broken session id code can cause zend_mm_heap corrupted

Description

The following code:

<?
ob_start();
class a extends SessionHandler {
    function open($d, $name): bool {
        return parent::open($d, $name);
    }
    function read($b): string {
        return "";
    }
    function create_sid(): string {
        return pathinfo(session_id())['filename'];
    }
}
$c = new a;
session_set_save_handler($c);
session_start();
session_write_close();
session_start();

Resulted in this output (~30% of the time):

zend_mm_heap corrupted
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

But I expected this output instead (this already happens ~70% of the time):

Warning: SessionHandler::write(): Session ID is too long or contains illegal characters. Only the A-Z, a-z, 0-9, "-", and "," characters are allowed in /tmp/bug.php on line 17

Warning: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: , handler: a::write) in /tmp/bug.php on line 17

Warning: SessionHandler::write(): Session ID is too long or contains illegal characters. Only the A-Z, a-z, 0-9, "-", and "," characters are allowed in Unknown on line 0

Warning: session_write_close(): Failed to write session data using user defined save handler. (session.save_path: , handler: a::write) in Unknown on line 0

PHP Version

PHP 8.5.9 (cli) (built: Aug  3 2026 17:04:37) (NTS DEBUG)
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.5.9, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Zend OPcache v8.5.9, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

Also triggers on newest trunk https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/588dd04

Operating System

Ubuntu 24.04

Straightforward:

diff --git a/ext/session/session.c b/ext/session/session.c
index ba71d709a53..6380505ae95 100644
--- a/ext/session/session.c
+++ b/ext/session/session.c
@@ -443,6 +443,7 @@ static zend_result php_session_initialize(void) /* {{{ */
 	if (!PS(id) || !ZSTR_VAL(PS(id))[0]) {
 		if (PS(id)) {
 			zend_string_release_ex(PS(id), 0);
+			PS(id) = NULL;
 		}
 		PS(id) = PS(mod)->s_create_sid(&PS(mod_data));
 		if (!PS(id)) {
@@ -460,6 +461,7 @@ static zend_result php_session_initialize(void) /* {{{ */
 	) {
 		if (PS(id)) {
 			zend_string_release_ex(PS(id), 0);
+			PS(id) = NULL;
 		}
 		PS(id) = PS(mod)->s_create_sid(&PS(mod_data));
 		if (!PS(id)) {
@@ -2440,6 +2442,7 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(session_regenerate_id)
 			/* Try to generate non-existing ID */
 			while (limit-- && PS(mod)->s_validate_sid(&PS(mod_data), PS(id)) == SUCCESS) {
 				zend_string_release_ex(PS(id), 0);
+				PS(id) = NULL;
 				PS(id) = PS(mod)->s_create_sid(&PS(mod_data));
 				if (!PS(id)) {
 					PS(mod)->s_close(&PS(mod_data));

Or if the old (invalid) session id must remain visible until after the call, then PS(id) must be stored in a local and released after the call. However, since the id is either missing or invalid at the point of the call, I presume that the above patch suffices.

Merge branch 'PHP-8.5'

Fix phpGH-23043: broken session id code can cause zend_mm_heap corrupted

Merge branch 'PHP-8.4' into PHP-8.5

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broken session id code can cause zend_mm_heap corrupted #23043

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broken session id code can cause zend_mm_heap corrupted #23043

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ndossche commented on Aug 4, 2026

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