Subject: [PATCH v3] apply.c: fix -p argument parsing

From: Mirko Faina <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:06:15 +0100

"git apply" has an option -p that takes an integer as its argument.
Unfortunately the function apply_option_parse_p() in charge of parsing
this argument uses atoi() to convert from string to integer, which
allows a non-digit after the number (e.g. "1q") to be silently ignored.
As a consequence, an argument that does not begin with a digit silently
becomes a zero. Despite this command working fine when a non-positive
argument is passed, it might be useful for the end user to know that
their input contains non-digits that might've been unintended.

Replace atoi() with strtol_i() to catch malformed inputs.

Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina <[email-masked]>
---
 apply.c               |  3 ++-
 t/t4120-apply-popt.sh | 21 +++++++++++++++++++++
 t/t4120/patch         | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 t/t4120/patch

diff --git a/apply.c b/apply.c
index b6dd1066a0..61df3bdcd0 100644
--- a/apply.c
+++ b/apply.c
@@ -4981,7 +4981,8 @@ static int apply_option_parse_p(const struct option *opt,
 
 	BUG_ON_OPT_NEG(unset);
 
-	state->p_value = atoi(arg);
+	if (strtol_i(arg, 10, &state->p_value) < 0 || state->p_value < 0)
+		die("<num> has to be a non-negative integer");
 	state->p_value_known = 1;
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/t/t4120-apply-popt.sh b/t/t4120-apply-popt.sh
index 697e86c0ff..3fdcfecc52 100755
--- a/t/t4120-apply-popt.sh
+++ b/t/t4120-apply-popt.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,27 @@ test_expect_success setup '
 	rmdir süb
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'git apply -p 1 patch' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf t" &&
+	git apply -p 1 $TEST_DIRECTORY/t4120/patch &&
+	test_path_is_dir t
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'apply fails due to non-num -p' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf t test" &&
+	test_must_fail git apply -p malformed $TEST_DIRECTORY/t4120/patch
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'apply fails due to trailing non-digit in -p' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf t test" &&
+	test_must_fail git apply -p 2q $TEST_DIRECTORY/t4120/patch
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'apply fails due to negative number in -p' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf t test" &&
+	test_must_fail git apply -p -1 $TEST_DIRECTORY/t4120/patch
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'apply git diff with -p2' '
 	cp file1.saved file1 &&
 	git apply -p2 patch.file
diff --git a/t/t4120/patch b/t/t4120/patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c4511bb708
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t4120/patch
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+From 90ad11d5b2d437e82d4d992f72fb44c2227798b5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: Mroik <[email-masked]>
+Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2026 23:25:00 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] Test
+
+---
+ t/test/test | 0
+ 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
+ create mode 100644 t/test/test
+
+diff --git a/t/test/test b/t/test/test
+new file mode 100644
+index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
+-- 
+2.53.0.851.ga537e3e6e9
+
-- 
2.53.0.316.gd563ecec28