uutils/coreutils

bug: split large -a number cause a panic

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#12,599 opened on Jun 4, 2026

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U - splitgood first issue

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Description

Hi, uutils mainateners

i tried

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ ./split -a 66542562175252
memory allocation of 66542562175252 bytes failed
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
Aborted                    (core dumped) ./split -a 66542562175252

vs the gnu version behavior

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ gnusplit -a 66542562175252

it does not panic but rust uutil version yees

Contributor guide

Research direction
Inspect the `split` command's argument parsing for the ` a` flag. Ensure the value is validated and handle overflow or excessive size gracefully, avoiding a panic.
Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
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
RustCLI basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
60