PHP Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: date(): Argument #2 ($timestamp) must be of type ?int

[barsch]

• Multisite environment (ca. 30 subsites)
• Cron runs every 30 min
• automatic publishing of scheduled post stopped working at some point this year
• running cron.sh manually throws "PHP Fatal error" for subsites with scheduled posts

PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught TypeError: date(): Argument #2 ($timestamp) must be of type ?int, string given in phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php:418
Stack trace:
#0 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php(418): date()
#1 [internal function]: Cron_Event_Command::format_event()
#2 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php(460): array_map()
#3 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php(228): Cron_Event_Command::get_cron_events()
#4 [internal function]: Cron_Event_Command->run()
#5 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Dispatcher/CommandFactory.php(100): call_user_func()
#6 [internal function]: WP_CLI\Dispatcher\CommandFactory::WP_CLI\Dispatcher\{closure}()
#7 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Dispatcher/Subcommand.php(491): call_user_func()
#8 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(419): WP_CLI\Dispatcher\Subcommand->invoke()
#9 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(442): WP_CLI\Runner->run_command()
#10 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Runner.php(1256): WP_CLI\Runner->run_command_and_exit()
#11 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/WP_CLI/Bootstrap/LaunchRunner.php(28): WP_CLI\Runner->start()
#12 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/bootstrap.php(78): WP_CLI\Bootstrap\LaunchRunner->process()
#13 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli/php/wp-cli.php(32): WP_CLI\bootstrap()
#14 phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/php/boot-phar.php(11): include('...')
#15 /home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar(4): include('...')
#16 {main}
  thrown in phar:///home/wordpress/bin/wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php on line 418
Error: There has been a critical error on this website.Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress. There has been a critical error on this website.

Wordpress / WP Cli environment

wordpress@kiste:~$ wp core version
6.1.1
wordpress@kiste:~$ wp --info
OS:     Linux 5.4.0-137-generic #154~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jan 10 16:58:20 UTC 2023 x86_64
Shell:  /bin/bash
PHP binary:     /usr/bin/php8.2
PHP version:    8.2.1
php.ini used:   /etc/php/8.2/cli/php.ini
MySQL binary:   /usr/bin/mysql
MySQL version:  mysql  Ver 15.1 Distrib 10.1.48-MariaDB, for debian-linux-gnu (x86_64) using readline 5.2
SQL modes:
WP-CLI root dir:        phar://wp-cli.phar/vendor/wp-cli/wp-cli
WP-CLI vendor dir:      phar://wp-cli.phar/vendor
WP_CLI phar path:       /home/wordpress
WP-CLI packages dir:
WP-CLI cache dir:       /home/wordpress/.wp-cli/cache
WP-CLI global config:   /home/wordpress/.wp-cli/config.yml
WP-CLI project config:
WP-CLI version: 2.7.1

cron.sh

#!/bin/bash

WP_BIN="/home/wordpress/bin/wp";
WP_PATH="/home/wordpress/www";

for SITE_URL in $($WP_BIN site list --fields=domain,path,archived,deleted --format=csv --path="$WP_PATH" | grep ",0,0$" | awk -F ',' '{print $1 $2}');
do
  echo
  echo $SITE_URL
  $WP_BIN cron event run --due-now --url="$SITE_URL" --path="$WP_PATH";
done

[danielbachhuber]

Thanks for the report, @barsch !

It seems like there's a bad $event->time being passed into format_event():

cron-command/src/Cron_Event_Command.php

Lines 418 to 426 in 151781b

	protected static function format_event( stdClass $event ) {
	$event->next_run = get_date_from_gmt( date( 'Y-m-d H:i:s', $event->time ), self::$time_format ); //phpcs:ignore WordPress.DateTime.RestrictedFunctions.date_date
	$event->next_run_gmt = date( self::$time_format, $event->time ); //phpcs:ignore WordPress.DateTime.RestrictedFunctions.date_date
	$event->next_run_relative = self::interval( $event->time - time() );
	$event->recurrence = ( $event->schedule ) ? self::interval( $event->interval ) : 'Non-repeating';
	return $event;
	}

We could potentially (int) $event->time, but that might simply cover up a deeper problem.

Do you have any code that's creating or filtering these cron events? Would it be possible for you to add wp eval 'var_dump( _get_cron_array() );' to your cron.sh so we have visibility into the underlying data prior to the fatal?

[barsch]

Thanks for the quick reply!

I added $WP_BIN eval 'var_dump( _get_cron_array() );' --url="$SITE_URL" --path="$WP_PATH"; into the loop at cron.sh and got the following output for one of the failing subsides:

array(9) {
  [1647914509]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_secondpass_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "5mins"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(100)
      }
    }
  }
  [1647914511]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_firstpass_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "5mins"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(100)
      }
    }
  }
  [1647915200]=>
  array(4) {
    ["wp_privacy_delete_old_export_files"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
    ["postindexer_tagtidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
    ["postindexer_postmetatidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
    ["postindexer_agedpoststidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
  }
  [1647951200]=>
  array(3) {
    ["wp_scheduled_auto_draft_delete"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
    ["wp_scheduled_delete"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
    ["delete_expired_transients"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
  }
  [1647951369]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_https_detection"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(10) "twicedaily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(43200)
      }
    }
  }
  [1648023106]=>
  array(1) {
    ["do_pings"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(2) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        bool(false)
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
  [1648070227]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_site_health_scheduled_check"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "weekly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(604800)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675616950]=>
  array(1) {
    ["remove_comment_ip_handle"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["39c95ce4d558614f8eebc9431c124c1b"]=>
      array(2) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        bool(false)
        ["args"]=>
        array(1) {
          [0]=>
          int(993)
        }
      }
    }
  }
  ["wp_batch_split_terms"]=>
  array(3) {
    [1442323165]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(2) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        bool(false)
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    [1442323168]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(2) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        bool(false)
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
    [1442323172]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(2) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        bool(false)
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

For a non failing subsite it looks like this

array(10) {
  [1675099219]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_secondpass_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "5mins"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(100)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675099223]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_firstpass_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "5mins"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(100)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675099285]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_agedpoststidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675099519]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_postmetatidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675101319]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_privacy_delete_old_export_files"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675101623]=>
  array(1) {
    ["postindexer_tagtidy_cron"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "hourly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(3600)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675124145]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_https_detection"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(10) "twicedaily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(43200)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675144575]=>
  array(2) {
    ["wp_scheduled_delete"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
    ["delete_expired_transients"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675144576]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_scheduled_auto_draft_delete"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(5) "daily"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(86400)
      }
    }
  }
  [1675286421]=>
  array(1) {
    ["wp_site_health_scheduled_check"]=>
    array(1) {
      ["40cd750bba9870f18aada2478b24840a"]=>
      array(3) {
        ["schedule"]=>
        string(6) "weekly"
        ["args"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
        ["interval"]=>
        int(604800)
      }
    }
  }
}

Do you have any code that's creating or filtering these cron events?

I'm not aware of creating or filtering any cron events within our own extensions, however there are a few plug-ins installed which obviously mess with cron. But I did not install any new or deinstalled any existing plug-ins in the last months, nor did I change anything within our own source code. But I updated Wordpress once there was a new release and there was a upgrade from PHP 8.1 to 8.2 a few months ago.

[johnbillion]

Somehow your site has ended up with wp_batch_split_terms in one of the array keys that are supposed to be used for timestamps for the next run. All the other keys start with 1675.

[danielbachhuber]

Somehow your site has ended up with wp_batch_split_terms in one of the array keys that are supposed to be used for timestamps for the next run. All the other keys start with 1675.

This apparently is the result of a core bug https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/33423

Putting together a PR to throw a warning instead of fatal.

[barsch]

no idea what a wp_batch_split_terms is, but I really appreciate the fast replies and the prospect of a bugfix ;)

Is there anything I can do to help from my side?

[danielbachhuber]

@barsch Running this on each affected site should fix things up:

wp eval "require_once ABSPATH . '/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php'; upgrade_431();"

[barsch]

@danielbachhuber perfect! issue has been completely fixed with the upgrade_431() command above - thank you for your help!