[New-bugs-announce] [issue10642] site.py crashes on python startup due to defective .pth file

[Donald Wallace Rouse II]

New submission from Donald Wallace Rouse II <python-bugs-as92jJ2 at dwr2.org>:

Python 2.7 programs crash on startup due to a defective third-party package installed in site-packages.

starting python 2.7 yields the following error message:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site.py", line 554, in <module>
    main()
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site.py", line 537, in main
    known_paths = addsitepackages(known_paths)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site.py", line 316, in addsitepackages
    addsitedir(sitedir, known_paths)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site.py", line 192, in addsitedir
    addpackage(sitedir, name, known_paths)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site.py", line 162, in addpackage
    exec line
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
KeyError: 'zope'

A similar message appears when starting python2.7 interactively, but it then proceeds to the prompt (doesn't crash).

In the file .../python2.7/site.py, at about line 162, in the function "addpackage", you have an
unprotected "exec" line:
    if line.startswith(("import ", "import\t")):
        exec line

If the execution of the line fails, python generates an uncaught exception.
This places python at the mercy of bugs in third-party software.

The "exec" line should be bracketed by "try/except" to catch such errors:
    if line.startswith(("import ", "import\t")):
        try:
            exec line
        except:
            pass
        continue

Note 1: I am not sure whether this is a Distutils bug or Distutils2 bug (or even something else like "Extension Modules"), so I'm filing it under Distutils2. If this is incorrect, please forward to the proper place. Thanks.

Note 2: Here is where I initially reported this problem: http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=347565

----------
assignee: tarek
components: Distutils2
messages: 123519
nosy: dwr2, eric.araujo, tarek
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: site.py crashes on python startup due to defective .pth file
type: crash
versions: Python 2.7

_______________________________________
Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue10642>
_______________________________________