Potential new/delete mismatch when publishing a custom type that has overloaded new/delete operators (e.g. pcl::PointCloud) using type adapters #2951
Description
Generated by Generative AI
No
Operating System:
Ubuntu 24
ROS version or commit hash:
jazzy
RMW implementation (if applicable):
zenoh
RMW Configuration (if applicable):
No response
Client library (if applicable):
rclcpp
'ros2 doctor --report' output
No response
Steps to reproduce issue
Using the following minimal code
#include <pcl/point_cloud.h>
#include <pcl/point_types.h>
#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>
#include <sensor_msgs/msg/point_cloud2.hpp>
template <class PointType>
struct rclcpp::TypeAdapter<pcl::PointCloud<PointType>, sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2> {
using is_specialized = std::true_type;
using custom_type = pcl::PointCloud<PointType>;
using ros_message_type = sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2;
static void convert_to_ros_message(const pcl::PointCloud<PointType>& source,
sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2& destination) {}
static void convert_to_custom(const sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2& source,
pcl::PointCloud<PointType>& destination) {}
};
int main() {
auto node = std::make_shared<rclcpp::Node>("mismatched_new_delete_reproducer");
auto pub = node->create_publisher<
rclcpp::adapt_type<pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>>::as<sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2>>(
"/point_cloud", 1);
pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ> point_cloud;
pub->publish(point_cloud);
}the compiler correctly detects a new/delete mismatch and reports a warning:
In file included from /usr/include/eigen3/Eigen/Core:166,
from /usr/include/eigen3/Eigen/Dense:1,
from /home/ivo/colcon_ws/src/my_package/my_node.cpp:
In function ‘void Eigen::internal::aligned_free(void*)’,
inlined from ‘void Eigen::internal::conditional_aligned_free(void*) [with bool Align = true]’ at /usr/include/eigen3/Eigen/src/Core/util/Memory.h:259:15,
inlined from ‘static void pcl::PointCloud<PointT>::operator delete(void*) [with PointT = pcl::PointXYZ]’ at /usr/include/pcl-1.14/pcl/point_cloud.h:900:7,
inlined from ‘void std::default_delete<_Tp>::operator()(_Tp*) const [with _Tp = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>]’ at /usr/include/c++/13/bits/unique_ptr.h:99:2,
inlined from ‘std::unique_ptr<_Tp, _Dp>::~unique_ptr() [with _Tp = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>; _Dp = std::default_delete<pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ> >]’ at /usr/include/c++/13/bits/unique_ptr.h:404:17,
inlined from ‘std::enable_if_t<(typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::is_specialized::value && std::is_same<T, typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::custom_type>::value)> rclcpp::Publisher<MessageT, AllocatorT>::publish(const T&) [with T = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>; MessageT = rclcpp::TypeAdapter<pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>, sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2_<std::allocator<void> >, void>; AllocatorT = std::allocator<void>]’ at /opt/ros/jazzy/include/rclcpp/rclcpp/publisher.hpp:390:18,
inlined from ‘void fsd::FSDGMMMapping::publish_sensor_model(const std::string&)’ at /home/ivo/colcon_ws/src/my_package/my_node.cpp:354:57:
/usr/include/eigen3/Eigen/src/Core/util/Memory.h:203:9: warning: ‘void free(void*)’ called on pointer returned from a mismatched allocation function [-Wmismatched-new-delete]
203 | free(ptr);
| ~~~~^~~~~
In file included from /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu/c++/13/bits/c++allocator.h:33,
from /usr/include/c++/13/bits/allocator.h:46,
from /usr/include/c++/13/string:43,
from /usr/include/c++/13/bits/locale_classes.h:40,
from /usr/include/c++/13/bits/ios_base.h:41,
from /usr/include/c++/13/ios:44,
from /usr/include/c++/13/istream:40,
from /usr/include/c++/13/sstream:40,
from /usr/include/c++/13/chrono:45,
from /usr/include/pcl-1.14/pcl/common/time.h:41,
from /home/ivo/colcon_ws/src/my_package/my_node.cpp:1:
In member function ‘_Tp* std::__new_allocator<_Tp>::allocate(size_type, const void*) [with _Tp = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>]’,
inlined from ‘constexpr _Tp* std::allocator< <template-parameter-1-1> >::allocate(std::size_t) [with _Tp = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>]’ at /usr/include/c++/13/bits/allocator.h:198:40,
inlined from ‘static constexpr _Tp* std::allocator_traits<std::allocator<_CharT> >::allocate(allocator_type&, size_type) [with _Tp = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>]’ at /usr/include/c++/13/bits/alloc_traits.h:482:28,
inlined from ‘std::unique_ptr<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::custom_type, typename std::conditional<std::is_same<typename std::allocator_traits<typename std::allocator_traits<_Allocator>::rebind_traits<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT, void, void>::custom_type>::allocator_type>::rebind_alloc<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT, void, void>::custom_type>, std::allocator<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::custom_type> >::value, std::default_delete<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::custom_type>, rclcpp::allocator::AllocatorDeleter<typename std::allocator_traits<_Allocator>::rebind_traits<typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT, void, void>::custom_type>::allocator_type> >::type> rclcpp::Publisher<MessageT, AllocatorT>::duplicate_type_adapt_message_as_unique_ptr(const PublishedType&) [with MessageT = rclcpp::TypeAdapter<pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>, sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2_<std::allocator<void> >, void>; AllocatorT = std::allocator<void>]’ at /opt/ros/jazzy/include/rclcpp/rclcpp/publisher.hpp:603:54,
inlined from ‘std::enable_if_t<(typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::is_specialized::value && std::is_same<T, typename rclcpp::TypeAdapter<MessageT>::custom_type>::value)> rclcpp::Publisher<MessageT, AllocatorT>::publish(const T&) [with T = pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>; MessageT = rclcpp::TypeAdapter<pcl::PointCloud<pcl::PointXYZ>, sensor_msgs::msg::PointCloud2_<std::allocator<void> >, void>; AllocatorT = std::allocator<void>]’ at /opt/ros/jazzy/include/rclcpp/rclcpp/publisher.hpp:389:10,
Edit: This issue is only present when using the ROS-package pcl_ros that pulls in the dependency on PCL. This is because pcl_ros still specifies C++14 standard (causing -D EIGEN_HAS_CXX17_OVERALIGN=0 to be present in the compiler commandline). Since C++17, the aligned allocators that PCL uses were standartized and therefore the pcl::PointCloud does not have custom new/delete operators anymore.
This means, if you would depend directly on a recent version of PCL instead of using pcl_ros, you will not observe this problem.
Expected behavior
rclcpp should use matching new/delete operators to prevent heap corruptions
Actual behavior
New/delete mismatch detected at compile time in form of a warning
Additional information
Consider a custom type that has overloaded new and delete operators, i.e. the commonly used pcl::PointCloud. We can publish this type by using type adapters, i.e. as a sensor_msgs/PointCloud2. If we publish this type by value however, a new/delete mismatch occurs: global operator new is used together with the custom operator delete.
This occurs only if we publish by value, if we publish by std::unique_ptr, this issue is not present.
Root cause
This is due to the following publish-overload that first copies the given message:
https://github.com/ros2/rclcpp/blob/rolling/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/publisher.hpp#L357
The root cause of not using the custom operator new is that rclcpp allows for custom allocators, and how they work. If the message is published by value, it is first copied using std::allocator_traits<A>:: allocate/construct in the following function, which always uses the global placement new operator (cppreference](https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/memory/allocator/construct.html)):
https://github.com/ros2/rclcpp/blob/rolling/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/publisher.hpp#L575
Proposed solution
Add a static_assert in the publish(const T&) overload that asserts the type has no custom operator new. Suggest the user should use the publish(std::unique_ptr<T>) overload instead.