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fix: fix launch crash when null device is disabled on Windows #44882

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fix: fix launch crash when null device is disabled on Windows #44882

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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions docs/api/command-line-switches.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -177,6 +177,11 @@ Disables the Chromium [sandbox](https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-docum
Forces renderer process and Chromium helper processes to run un-sandboxed.
Should only be used for testing.

### --no-stdio-init

Disable stdio initialization during node initialization.
Used to avoid node initialization crash when the nul device is disabled on Windows platform.

### --proxy-bypass-list=`hosts`

Instructs Electron to bypass the proxy server for the given semi-colon-separated
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29 changes: 25 additions & 4 deletions shell/app/node_main.cc
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -32,6 +32,8 @@
#include "shell/common/node_bindings.h"
#include "shell/common/node_includes.h"
#include "shell/common/node_util.h"
#include "shell/common/options_switches.h"
#include "shell/common/platform_util.h"

#if BUILDFLAG(IS_WIN)
#include "chrome/child/v8_crashpad_support_win.h"
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -180,14 +182,33 @@ int NodeMain() {
NodeBindings::RegisterBuiltinBindings();

// Parse Node.js cli flags and strip out disallowed options.
const std::vector<std::string> args = ElectronCommandLine::AsUtf8();
std::vector<std::string> args = ElectronCommandLine::AsUtf8();
ExitIfContainsDisallowedFlags(args);

uint64_t process_flags =
node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoInitializeV8 |
node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoInitializeNodeV8Platform;

base::CommandLine* command_line = base::CommandLine::ForCurrentProcess();
if (command_line->HasSwitch(switches::kNoStdioInit)) {
process_flags |= node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoStdioInitialization;
// remove the option to avoid node error "bad option: --no-stdio-init"
std::string option = std::string("--") + switches::kNoStdioInit;
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@t13m t13m Jul 1, 2025 •
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Hi @yangllu , thanks for your work. I've tried this patch once, here is what I found:

it seems that in a windows machine without NUL device, the main process works normally, but the nodejs integrated with renderer processes still don't work, though --no-stdio-init is provided from command line. maybe the reason is that the command line flag is erased here.

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Good catch, very likely need to pass the flag in

electron/shell/browser/electron_browser_client.cc

Line 554 in af39dcf

if (process_type == ::switches::kRendererProcess) {

std::erase(args, option);
} else {
#if BUILDFLAG(IS_WIN)
if (!platform_util::IsNulDeviceEnabled()) {
LOG(FATAL) << "Fail to open nul device and node initialization may "
"crash! Try using --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;
Comment on lines +201 to +203
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Suggested change
LOG(FATAL) << "Fail to open nul device and node initialization may "
"crash! Try using --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;
LOG(FATAL) << "Unable to open nul device needed for initialization, aborting startup. As a workaround, try starting with --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;

}
#endif
}

std::shared_ptr<node::InitializationResult> result =
node::InitializeOncePerProcess(
args,
{node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoInitializeV8,
node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoInitializeNodeV8Platform});
args, static_cast<node::ProcessInitializationFlags::Flags>(
process_flags));

for (const std::string& error : result->errors())
fprintf(stderr, "%s: %s\n", args[0].c_str(), error.c_str());
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions shell/browser/api/electron_api_utility_process.cc
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Expand Up @@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ UtilityProcessWrapper::UtilityProcessWrapper(
OPEN_EXISTING, 0, nullptr);
if (handle == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
PLOG(ERROR) << "Failed to create null handle";
Emit("error", "Failed to create null handle for ignoring stdio");
return;
}
if (io_handle == IOHandle::STDOUT) {
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15 changes: 15 additions & 0 deletions shell/common/node_bindings.cc
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Expand Up @@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
#include "shell/common/mac/main_application_bundle.h"
#include "shell/common/node_includes.h"
#include "shell/common/node_util.h"
#include "shell/common/options_switches.h"
#include "shell/common/platform_util.h"
#include "shell/common/process_util.h"
#include "shell/common/world_ids.h"
#include "third_party/blink/public/web/web_local_frame.h"
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -568,6 +570,19 @@ void NodeBindings::Initialize(v8::Local<v8::Context> context) {
if (!fuses::IsNodeOptionsEnabled())
process_flags |= node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kDisableNodeOptionsEnv;

base::CommandLine* command_line = base::CommandLine::ForCurrentProcess();
if (command_line->HasSwitch(switches::kNoStdioInit)) {
process_flags |= node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoStdioInitialization;
} else {
#if BUILDFLAG(IS_WIN)
if (!platform_util::IsNulDeviceEnabled()) {
LOG(FATAL) << "Fail to open nul device and node initialization may "
"crash! Try using --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;
Comment on lines +579 to +581
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Suggested change
LOG(FATAL) << "Fail to open nul device and node initialization may "
"crash! Try using --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;
LOG(FATAL) << "Unable to open nul device needed for initialization, aborting startup. As a workaround, try starting with --"
<< switches::kNoStdioInit;

}
#endif
}

std::shared_ptr<node::InitializationResult> result =
node::InitializeOncePerProcess(
args,
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4 changes: 4 additions & 0 deletions shell/common/options_switches.h
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Expand Up @@ -288,6 +288,10 @@ inline constexpr base::cstring_view kEnableAuthNegotiatePort =
// If set, NTLM v2 is disabled for POSIX platforms.
inline constexpr base::cstring_view kDisableNTLMv2 = "disable-ntlm-v2";

// If set, flag node::ProcessInitializationFlags::kNoStdioInitialization would
// be set for node initialization.
inline constexpr base::cstring_view kNoStdioInit = "no-stdio-init";

} // namespace switches

} // namespace electron
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3 changes: 3 additions & 0 deletions shell/common/platform_util.h
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Expand Up @@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ void Beep();
#if BUILDFLAG(IS_WIN)
// SHGetFolderPath calls not covered by Chromium
bool GetFolderPath(int key, base::FilePath* result);

// Check if nul device can be used.
bool IsNulDeviceEnabled();
#endif

#if BUILDFLAG(IS_MAC)
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14 changes: 14 additions & 0 deletions shell/common/platform_util_win.cc
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Expand Up @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
#include <comdef.h>
#include <commdlg.h>
#include <dwmapi.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <io.h>
#include <objbase.h>
#include <shellapi.h>
#include <shlobj.h>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -450,4 +452,16 @@ void Beep() {
MessageBeep(MB_OK);
}

bool IsNulDeviceEnabled() {
bool ret = true;
int fd = _open("nul", _O_RDWR);
if (fd < 0) {
ret = false;
} else {
ret = true;
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Suggested change
ret = true;

_close(fd);
}
return ret;
}

} // namespace platform_util