dotnet/msbuild

Prevent infinite recursion in Solution parser when a project is nested under itself

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#1,599 opened on Jan 22, 2017

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Area: Solution (.sln)help wantedtriaged

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Description

We don't check for invalid project nestings in the solution file, so it's possible to create a solution that crashes MSBuild with stack overflow:

https://github.com/Microsoft/msbuild/blob/xplat/src/XMakeBuildEngine/Construction/Solution/ProjectInSolution.cs#L393

An example solution is: https://github.com/dotnet/corefx/blob/f6ab339f446e37505f93ef9f430801fa1dcc05b8/src/System.Collections.Immutable/System.Collections.Immutable.sln#L40-L41

Note that we should check for indirect recursion as well (loops).

Contributor guide

Research direction
Inspect the ProjectInSolution.cs file around line 393 (linked in the issue) and trace how projects are parsed. Implement cycle detection using a visited set or topological sort to prevent infinite recursion.
Tech stack
csharp
Domain
build system
Issue type
Bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
C#MSBuild solution file format
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50