document usage of BIND9 constructors/destructors

Document the way `__attribute__((__constructor__))` and
`__attribute__((__destructor__))` must be used in BIND9 libraries in
order to avoid unexpected behaviors with other third-party libraries.
This commit is contained in:
Colin Vidal 2025-12-04 14:02:01 +01:00
parent 15aa160e2e
commit c3b7b56dd0
2 changed files with 32 additions and 0 deletions

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@ -11,6 +11,10 @@
* information regarding copyright ownership.
*/
/*
* See `lib/isc/include/isc/lib.h` README
*/
#pragma once
#include <stdlib.h>

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@ -11,6 +11,34 @@
* information regarding copyright ownership.
*/
/*
* BIND9 constructor/destructor README
* -----------------------------------
*
* A function tagged with `__attribute__((__destructor__))` is called right
* after `main()` returns (or `exit()` is called; see `man atexit` for more
* details). However is a valid assumption _only_ if the function is defined
* inside the binary.
*
* If the function is defined as part of a shared library, it will
* be called only when the library is unloaded by the OS linker. There is no
* way to control the order in which two destructor functions "A" and "B" are
* called if they are defined in separate libraries, because it depends
* on the order in which the OS linker unloads the libraries.
*
* As a consequence, all contructor/destructor functions of BIND9 must be
* defined in `lib/<lib>/include/<lib>/lib.h` header and such header must be
* included in each binaries (in each C file defining `main()`) and must not be
* included in any library.
*
* Otherwise, there might be interference. For example, LSAN which could run
* before the BIND9 destructor functions have cleaned up remaining non-root
* memory.
*
* The order of the calls between the BIND9 constructors/destructors is enforced
* by a reference counter in the `<lib>__lib_{initialize,shutdown}` functions.
*/
#pragma once
#include <isc/util.h>