[PATCH] ld: Check bfd_gc_sections return

[Jan Beulich]

On 05.08.2026 10:50, H.J. Lu wrote:
> bfd_gc_sections may return false on invalid input:
> 
> ld: pr34448-bug_18.o: bad reloc symbol index (0xf2000005 >= 0x13) for
> offset 0x4 in section `.text.get_tls[get_tls]'
> 
> and set the BFD error to bfd_error_bad_value.  Check bfd_gc_sections
> return and report the fatal error if the BFD error is bfd_error_bad_value.

And what guarantees that bfd_error_bad_value isn't also set for other kinds
of errors, from about anywhere in the library? Does bfd_gc_sections()
returning false even reliably set the error indicator? That's far from
obvious when looking at e.g. bfd_elf_gc_sections(), so I can't exclude the
possibility of bfd_error_bad_value having been on record before the call,
and it simply not getting changed.

As said on the earlier thread - issuing a fatal error upon encountering
broken input is fine. But a fatal error may only be raised in that case,
not any other one.

Jan