[PATCH 2/3] PE-COFF: Prefer weak external with defined fallback over null fallback
Peter Damianov
peter0x44@disroot.org
Sat May 30 19:15:21 GMT 2026
When two PE COFF weak externals for the same symbol are linked (both
C_NT_WEAK with aux records), the generic linker takes no action on the
second one (NOACT: weak undef meets existing weak undef). This means
the first file's fallback alias always wins regardless of whether it
points to a real definition or to NULL.
This causes a problem when a weak declaration (fallback = NULL,
i.e. "resolve to NULL if nothing provides it") is linked before a
weak definition (fallback = actual function body). The symbol resolves
to address 0 at runtime, causing a crash when called.
Fix this by comparing the fallback targets when two weak externals
meet: if the incoming weak external's fallback resolves to a defined
symbol and the existing one does not (or points to NULL),
update the aux record to use the better fallback.
This matches the behavior of lld after:
https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/commit/7ca5698b4c3698d06065e0941df7f23d72913d23
bfd/
* cofflink.c (coff_link_add_symbols): When two PE COFF weak
externals meet, prefer the one whose fallback alias resolves
to a defined symbol.
---
bfd/cofflink.c | 70 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 70 insertions(+)
diff --git a/bfd/cofflink.c b/bfd/cofflink.c
index a38f692a008..93ecfebef03 100644
--- a/bfd/cofflink.c
+++ b/bfd/cofflink.c
@@ -543,6 +543,76 @@ coff_link_add_symbols (bfd *abfd,
(*sym_hash)->aux = alloc;
}
}
+
+ /* When two PE COFF weak externals meet (both with aux
+ records specifying fallback aliases), prefer the one
+ whose fallback resolves to a defined symbol over one
+ whose fallback is undefined or NULL. This
+ handles the case where a weak declaration (with a
+ fallback of NULL) is seen before a weak
+ definition (with a fallback of the actual function
+ body). */
+ else if (IS_WEAK_EXTERNAL (abfd, sym)
+ && sym.n_numaux > 0
+ && (*sym_hash)->root.type == bfd_link_hash_undefweak
+ && (*sym_hash)->symbol_class == C_NT_WEAK
+ && (*sym_hash)->numaux == 1)
+ {
+ /* Parse the incoming aux to get the fallback tagndx. */
+ union internal_auxent new_aux;
+ bfd_coff_swap_aux_in (abfd, esym + symesz, sym.n_type,
+ sym.n_sclass, 0, sym.n_numaux,
+ &new_aux);
+ unsigned long new_tagndx = new_aux.x_sym.x_tagndx.u32;
+ struct coff_link_hash_entry *h2_new = NULL;
+ struct coff_link_hash_entry *h2_old = NULL;
+
+ if (new_tagndx < obj_raw_syment_count (abfd))
+ h2_new = obj_coff_sym_hashes (abfd)[new_tagndx];
+
+ unsigned long old_tagndx
+ = (*sym_hash)->aux->x_sym.x_tagndx.u32;
+ if (old_tagndx
+ < obj_raw_syment_count ((*sym_hash)->auxbfd))
+ h2_old = obj_coff_sym_hashes
+ ((*sym_hash)->auxbfd)[old_tagndx];
+
+ /* Update if the new fallback is defined but the old
+ one is not (or points to NULL). */
+ if (h2_new != NULL
+ && (h2_new->root.type == bfd_link_hash_defined
+ || h2_new->root.type == bfd_link_hash_defweak)
+ && (h2_old == NULL
+ || h2_old->root.type == bfd_link_hash_undefined
+ || h2_old->root.type == bfd_link_hash_undefweak
+ || (h2_old->root.type == bfd_link_hash_defined
+ && bfd_is_abs_section
+ (h2_old->root.u.def.section)
+ && h2_old->root.u.def.value == 0)))
+ {
+ union internal_auxent *alloc;
+ unsigned int i;
+ bfd_byte *eaux;
+ union internal_auxent *iaux;
+
+ (*sym_hash)->symbol_class = sym.n_sclass;
+ (*sym_hash)->auxbfd = abfd;
+ (*sym_hash)->numaux = sym.n_numaux;
+ alloc = ((union internal_auxent *)
+ bfd_hash_allocate (&info->hash->table,
+ (sym.n_numaux
+ * sizeof (*alloc))));
+ if (alloc == NULL)
+ goto error_return;
+ for (i = 0, eaux = esym + symesz, iaux = alloc;
+ i < sym.n_numaux;
+ i++, eaux += symesz, iaux++)
+ bfd_coff_swap_aux_in (abfd, eaux, sym.n_type,
+ sym.n_sclass, (int) i,
+ sym.n_numaux, iaux);
+ (*sym_hash)->aux = alloc;
+ }
+ }
}
if (classification == COFF_SYMBOL_PE_SECTION
--
2.54.0
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