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Description
If the global allocator returns unaligned memory, the standard library catches it very late. Take this code:
#[global_allocator]
static GLOBAL: AccountingAllocator<mimalloc::MiMalloc> =
AccountingAllocator::new(mimalloc::MiMalloc);
#[repr(C, align(256))]
pub struct BigStruct { … }
fn collect() {
assert_eq!(align_of::<BigStruct>(), 256);
assert_eq!(size_of::<BigStruct>(), 256);
let vec: Vec<T> = std::iter::once(BigStruct{…}).collect();
dbg!(vec.as_ptr() as usize % std::mem::align_of::<T>()); // Sometimes prints 64
let slice = vec.as_slice(); // panics in debug builds with:
// 'unsafe precondition(s) violated: slice::from_raw_parts requires the pointer to be aligned and non-null, and the total size of the slice not to exceed `isize::MAX`'
}
Because of a bug in MiMalloc, the Vec
gets non-aligned memory.
This is not discovered until vec.as_slice
calls slice::from_raw_parts
which has a debug-assert.
I spent a lot of time looking for this bug before I realized it was MiMalloc that was to blame.
I suggest we add a debug-assert the standard library to check that the allocator returns aligned memory, i.e. here:
rust/library/alloc/src/raw_vec.rs
Lines 442 to 478 in 8885239
That would then report "The global allocator returned non-aligned memory", directly pointing the user at the problem, saving a lol of time for the next person.