Bug#454638: libc6 unusable on kernel 2.6.9 due to opendir/O_CLOEXEC problems
Package: libc6
Version: 2.7-3
Severity: grave
Justification: renders system (mostly) unusable
Hi, I upgraded libc6 to 2.7-3 using apt-get on a system running kernel
2.6.9 with SMP (unfortunately I don't have the option of changing this
kernel, it's provided by my colo provider), and dpkg crashed with
"Unknown error 530". Subsequently, everything that scanned directories
crashed with the same error (ls, dpkg, etc.). Eventually, I found out
that the filesystem was still intact; I could cd into directories, and
ls works on the current directory. My current shell (presumably still
linked to the old shared lib) can still scan directories (`echo
/path/name/*` works). Pathnames that referenced individual files also
worked; but any new process besides my current shell that used opendir()
crashed with the same error. Then I found this:
http://www.nabble.com/-Bug-libc-5227--New:-opendir-and-O_CLOEXEC-problems-with-Linux-2.6.9-5.ELsmp-kernel-t4705183.html
It seems that glibc 2.7 has problems with opendir() and O_CLOEXEC on
kernel 2.6.9 with SMP enabled. Downgrading to glibc2.6 fixed all my
problems.
I presume libc6 2.7 works on the most recent kernels, but it's very
not-nice for people running 2.6.9 with smp to upgrade libc6 and find
their system almost completely unusable.
T
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