[rt-users] Coredumps, traceback, etc : 4.2.6 and RT-Authen-ExternalAuth

[Alex Vandiver]

On 08/01/2014 03:14 PM, Jeff Blaine wrote:
> RHEL 6.5
> RT 4.2.6
> RT-Authen-ExternalAuth 0.21 with SSL + TLS on.
> 
> Using CPAN to install a more modern one, 1.65, results in httpd dumping
> core at restart time.

A support customer recently reported this to us, with enough details to
replicate it; I've released RT::Authen::ExternalAuth 0.23 which should
address segfaults when run under mod_perl.

The bottom line to the failure is that Plack, the tool that RT uses to
be run identically under mod_perl, fast_cgi, and standalone, hides the
fact that it is running under mod_perl during startup; this is because
some modules act overzealously when they notice.  Unfortunately,
Net::SSLeay needs to know if it is running under mod_perl during server
startup, or it fails to acquire the correct locks before initializing
OpenSSL's global state.

The fix is to not load Net::SSLeay during server startup;
RT::Authen::ExternalAuth 0.23 removes the unnecessary
$ExternalServiceUsesSSLorTLS option which did so.  Fixing Plack to not
hide the mod_perl nature of the server is a more complex project which
we're still investigating, as it will solve the more general case of
this problem.
 - Alex