Re: [PATCH] Release replication slot on error in SQL-callable slot functions

On Mon, 11 May 2026 at 08:31, Fujii Masao <masao(dot)fujii(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
>
> On Sun, May 10, 2026 at 5:45 AM SATYANARAYANA NARLAPURAM
> <satyanarlapuram(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Hackers,
> >
> > SQL-callable replication slot functions acquire a slot (setting
> > the process-global MyReplicationSlot) but can then ERROR before reaching
> > ReplicationSlotRelease(). If such an error is caught by a PL/pgSQL
> > EXCEPTION block (which uses a subtransaction), MyReplicationSlot remains
> > set because there is no subtransaction-level cleanup hook for replication
> > slots.
> >
> > Any subsequent slot operation in the same session then hits
> > Assert(MyReplicationSlot == NULL) and crashes the backend on assert
> > enabled builds. In release builds the stale MyReplicationSlot is silently overwritten,
> > permanently orphaning the old slot as "active." The orphaned slot blocks any other
> > session from acquiring it, vacuum and WAL deletion.
> >
> > Repro:
> >
> > SELECT pg_create_logical_replication_slot('adv_test', 'test_decoding');
> >
> > DO $$ BEGIN
> > PERFORM pg_replication_slot_advance('adv_test', '0/1'::pg_lsn);
> > EXCEPTION WHEN others THEN
> > RAISE NOTICE 'caught: %', SQLERRM;
> > END $$;
> >
> > SELECT count(*) FROM pg_logical_slot_get_changes('adv_test', NULL, NULL);
> >
> > 2026-05-09 19:45:06.619 UTC [1096805] STATEMENT: SELECT pg_create_logical_replication_slot('adv_test', 'test_decoding');
> > TRAP: failed Assert("MyReplicationSlot == NULL"), File: "slot.c", Line: 638, PID: 1096805
> >
> >
> > Attached a patch to address this by wrapping error-prone paths in PG_TRY/PG_CATCH blocks
> > and call ReplicationSlotRelease().
>
> Thanks for the report and the patch!
>
> I think wrapping the slot-processing code with PG_TRY()/PG_CATCH() seems
> a good direction for addressing the issue you reported.
>
>
> + PG_CATCH();
> + {
> + ReplicationSlotRelease();
>
> When create_logical_replication_slot() is called with temporary = true,
> the created logical replication slot has RS_TEMPORARY persistency. Such a slot
> is not dropped by ReplicationSlotRelease(), whereas an RS_EPHEMERAL slot is
> dropped via ReplicationSlotDropAcquired().
>
> So even with the v1 patch, a temporary logical replication slot can remain
> unexpectedly if pg_create_logical_replication_slot() throws an error.
> In this case, should create_logical_replication_slot() explicitly drop the slot
> with ReplicationSlotDropAcquired(), or temporarily change the slot persistency
> to RS_EPHEMERAL before calling ReplicationSlotRelease()?
>
>
> Does a newly created logical replication slot created by
> pg_copy_logical_replication_slot() have the same issue?

Additionally pg_logical_slot_get_changes also has the same issue, it
can be reproduced by the following:
SELECT pg_create_logical_replication_slot('test_slot_1', 'test_decoding');

DO $$
BEGIN
-- This will ERROR if the slot_get changes fails for the slot.
PERFORM 1 FROM pg_logical_slot_get_changes('test_slot_1', NULL,
NULL, 'nonexistent-option', 'val');
EXCEPTION WHEN others THEN
RAISE NOTICE 'caught: %', SQLERRM;
END $$;

SELECT count(*) FROM pg_logical_slot_get_changes('test_slot_1', NULL, NULL);

TRAP: failed Assert("MyReplicationSlot == NULL"), File: "slot.c",
Line: 638, PID: 80308
postgres: vignesh postgres [local] SELECT(ExceptionalCondition+0xba)
[0x642e7b2ebae1]
postgres: vignesh postgres [local] SELECT(ReplicationSlotAcquire+0x6e)
[0x642e7b00d732]

Regards,
Vignesh