important
+ and the key for finding a cure and landing a fix.
+
+2.3 Not reproducible
+
+ For problems that we can't reproduce and can't understand even after having
+ gotten all the info we need and having studied the source code over again,
+ are really hard to solve so then we may require further work from you who
+ actually see or experience the problem.
+
+2.4 Unresponsive
+
+ If the problem haven't been understood or reproduced, and there's nobody
+ responding to follow-up questions or questions asking for clarifications or
+ for discussing possible ways to move forward with the task, we take that as
+ a strong suggestion that the bug is not important.
+
+ Unimportant issues will be closed as inactive sooner or later as they can't
+ be fixed. The inactivity period (waiting for responses) should not be
+ shorter than two weeks but may extend months.
+
+2.5 Lack of time/interest
+
+ Bugs that are filed and are understood can unfortunately end up in the
+ "nobody cares enough about it to work on it" category. Such bugs are
+ perfectly valid problems that *should* get fixed but apparently aren't. We
+ try to mark such bugs as "KNOWN_BUGS material" after a time of inactivity
+ and if no activity is noticed after yet some time those bugs are added to
+ KNOWN_BUGS and are closed in the issue tracker.
+
+2.6 KNOWN_BUGS
+
+ This is a list of known bugs. Bugs we know exist and that have been pointed
+ out but that haven't yet been fixed. The reasons for why they haven't been
+ fixed can involve anything really, but the primary reason is that nobody has
+ considered these problems to be important enough to spend the necessary time
+ and effort to have them fixed.
+
+ The KNOWN_BUGS are always up for grabs and we will always love the ones who
+ bring one of them back to live and offers solutions to them.
+
+ The KNOWN_BUGS document has a sibling document known as TODO.
+
+2.7 TODO
+
+ Issues that are filed or reported that aren't really bugs but more missing
+ features or ideas for future improvements and so on are marked as
+ 'enhancement' or 'feature-request' and will be added to the TODO document
+ instead and the issue is closed. We don't keep TODO items in the issue
+ tracker.
+
+ The TODO document is full of ideas and suggestions of what we can add or fix
+ one day. You're always encouraged and free to grab one of those items and
+ take up a discussion with the curl development team on how that could be
+ implemented or provided in the project so that you can work on ticking it
+ odd that document.
+
+ If the issue is rather a bug and not a missing feature or functionality, it
+ is listed in KNOWN_BUGS instead.
+
+2.8 Closing off stalled bugs
+
+ The issue and pull request trackers on https://github.com/curl/curl will
+ only hold "active" entries (using a non-precise definition of what active
+ actually is, but they're at least not completely dead). Those that are
+ abandoned or in other ways dormant will be closed and sometimes added to
+ TODO and KNOWN_BUGS instead.
+
+ This way, we only have "active" issues open on github. Irrelevant issues and
+ pull requests will not distract developers or casual visitors.
projects / platform / upstream / curl.git / blobdiff