Subject: [PATCH v2] symlinks: use unsigned int for flags

From: Tian Yuchen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:26:40 +0800

The 'flags' and 'track_flags' fields in symlinks.c are used
strictly as a collection of bits (using bitwise operators including
&, |, ~). Using a signed integer for bitmasks may lead to undefined
behavior with shift operations and logic errors if the MSB is touched.

Change these fields from 'int' to 'unsigned int' to align with C
standards and typical usage patterns.

Signed-off-by: Tian Yuchen <[email-masked]>

---
Changes in v2:

Decouple definition of 'ret' and 'saved_errno' from 'save_flags'.
'ret' captures the return value of lstat() which can be -1, so it
must remain signed. Same applies to 'saved_errno'.

(Thanks to Patrick Steinhardt for spotting this)
---
 symlinks.c | 13 +++++++------
 symlinks.h |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/symlinks.c b/symlinks.c
index 9cc090d42c..9e01ab3bc8 100644
--- a/symlinks.c
+++ b/symlinks.c
@@ -74,11 +74,12 @@ static inline void reset_lstat_cache(struct cache_def *cache)
  */
 static int lstat_cache_matchlen(struct cache_def *cache,
 				const char *name, int len,
-				int *ret_flags, int track_flags,
+				unsigned int *ret_flags, unsigned int track_flags,
 				int prefix_len_stat_func)
 {
 	int match_len, last_slash, last_slash_dir, previous_slash;
-	int save_flags, ret, saved_errno = 0;
+	unsigned int save_flags;
+	int ret, saved_errno = 0;
 	struct stat st;
 
 	if (cache->track_flags != track_flags ||
@@ -192,10 +193,10 @@ static int lstat_cache_matchlen(struct cache_def *cache,
 	return match_len;
 }
 
-static int lstat_cache(struct cache_def *cache, const char *name, int len,
-		       int track_flags, int prefix_len_stat_func)
+static unsigned int lstat_cache(struct cache_def *cache, const char *name, int len,
+		       unsigned int track_flags, int prefix_len_stat_func)
 {
-	int flags;
+	unsigned int flags;
 	(void)lstat_cache_matchlen(cache, name, len, &flags, track_flags,
 			prefix_len_stat_func);
 	return flags;
@@ -234,7 +235,7 @@ int check_leading_path(const char *name, int len, int warn_on_lstat_err)
 static int threaded_check_leading_path(struct cache_def *cache, const char *name,
 				       int len, int warn_on_lstat_err)
 {
-	int flags;
+	unsigned int flags;
 	int match_len = lstat_cache_matchlen(cache, name, len, &flags,
 			   FL_SYMLINK|FL_NOENT|FL_DIR, USE_ONLY_LSTAT);
 	int saved_errno = errno;
diff --git a/symlinks.h b/symlinks.h
index 7ae3d5b856..25bf04f54f 100644
--- a/symlinks.h
+++ b/symlinks.h
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 
 struct cache_def {
 	struct strbuf path;
-	int flags;
-	int track_flags;
+	unsigned int flags;
+	unsigned int track_flags;
 	int prefix_len_stat_func;
 };
 #define CACHE_DEF_INIT { \
-- 
2.43.0