Root Allocator doesn't release memory when its closed

Start with the supplied ArrowOnlyParquetMemoryRepro and the scanColumn method, then reproduce the RSS growth while closing each RootAllocator. Trace allocator ownership through FileSystemDatasetFactory, Dataset, Scanner, and ArrowReader. Done means repeated scans release their allocated memory after the try-with-resources scopes close and the observed RSS no longer grows unexpectedly.

Describe the bug, including details regarding any error messages, version, and platform.

There is a bug in the root allocator where it doesn't release the memory when it's closed. Attached the sample code that prints the RSS memory.

I ran this code with the following jvm params

--add-opens=java.base/java.nio=ALL-UNNAMED -Xms1g -Xmx1g -XX:+AlwaysPreTouch

Code

public final class ArrowOnlyParquetMemoryRepro {

  private static final long ARROW_MEMORY_LIMIT_BYTES = 100L * 1024L * 1024L; // 100 MB
  private static final int ARROW_BATCH_SIZE_ROWS = 1024 * 1024; // 1 million rows

  private ArrowOnlyParquetMemoryRepro() {
  }

  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    // Parse arguments
    File parquetFile = null;
    List<String> scanCols = null;

    for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
      if ("--path".equals(args[i]) && i + 1 < args.length) {
        parquetFile = new File(args[i + 1]);
      } else if ("--scanCols".equals(args[i]) && i + 1 < args.length) {
        scanCols = parseCsv(args[i + 1]);
      }
    }

    if (parquetFile == null || scanCols == null || scanCols.isEmpty()) {
      System.err.println("Usage: ArrowOnlyParquetMemoryRepro --path <file.parquet> --scanCols <col1,col2,...>");
      System.exit(1);
    }

    if (!parquetFile.exists() || !parquetFile.isFile()) {
      System.err.println("File does not exist: " + parquetFile.getAbsolutePath());
      System.exit(1);
    }

    log("config", "file=" + parquetFile.getAbsolutePath() + " cols=" + scanCols);
    logRss("start");

    // Scan each column
    for (String col : scanCols) {
      logRss("before_scan:" + col);
      scanColumn(parquetFile, col);
      logRss("after_scan:" + col);
    }

    logRss("end");

    // Force GC and observe RSS
    System.gc();
    Thread.sleep(1000);
    logRss("after_gc");

    // Keep process alive for external memory inspection (e.g., via `ps` or `/proc/<pid>/status`)
    log("info", "Process will now sleep. Use 'ps -o rss,pid,command' or 'cat /proc/<pid>/status' to inspect RSS.");
    while (true) {
      Thread.sleep(60_000);
      System.gc();
      logRss("sleeping");
    }
  }

  private static void scanColumn(File parquetFile, String col) throws Exception {
    long rowsScanned = 0;

    try (RootAllocator allocator = new RootAllocator(ARROW_MEMORY_LIMIT_BYTES);
        DatasetFactory datasetFactory = new FileSystemDatasetFactory(
            allocator, NativeMemoryPool.getDefault(), FileFormat.PARQUET, parquetFile.toURI().toString());
        Dataset dataset = datasetFactory.finish()) {

      ScanOptions options = new ScanOptions.Builder(ARROW_BATCH_SIZE_ROWS)
          .columns(Optional.of(new String[]{col}))
          .build();

      try (Scanner scanner = dataset.newScan(options);
          ArrowReader reader = scanner.scanBatches()) {
        while (reader.loadNextBatch()) {
          VectorSchemaRoot root = reader.getVectorSchemaRoot();
          if (root == null || root.getFieldVectors().isEmpty()) {
            continue;
          }
          FieldVector vector = root.getVector(col);
          if (vector == null) {
            log("warn", "Column not found in file: " + col);
            return;
          }
          int rowCount = root.getRowCount();
          // Access values to ensure they're materialized
          for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++) {
            vector.getObject(i);
          }
          rowsScanned += rowCount;
        }
      }
    }

    log("scan", "col=" + col + " rowsScanned=" + rowsScanned);
  }

  private static List<String> parseCsv(String csv) {
    List<String> result = new ArrayList<>();
    for (String part : csv.split(",")) {
      String trimmed = part.trim();
      if (!trimmed.isEmpty()) {
        result.add(trimmed);
      }
    }
    return result;
  }

  private static void logRss(String phase) {
    long rssKb = readRssKb();
    if (rssKb < 0) {
      log("rss", "phase=" + phase + " rssKb=N/A (not on Linux)");
    } else {
      log("rss", "phase=" + phase + " rssKb=" + rssKb + " rssMb=" + (rssKb / 1024));
    }
  }

  private static long readRssKb() {
    File status = new File("/proc/self/status");
    if (!status.exists()) {
      return -1;
    }
    try (BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new FileReader(status, StandardCharsets.UTF_8))) {
      String line;
      while ((line = br.readLine()) != null) {
        if (line.startsWith("VmRSS:")) {
          String[] parts = line.trim().split("\\s+");
          if (parts.length >= 2) {
            return Long.parseLong(parts[1]);
          }
        }
      }
      return -1;
    } catch (Exception e) {
      return -1;
    }
  }

  private static void log(String tag, String msg) {
    System.out.println("[" + tag + "] " + msg);
  }
}

This is the output

[rss] phase=start rssKb=1121340 rssMb=1095
[rss] phase=before_scan:col_name rssKb=1121808 rssMb=1095
2026-01-08T10:58:01,040 INFO  [main] org.apache.arrow.memory.BaseAllocator - Debug mode disabled. Enable with the VM option -Darrow.memory.debug.allocator=true.
2026-01-08T10:58:01,049 INFO  [main] org.apache.arrow.memory.DefaultAllocationManagerOption - allocation manager type not specified, using netty as the default type
2026-01-08T10:58:01,076 INFO  [main] org.apache.arrow.memory.CheckAllocator - Using DefaultAllocationManager at <class name>
[scan] col=col_name rowsScanned=2734751
[rss] phase=after_scan:col_name rssKb=1313364 rssMb=1282
[rss] phase=before_scan:col_name rssKb=1313364 rssMb=1282
[scan] col=col_name rowsScanned=2734751
[rss] phase=after_scan:col_name rssKb=1331144 rssMb=1299
[rss] phase=before_scan:col_name rssKb=1331144 rssMb=1299
[scan] col=col_name rowsScanned=2734751
[rss] phase=after_scan:col_name rssKb=1338228 rssMb=1306
[rss] phase=end rssKb=1338228 rssMb=1306
[rss] phase=after_gc rssKb=1338228 rssMb=1306
[info] Process will now sleep. Use 'ps -o rss,pid,command' or 'cat /proc/<pid>/status' to inspect RSS.
[rss] phase=sleeping rssKb=1338228 rssMb=1306