Re: Setting IFS='*' causes bash to freeze on tab completion

[Chet Ramey]

On 7/1/16 8:23 AM, Ibrahim M. Ghazal wrote:

> Bash Version: 4.3
> Patch Level: 42
> Release Status: release
> 
> Description:
> If you set IFS='*' in an interactive shell, then try to use tab
> completion, bash freezes and doesn't respond to any keyboard input.
> Running top from a different bash instance shows the first bash is
> consuming 100% CPU. The only way to kill it is by kill -9.
> 
> Repeat-By:
> 1- Start an interactive bash.
> 2- IFS='*'
> 3- Type echo followed by space and then press tab twice.
> 4- Bash freezes.

This is not a problem with bash; it is a bug in the bash-completion
package.  You might consider filing a bug report with those package
maintainers or with your vendor.  (They might tell you that the
assignment to IFS was not a wise thing to do.)

Chet
-- 
``The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne.'' - Chaucer
                 ``Ars longa, vita brevis'' - Hippocrates
Chet Ramey, ITS, CWRU    chet@case.edu    http://cnswww.cns.cwru.edu/~chet/