[ruby-core:124645] [Ruby Bug#21854] ruby-prof breaks on 4.0.1

30 Jan 2026

      Issue #21854 has been updated by jhawthorn (John Hawthorn).
...
Do you have a recommendation for what ruby-prof should do instead? ~~ Maybe it is simple as listen only for NEWOBJ?~~ This feature was added to ruby-prof 7 years ago, so I would prefer not to all of a sudden yank it out.
Did it ever work correctly though? Testing ruby-prof 1.7.2 on Ruby 3.4.7...

```
def a; "a" * 280; end
def b; "b" * 10_000; end
profile = RubyProf.profile(measure_mode: RubyProf::MEMORY) { a;b;a;b }
RubyProf::GraphPrinter.new(profile).print
```

```
Measure Mode: memory
Thread ID: 38472
Fiber ID: 38464
Total Time: 882.0
Sort by: total_time

  %total   %self      total       self       wait      child            calls     name                          location
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 100.00%   0.00%    882.000      0.000      0.000    882.000                1     [global]#                      (irb):19
                    720.000     80.000      0.000    640.000              2/2     Object#a
                    162.000     80.000      0.000     82.000              2/2     Object#b
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     82.000     82.000      0.000      0.000              2/4     Object#b
                    640.000    640.000      0.000      0.000              2/4     Object#a
  81.86%  81.86%    722.000    722.000      0.000      0.000                4     String#*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    720.000     80.000      0.000    640.000              2/2     [global]#
  81.63%   9.07%    720.000     80.000      0.000    640.000                2     Object#a                       (irb):17
                    640.000    640.000      0.000      0.000              2/4     String#*
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    162.000     80.000      0.000     82.000              2/2     [global]#
  18.37%   9.07%    162.000     80.000      0.000     82.000                2     Object#b                       (irb):18
                     82.000     82.000      0.000      0.000              2/4     String#*
```

This profile suggests that method `a` allocated 640 bytes, which is correct (it allocates two 320 byte objects, as those can hold the 280 byte strings plus metadata). But it incorrectly suggests that method `b` allocated 82 bytes (it does allocate two 40 byte objects, but the bulk of that 10000 byte string comes from malloc memory... I have no idea where the extra two bytes come from).

We could also consider this example of why even if NEWOBJ received full initialized objects (which it never has), it can't report all memory allocated:

```
a = [] # NEWOBJ for one allocation, 40 bytes
10_000_000.times { a << nil } # NEWOBJ is never fired here, but we allocate 80+MB via malloc
a.clear # empty it for good measure so that we can't even see it on FREEOBJ
```

What are you hoping to measure? To me memsize makes sense when trying to estimate the size of all retained objects at a certain point (to reduce memory usage), but I'm not sure of the utility of measuring allocated bytes as a rate or total. Most Ruby profilers measure the number of allocated objects (incrementing by one when the NEWOBJ hook is fired, or using GC.stat), as that's a reasonable (though also flawed) proxy of how often GC will run. I think that usage is likely to remain safe.

----------------------------------------
Bug #21854: ruby-prof breaks on 4.0.1
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/21854#change-116234

* Author: cfis (Charlie Savage)
* Status: Third Party's Issue
* ruby -v: ruby 4.0.1 (2026-01-13 revision e04267a14b) +PRISM [x64-mswin64_140]
* Backport: 3.2: UNKNOWN, 3.3: UNKNOWN, 3.4: UNKNOWN, 4.0: UNKNOWN
----------------------------------------
ruby-prof breaks on 4.0.x with segmentation faults. See failing github pipelines:

https://github.com/ruby-prof/ruby-prof/actions/runs/21465420365/job/61826466...

(note the failures for ruby 3.x are some test that fail, not segmentation faults).

Tracking this down, I focused on the `measure_memory_test.rb` file. I have attached the traceback below. What is happening is:

* Get a tracearg event (https://github.com/ruby-prof/ruby-prof/blob/master/ext/ruby_prof/rp_profile....)
* Get a measurement - time, memory, etc. - https://github.com/ruby-prof/ruby-prof/blob/master/ext/ruby_prof/rp_measurem...
* Get the tracearg object - https://github.com/ruby-prof/ruby-prof/blob/master/ext/ruby_prof/rp_measure_...
* Call rb_obj_memsize_of - https://github.com/ruby-prof/ruby-prof/blob/master/ext/ruby_prof/rp_measure_...
* For a T_DATA object you end up in in gc.c
...
case T_DATA:
  size += rb_objspace_data_type_memsize(obj);
  break;
`rb_objspace_data_type_memsize` causes a segmentation fault.

Running in a debugger, with a breakpoing set in `rb_objspace_data_type_memsize`:

``` c
RTYPEDDATA_TYPE(obj)
0x332d747365676964 {wrap_struct_name=??? function={dmark=??? dfree=??? dsize=??? ...} parent=??? ...}
    wrap_struct_name: <Unable to read memory>
    function: {dmark=??? dfree=??? dsize=??? ...}
    parent: <Unable to read memory>
    data: <Unable to read memory>
    flags: <Unable to read memory>

```

The tracearg type is `RUBY_INTERNAL_EVENT_NEWOBJ`.

Here is the traceback. This is from a MSVC build, but you can see in the gitlab pipelines the same happens on Ubuntu.

```bash
-- C level backtrace information -------------------------------------------
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll(NtWaitForSingleObject+0x14) [0x00007FF817DA1C44]
C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNELBASE.dll(WaitForSingleObjectEx+0xaf) [0x00007FF814F2BC5F]
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_print_backtrace+0x3e) [0x00007FFEEBB01F92] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_dump.c:1129
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_bugreport+0x223) [0x00007FFEEBB021BB] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_dump.c:1453
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_bug_for_fatal_signal+0x75) [0x00007FFEEB9BE779] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\error.c:1131
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(sigsegv+0x3d) [0x00007FFEEBAFAF91] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\signal.c:948
C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll(seh_filter_exe+0x84) [0x00007FF81591E8A4]
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\ruby.exe(`__scrt_common_main_seh'::`1'::filt$0+0x16) [0x00007FF7B95D1B4C] D:\a\_work\1\s\src\vctools\crt\vcstartup\src\startup\exe_common.inl:304
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\VCRUNTIME140.dll(_C_specific_handler+0x9d) [0x00007FFFF400F55D]
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll(_chkstk+0x9f) [0x00007FF817DA62FF]
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll(RtlLocateExtendedFeature+0x597) [0x00007FF817C52327]
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ntdll.dll(KiUserExceptionDispatcher+0x2e) [0x00007FF817DA5C3E]
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_obj_memsize_of+0x1dc) [0x00007FFEEB9A2C8C] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\gc.c:2351
C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\ruby_prof.so(measure_memory+0x51) [0x00007FFFA8427161] C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\rp_measure_memory.c:23
C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\ruby_prof.so(prof_measure+0x1a) [0x00007FFFA8425D8A] C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\rp_measurement.c:38
C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\ruby_prof.so(prof_event_hook+0x43) [0x00007FFFA842AC23] C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\rp_profile.c:200
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(tp_call_trace+0x26) [0x00007FFEEBA41E12] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_trace.c:1300
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(exec_hooks_body+0x74) [0x00007FFEEBA3FCA4] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_trace.c:457
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_exec_event_hooks+0x4a) [0x00007FFEEBA40326] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_trace.c:543
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_gc_event_hook+0xc1) [0x00007FFEEB99DE35] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\gc.c:241
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(newobj_of+0x17c) [0x00007FFEEB99C348] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\gc.c:1014
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(typed_data_alloc+0xb6) [0x00007FFEEB9A565A] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\gc.c:1102
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_data_typed_object_zalloc+0x3b) [0x00007FFEEB99D877] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\gc.c:1125
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_managed_id_table_create+0x21) [0x00007FFEEBA2AF2D] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\id_table.c:375
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(callable_method_entry_or_negative+0x299) [0x00007FFEEB9C434D] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_method.c:1918
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(callable_method_entry+0x9) [0x00007FFEEB9C4081] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_method.c:1937
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_populate_cc+0x2a) [0x00007FFEEB9E1CF2] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:2155
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_search_method_slowpath+0x7d) [0x00007FFEEB9D0D21] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:2299
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_search_method_slowpath0+0x20) [0x00007FFEEB9E261C] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:2321
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_sendish+0x14e) [0x00007FFEEB9E2B2E] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:6123
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_exec_core+0x1f41) [0x00007FFEEB9DCA85] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_exec.c:101
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_exec+0x101) [0x00007FFEEB9CF7C9] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:2801
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(invoke_block_from_c_bh+0x2eb) [0x00007FFEEB9C688B] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1834
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_yield_with_cref+0x93) [0x00007FFEEB9E41BF] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1874
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_yield+0x55) [0x00007FFEEB9D1125] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_eval.c:1380
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_protect+0x14a) [0x00007FFEEB9B8DFA] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval.c:1127
C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\ruby_prof.so(prof_profile_instance+0x58) [0x00007FFFA842C128] C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\rp_profile.c:820
C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\ruby_prof.so(prof_profile_class+0x2f) [0x00007FFFA842C19F] C:\Source\ruby-prof\ext\ruby_prof\rp_profile.c:845
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame_+0x14a) [0x00007FFEEB9D52DA] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3904
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame+0x29) [0x00007FFEEB9D5189] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3949
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_other+0xbc) [0x00007FFEEB9D5154] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3976
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc+0x103) [0x00007FFEEB9D4E67] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:4057
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_method_each_type+0x67b) [0x00007FFEEB9D7503] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:4888
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_method+0x14c) [0x00007FFEEB9D6E68] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:5052
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_sendish+0x163) [0x00007FFEEB9E2B43] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:6134
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_exec_core+0x1f41) [0x00007FFEEB9DCA85] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_exec.c:101
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_exec+0x101) [0x00007FFEEB9CF7C9] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:2801
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(invoke_block_from_c_bh+0x2eb) [0x00007FFEEB9C688B] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1834
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_yield_with_cref+0x93) [0x00007FFEEB9E41BF] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1874
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_yield+0x55) [0x00007FFEEB9D1125] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_eval.c:1380
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_ary_each+0x7f) [0x00007FFEEBA1A083] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\array.c:2754
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame_+0x14a) [0x00007FFEEB9D52DA] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3904
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame+0x29) [0x00007FFEEB9D5189] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3949
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_sendish+0x163) [0x00007FFEEB9E2B43] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:6134
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_exec_core+0x1f41) [0x00007FFEEB9DCA85] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_exec.c:101
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_exec+0x101) [0x00007FFEEB9CF7C9] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:2801
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(invoke_block_from_c_bh+0x2eb) [0x00007FFEEB9C688B] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1834
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_yield_with_cref+0x93) [0x00007FFEEB9E41BF] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1874
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_yield+0x55) [0x00007FFEEB9D1125] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_eval.c:1380
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_ary_collect+0xa4) [0x00007FFEEBA18F38] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\array.c:3767
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame_+0x14a) [0x00007FFEEB9D52DA] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3904
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_call_cfunc_with_frame+0x29) [0x00007FFEEB9D5189] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:3949
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_sendish+0x163) [0x00007FFEEB9E2B43] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_insnhelper.c:6134
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_exec_core+0x1f41) [0x00007FFEEB9DCA85] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm_exec.c:101
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_exec+0x101) [0x00007FFEEB9CF7C9] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:2801
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(vm_invoke_proc+0x304) [0x00007FFEEB9DF6D8] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1944
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_vm_invoke_proc+0x95) [0x00007FFEEB9CFCE9] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\vm.c:1967
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_proc_call_kw+0x70) [0x00007FFEEBAADD6C] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\proc.c:1134
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(exec_end_procs_chain+0x3d) [0x00007FFEEB9B5B4D] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval_jump.c:106
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_ec_exec_end_proc+0x13b) [0x00007FFEEB9B73AF] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval_jump.c:122
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_ec_teardown+0x11e) [0x00007FFEEB9B789A] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval.c:158
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(rb_ec_cleanup+0x260) [0x00007FFEEB9B6C68] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval.c:211
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\x64-vcruntime140-ruby400.dll(ruby_run_node+0x4d) [0x00007FFEEB9B998D] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\eval.c:321
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\ruby.exe(wmain+0x52) [0x00007FF7B95D1052] C:\Source\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\main.c:48
C:\msys64\usr\local\ruby-4.0.1-mswin\bin\ruby.exe(__scrt_common_main_seh+0x10c) [0x00007FF7B95D126C] D:\a\_work\1\s\src\vctools\crt\vcstartup\src\startup\exe_common.inl:288
C:\WINDOWS\System32\KERNEL32.DLL(BaseThreadInitThunk+0x17) [0x00007FF816AEE8D7]
```

-- 
https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/