stack smashing detected on processor M1 (silicon)

[nulgame]

Problem description

Simple program build with Pistache library build on aarch64 platform shows:

stack smashing detected

• Computer: mac mini M1
• OS: VoidLinux: Linux mini 6.17.12+1-asahi_1 Pistache work on mac? #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Jan 1 01:25:36 UTC 2026 aarch64 GNU/Linux
• Pistache version: 0.5.9.20250824
• Tested using following compilers:

1. g++ (GCC) 14.2.1 20250405
2. clang version 21.1.7 (Target: aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu, Thread model: posix)

Pistache build options

option('PISTACHE_BUILD_TESTS', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'build tests alongside the project')
option('PISTACHE_BUILD_EXAMPLES', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'build examples alongside the project')
option('PISTACHE_BUILD_DOCS', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'build docs alongside the project')
option('PISTACHE_INSTALL', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'add pistache as install target (recommended)')
option('PISTACHE_USE_SSL', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'add support for SSL server')
option('PISTACHE_USE_RAPIDJSON', type: 'boolean', value: true, description: 'add support for rapidjson')
option('PISTACHE_USE_CONTENT_ENCODING_BROTLI', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'add support for Brotli compressed content encoding')
option('PISTACHE_USE_CONTENT_ENCODING_ZSTD', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'add support for Zstandard compressed content encoding')
option('PISTACHE_USE_CONTENT_ENCODING_DEFLATE', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'add support for deflate compressed content encoding')
option('PISTACHE_DEBUG', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'with debugging code')
option('PISTACHE_LOG_AND_STDOUT', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'send log msgs to stdout too')
option('PISTACHE_FORCE_LIBEVENT', type: 'boolean', value: false, description: 'force use of libevent')

Program buid command

g++ -g -std=c++17 -o svc main.cc  -I/home/mp/opt/include  -L/home/mp/opt/lib -lpistache

Expected behaviour

svc service called from a browser with http://localhost:8080/api or using curl should returns

{"abc": 123 }

Curl command:

curl -X GET -m 5 http://localhost:8080/api

Complete code

#include <iostream>
#include <stdexcept>
#include <pistache/endpoint.h>
#include <pistache/router.h>

using namespace Pistache;
using Request = Rest::Request;
using Response = Http::ResponseWriter;

class Service
{
        uint16_t m_port;
        std::string m_host;
        unsigned int m_nthreads;

        std::shared_ptr<Http::Endpoint> m_endpoint;
        Rest::Router m_router;

    public:
        Service(uint16_t port, const char *host = "0.0.0.0")
            : m_port(port),  m_host(host), m_nthreads(1)
        {}

        ~Service() {}

        void run()
        {
            std::cout << "Svc running on port: " << m_port << std::endl;

            try {
                Address svc_address(m_host, m_port);
                m_endpoint = std::make_shared<Http::Endpoint>(svc_address);

                auto opts = Http::Endpoint::options().threads(m_nthreads);
                opts.flags(Tcp::Options::ReuseAddr);
                m_endpoint->init(opts);
                Rest::Routes::Get(m_router, "/api", Rest::Routes::bind(&Service::do_something, this));
                m_endpoint->setHandler(m_router.handler());
                m_endpoint->serve();
            } catch (const std::runtime_error &e) {
                std::cerr << "Svc exception: " << e.what() << std::endl;
            }
        }

    private:
        void do_something(const Request &request, Response response)
        {
            try {
                response.send(Http::Code::Ok, "{\"abc\":123}", MIME(Text, Json));
            } catch (...) {
                response.send(Http::Code::Internal_Server_Error, "Internal error",  MIME(Text, Plain));
            }
        }
};


int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    int port = 8080;
    const char *host = "0.0.0.0";

    try {
        Service service(port, host);
        service.run();
    } catch (const std::exception &e) {
        std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
        return 1;
    }
    return 0;
}

lldb backtrace output

*** stack smashing detected ***: terminated
Process 3291 stopped
* thread #2, name = 'svc', stop reason = signal SIGABRT
    frame #0: 0x0000fffff7919d78 libc.so.6`__pthread_kill_implementation(threadid=281474825646432, signo=6, no_tid=<unavailable>) at pthread_kill.c:44:76
(lldb) bt
error: svc 0x000420d0: DW_TAG_member '_M_local_buf' refers to type 0x0000000000079808 which extends beyond the bounds of 0x000420c8
* thread #2, name = 'svc', stop reason = signal SIGABRT
  * frame #0: 0x0000fffff7919d78 libc.so.6`__pthread_kill_implementation(threadid=281474825646432, signo=6, no_tid=<unavailable>) at pthread_kill.c:44:76
    frame #1: 0x0000fffff78ca5dc libc.so.6`__GI_raise(sig=6) at raise.c:26:13
    frame #2: 0x0000fffff78b59f8 libc.so.6`__GI_abort at abort.c:73:3
    frame #3: 0x0000fffff790db08 libc.so.6`__libc_message_impl(fmt="") at libc_fatal.c:134:3
    frame #4: 0x0000fffff7988ed8 libc.so.6`__GI___fortify_fail(msg="") at fortify_fail.c:24:3
    frame #5: 0x0000fffff7989f14 libc.so.6`__stack_chk_fail at stack_chk_fail.c:24:3
    frame #6: 0x0000aaaaaaaa8508 svc`std::function<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result (Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)> Pistache::Rest::Routes::bind<void, Service, Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter, Service*>(void (Service::*)(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter), Service*)::'lambda'(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)::operator()(__closure=0x0000aaaaaaae89d0, request=0x0000fffff6fecdb0, response=ResponseWriter @ 0x0000fffff6fec120) const at router.h:412:20
    frame #7: 0x0000aaaaaaaaa98c svc`void std::__invoke_impl<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result, std::function<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result (Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)> Pistache::Rest::Routes::bind<void, Service, Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter, Service*>(void (Service::*)(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter), Service*)::'lambda'(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)&, Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter>((null)=__invoke_other @ 0x0000fffff6fec118, __f=0x0000aaaaaaae89d0, (null)=0x0000fffff6fecdb0, (null)=0x0000fffff6fec630) at invoke.h:61:36
    frame #8: 0x0000aaaaaaaaa31c svc`std::enable_if<is_invocable_r_v<void, Service, Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter>, void>::type std::__invoke_r<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result, std::function<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result (Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)> Pistache::Rest::Routes::bind<void, Service, Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter, Service*>(void (Service::*)(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter), Service*)::'lambda'(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)&, Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter>(__fn=0x0000aaaaaaae89d0, (null)=0x0000fffff6fecdb0, (null)=0x0000fffff6fec630) at invoke.h:114:35
    frame #9: 0x0000aaaaaaaa98a0 svc`std::_Function_handler<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result (Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter), std::function<Pistache::Rest::Route::Result (Pistache::Rest::Request, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)> Pistache::Rest::Routes::bind<void, Service, Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter, Service*>(void (Service::*)(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter), Service*)::'lambda'(Pistache::Rest::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter)>::_M_invoke(__functor=0x0000aaaaaaae89a0, __args#0=0x0000fffff6fecdb0, __args#1=0x0000fffff6fec630) at std_function.h:290:30
    frame #10: 0x0000fffff7f4c5dc libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Rest::Router::route(Pistache::Http::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter) const + 3516
    frame #11: 0x0000fffff7f4cc98 libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Rest::Private::RouterHandler::onRequest(Pistache::Http::Request const&, Pistache::Http::ResponseWriter) + 80
    frame #12: 0x0000fffff7eebba8 libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Http::Handler::onInput(char const*, unsigned long, std::shared_ptr<Pistache::Tcp::Peer> const&) + 736
    frame #13: 0x0000fffff7f277c0 libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Tcp::Transport::handleIncoming(std::shared_ptr<Pistache::Tcp::Peer> const&) + 160
    frame #14: 0x0000fffff7f2c3d8 libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Tcp::Transport::onReady(Pistache::Aio::FdSet const&) + 332
    frame #15: 0x0000fffff7f20308 libpistache.so.0.5`Pistache::Aio::SyncImpl::handleFds(std::vector<Pistache::Polling::Event, std::allocator<Pistache::Polling::Event>>) const + 1416
    frame #16: 0x0000fffff7f21064 libpistache.so.0.5`std::thread::_State_impl<std::thread::_Invoker<std::tuple<Pistache::Aio::AsyncImpl::Worker::run()::'lambda'()>>>::_M_run() + 548
    frame #17: 0x0000fffff7c56f50 libstdc++.so.6`___lldb_unnamed_symbol_106f20 + 48
    frame #18: 0x0000fffff7917ff0 libc.so.6`start_thread(arg=0x0000fffff6fef160) at pthread_create.c:448:8
    frame #19: 0x0000fffff797d6cc libc.so.6`thread_start at clone3.S:76

Additional information

On intel platform works well :-)

[kiplingw]

Thanks @nulgame for reporting. This could be tricky to replicate, or at least for me, as I don't have access to an M1 processor. Can you confirm if this issue is present on other generic arm64 processors, or is it specific to the M1? If the latter, do you know if Apple has any type of community program to send us developer hardware to assist with debugging this issue?

[nulgame]

At this moment don't have any other arm64 processors. As I know Apple doesn't send computers to developers. At the end of week I try to test this code on mac mini M1 on OSX 26, so @kiplingw wait a bit. I will return with info.

[kiplingw]

Main thing we need to know is if this is an M1 specific issue or does it apply to any generic arm64 processor.

[dgreatwood]

@nulgame, alternately if you have an M1 (or any 'M') Mac/Macbook with macos installed, macos-14 or newer, it would be great to know if your test program goes wrong in macos also. I could then look at it on an M3 Macbook.

For instructions to install or build Pistache on macos, please see here.

Thanks!

[nulgame]

I have two OS'es installed on the same mac mini M1:

• VoidLinx/asahi arm64 and
• Mac OS Tahoe 26.2

Mac OS details:

bash-3.2$ sw_vers
ProductName:		macOS
ProductVersion:		26.2
BuildVersion:		25C56

bash-3.2$ uname -a
Darwin mini.local 25.2.0 Darwin Kernel Version 25.2.0: Tue Nov 18 21:09:55 PST 2025; root:xnu-12377.61.12~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T8103 arm64

The reported problem occurs only on VoidLinux, on Apple OS Tahoe everything works as expected, both for Pistache version 0.4.26 and 0.5.9 (the latest pulled from the thead). So it looks like this is no a problem M1 processor. I try to investigate deeper and let you known.

By the way, the example code taken from github.com/pistacheio/pistache:

#include <pistache/endpoint.h>

using namespace Pistache;

struct HelloHandler : public Http::Handler {
  HTTP_PROTOTYPE(HelloHandler)
  void onRequest(const Http::Request&, Http::ResponseWriter writer) override {
    writer.send(Http::Code::Ok, "Hello, World!");
  }
};

int main() {
  Http::listenAndServe<HelloHandler>(Pistache::Address("*:9080"));
}

works well on VoidLux/asahi. So I try to investigate more deeper, by reducing of code.

[dgreatwood]

Thanks for the further investigation.

That's good that it works on macos, but also bad for debugging...

Another experiment you could try if you like is to use the PISTACHE_FORCE_LIBEVENT=true flag in Linux when you run meson setup; this will make the Pistache code paths in Linux more akin to those under macos. You'll need to have libevent installed.

You can set the flag directly when doing meson setup, or try with the build scripts:

bldscripts/mesbuildflibevdebug.sh
bldscripts/mestestflibevdebug.sh
bldscripts/mesinstallflibevdebug.sh

(for the debug version)

Of course, the other thing to do is try to find exactly where in the code the stack-smashing occurs - and your "code reduction" might help with that.

[nulgame]

Hi @dgreatwood, @kiplingw - quick update:

I've just build pistache with libevent support (libevent-2.1.12_3), then I built my source code end run, but it goes crazy..

Output from ldd:

$ ldd svc
        linux-vdso.so.1 (0x0000ffff39cf8000)
        libpistache.so.0.5 => /home/mp/opt/lib/libpistache.so.0.5 (0x0000ffff39750000)
        libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0x0000ffff39440000)
        libm.so.6 => /usr/lib/libm.so.6 (0x0000ffff39390000)
        libgcc_s.so.1 => /usr/lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x0000ffff39350000)
        libc.so.6 => /usr/lib/libc.so.6 (0x0000ffff39180000)
        /lib/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1 => /usr/lib64/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1 (0x0000ffff39cc0000)
        libzstd.so.1 => /usr/lib/libzstd.so.1 (0x0000ffff390b0000)
        libbrotlienc.so.1 => /usr/lib/libbrotlienc.so.1 (0x0000ffff38ff0000)
        libz.so.1 => /usr/lib/libz.so.1 (0x0000ffff38fb0000)
        libssl.so.3 => /usr/lib/libssl.so.3 (0x0000ffff38ea0000)
        libcrypto.so.3 => /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.3 (0x0000ffff38920000)
        libevent-2.1.so.7 => /usr/lib/libevent-2.1.so.7 (0x0000ffff388a0000)
        libevent_pthreads-2.1.so.7 => /usr/lib/libevent_pthreads-2.1.so.7 (0x0000ffff38870000)
        libbrotlicommon.so.1 => /usr/lib/libbrotlicommon.so.1 (0x0000ffff38830000

When I try to run service svc, I get following DEBUG messages just after running:

Svc running on port: 8080
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:776 in create(): <Ctr:1 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:1250 in EventMethBase(): <<Ctr:2 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:1259 in EventMethBase(): Locking event_meth_base_inited_previously_mutex (at 0xffff54a28278)
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) pist_check.cc:273 in ~GuardAndDbgLog(): event_meth_base_inited_previously_mutex (at 0xffff54a28278) unlocked, was locked eventmeth.cc:1259
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:1250 in EventMethBase(): Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms diff=0.070ms ctr:2>>
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:3368 in EventMethEpollEquivImpl(): <<Ctr:3 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:3382 in EventMethEpollEquivImpl(): Locking emee_cptr_set_mutex_ (at 0xffff54a28308)
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) pist_check.cc:273 in ~GuardAndDbgLog(): emee_cptr_set_mutex_ (at 0xffff54a28308) unlocked, was locked eventmeth.cc:3382
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:3368 in EventMethEpollEquivImpl(): Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms diff=0.056ms ctr:3>>
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) eventmeth.cc:776 in create(): Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms diff=0.284ms ctr:1>
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) router.cc:424 in get(): <Ctr:4 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms [Pistache::Rest::Router (this) 0xffffd2497fd8]
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) router.cc:594 in addRoute(): <<Ctr:5 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms [Pistache::Rest::Router (this) 0xffffd2497fd8]
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) router.cc:594 in addRoute(): Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms diff=0.162ms ctr:5>>
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) router.cc:424 in get(): Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms diff=0.195ms ctr:4>
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:453 in bind(): <Ctr:6 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms [Pistache::Tcp::Listener (this) 0xaaaaf7a84300]
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:361 in bindListener(): <<Ctr:7 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms [Pistache::Tcp::Listener (this) 0xaaaaf7a84300]
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:375 in bindListener(): ::socket actual_fd 7
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:383 in bindListener(): actual-fd 7, fd_flags set 0x0 clear any other, fl_flags set 0x2 clear any other
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:192 in setSocketOptions(): <<<Ctr:8 Tue Jan 27 18:27:03 2026,676ms
27 19:27:03 DBG (ffff541fcca0 PSTCH) listener.cc:213 in setSocketOptions(): Set SO_REUSEADDR
free(): invalid pointer
Aborted                    ./svc

I also run tests after building pistache library, all test passed OK.

That's it quickly.

[dgreatwood]

The verbose debug runtime log/output is expected from Pistache on a debug build with libevent.

We may guess from the output that the crash (freeing of an invalid pointer) happens in Pistache::Tcp::setSocketOptions, after the attempt to do SO_REUSEADDR.

That could be caused by failed attempts to set SO_REUSEADDR, SO_REUSEPORT, SO_LINGER, TCP_FASTOPEN or TCP_NODELAY.

Are you conscious of setting any of those options?

[dgreatwood]

@nulgame, possibly related question - is your Void Linux configured with MUSL or glibc?