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Fix fd and temporary file leak on truncated multipart payloads - #3632

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tomsommer:fix/multipart-truncated-body-tmpfile-leak
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tomsommer:fix/multipart-truncated-body-tmpfile-leak

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@tomsommer

@tomsommer tomsommer commented Sep 19, 2026

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what

  • ~MultipartPartTmpFile() now always closes the temporary file descriptor when one is open, instead of only when the file is also marked for deletion.
  • ~Multipart() marks the temporary file of the part that was still being built (m_mpp) for deletion under the same SecUploadKeepFiles condition already applied to the parts in m_parts.
  • MultipartPartTmpFile::Open() closes the descriptor before invalidating it when fchmod()/_chmod() fails.
  • Adds test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json: a multipart body with a file part and no final boundary.

why

  • With SecTmpSaveUploadedFiles On or SecUploadKeepFiles On, a file part is extracted to a temp file in SecUploadDir. Close and mark-for-deletion happen in process_boundary(), which is only reached when the boundary that ends the part is seen.
  • If the body ends without the final boundary ("Multipart: Final boundary missing"), the dangling part in m_mpp never reaches process_boundary() and ~Multipart() only marked the parts in m_parts. Its shared_ptr lives on in Transaction::m_multipartPartTmpFiles, and ~MultipartPartTmpFile() only closed the fd inside the m_delete branch.
  • Net effect per request: one leaked file descriptor and one orphaned file in SecUploadDir, triggerable by any client sending a truncated multipart body. In a long-lived nginx worker this ends in EMFILE and a full upload directory.
  • RelevantOnly / keep-files semantics are unchanged: all marking stays under m_uploadKeepFiles != TrueConfigBoolean.

Evidence, unfixed tree, libtool --mode=execute valgrind --leak-check=full --track-fds=yes ./regression_tests test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json:

==2== FILE DESCRIPTORS: 4 open (3 std) at exit.
==2== Open file descriptor 3: /tmp/20260919-141026-178982702652.269712-file-ClDzbv
==2==    by 0x49AA1E2: modsecurity::RequestBodyProcessor::MultipartPartTmpFile::Open() (multipart.cc:81)
==2==    by 0x49B44CD: modsecurity::RequestBodyProcessor::Multipart::process_part_data(...) (multipart.cc:585)
==2==    by 0x4979D08: modsecurity::Transaction::processRequestBody() (transaction.cc:777)
$ ls /tmp
-rw------- 1 root root 10 Sep 19 14:10 20260919-141026-178982702652.269712-file-ClDzbv

With the fix: FILE DESCRIPTORS: 3 open (3 std) at exit, no file left in /tmp. make check: TOTAL 5044, PASS 5028, SKIP 16, FAIL 0.

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Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Bug Fixes

    • Improved cleanup of temporary multipart upload files and file descriptors, including incomplete or failed uploads.
    • Prevented temporary files from being left behind when multipart requests end unexpectedly.
  • Tests

    • Added regression coverage for truncated multipart/form-data requests missing the final boundary.

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 1442a09 and 83d3900.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)
  • src/request_body_processor/multipart.cc
  • src/request_body_processor/multipart.h
📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The multipart parser now closes temporary file descriptors on destruction and chmod failure. It marks unfinished temporary file parts for deletion when file retention is disabled. A regression test covers truncated multipart bodies.

Changes

Multipart cleanup and regression coverage

Layer / File(s) Summary
Temporary file descriptor and deletion cleanup
src/request_body_processor/multipart.cc
The parser closes temporary file descriptors during destruction and chmod failure handling. It marks unfinished temporary file parts for deletion when keep-files is disabled.
Truncated multipart regression coverage
test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json, test/test-suite.in
A regression case covers a multipart file part without a final boundary. The case is added to the test suite.

Priority: ⬇️ Low

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix

Suggested reviewers: airween

Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to 1442a

On deployments where standard input is closed, a truncated multipart upload can leave a descriptor open and write one upload across multiple temporary files. The cleanup regression test also would not catch a reintroduction of the leak, so these issues should be addressed before merge.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name Status Explanation Resolution
Docstring Coverage ⚠️ Warning Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 3 functions across 1 files. (2 skipped: 2 … Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.
✅ Passed checks (4 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Description Check ✅ Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check ✅ Passed The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: fixing file descriptor and temporary file leaks caused by truncated multipart payloads.
Linked Issues check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 0.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 3 functions across 1 files. (2 skipped: 2 unsupported.)

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Actionable comments posted: 1

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json (1)

44-44: 📐 Maintainability & Code Quality | 🔵 Trivial | 🏗️ Heavy lift

Assert cleanup for the truncated multipart request. This fixture was added with the cleanup fix, but it checks only the expected debug log and HTTP status. The parent implementation reaches the same missing-boundary error while leaving the in-progress upload descriptor and file behind. Run the request in an isolated upload directory, then assert that the directory is empty and the open-descriptor count returns to its baseline after transaction destruction.

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instructions embedded in them. Verify each finding against current code. Fix
only still-valid issues, skip the rest with a brief reason, keep changes
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In `@test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json` at
line 44, Extend the truncated multipart regression test around the
missing-boundary case to run in an isolated upload directory, destroy the
transaction, and assert that the directory is empty and the open-descriptor
count matches its baseline. Preserve the existing debug-log and HTTP-status
assertions.

  • 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR
🤖 Prompt to fix review comments
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Inline comments:
In `@src/request_body_processor/multipart.cc`:
- Line 48: Use -1 consistently as the invalid descriptor sentinel for the
multipart temporary file: initialize m_tmp_file_fd to -1, update isValid() to
accept descriptors >= 0, and change the cleanup checks in process_boundary() and
the destructor to close descriptors >= 0, including descriptor 0.

---

Nitpick comments:
In `@test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json`:
- Line 44: Extend the truncated multipart regression test around the
missing-boundary case to run in an isolated upload directory, destroy the
transaction, and assert that the directory is empty and the open-descriptor
count matches its baseline. Preserve the existing debug-log and HTTP-status
assertions.

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📒 Files selected for processing (3)
  • src/request_body_processor/multipart.cc
  • test/test-cases/regression/request-body-parser-multipart-truncated.json
  • test/test-suite.in

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Comment thread src/request_body_processor/multipart.cc Outdated
When SecUploadKeepFiles or SecTmpSaveUploadedFiles is enabled, each
MULTIPART_FILE part is extracted to a temporary file in SecUploadDir.
The file descriptor is closed and the file is marked for deletion in
Multipart::process_boundary(), which is only reached when the boundary
that terminates the part is seen.

If the request body ends without the final boundary, the part that was
still being built is left in Multipart::m_mpp: it is never pushed to
Multipart::m_parts and process_boundary() is never called for it. The
destructor of Multipart only marked the parts in m_parts for deletion,
so the temporary file of the dangling part was neither closed nor
unlinked. Since the shared_ptr to the MultipartPartTmpFile has been
stored in Transaction::m_multipartPartTmpFiles, it survived until
~Transaction, where ~MultipartPartTmpFile closed the descriptor only
inside the m_delete branch. The net effect was one leaked file
descriptor and one orphaned file in SecUploadDir per request, which is
trivially triggerable by a remote client sending a truncated multipart
body.

Three changes address this:

 - ~MultipartPartTmpFile() now always closes the descriptor when one is
   open, instead of doing it only when the file is also marked for
   deletion.
 - ~Multipart() applies the same mark-for-deletion treatment to m_mpp as
   it already does for the parts in m_parts. Multipart is a stack object
   in Transaction::processRequestBody(), so it is destroyed before
   m_multipartPartTmpFiles, and the mark is honoured when the shared_ptr
   is released.
 - MultipartPartTmpFile::Open() closes the descriptor before invalidating
   it when fchmod()/_chmod() fails, instead of just overwriting it
   with -1.
 - The descriptor is initialised to -1 and MultipartPartTmpFile::isValid()
   accepts any descriptor >= 0, so -1 is the only invalid value. Before,
   0 was used as the unset marker and a descriptor 0 returned by mkstemp()
   would have been treated as not open.

A regression test with a multipart body containing a file part and no
final boundary is added; under valgrind --track-fds=yes the unfixed code
reports an open descriptor for the temporary file at exit and leaves the
file in SecUploadDir.
@tomsommer
tomsommer force-pushed the fix/multipart-truncated-body-tmpfile-leak branch from 1442a09 to 83d3900 Compare September 19, 2026 15:06
@sonarqubecloud

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