"pure virtual method called" with `boost::current_exception()` on Ubuntu 25.04

[Pesa]

I'm getting an odd crash when calling boost::current_exception() on Ubuntu 25.04 (x86_64, Boost 1.83.0). The same exact code worked fine on previous versions, notably it was working on Ubuntu 24.10 that should have the same version of gcc (14.2.0).

I was able to create a minimized program (below) that reproduces the issue reliably when built with -O0 or -Og

#include <stdexcept>
#include <boost/exception_ptr.hpp>

int main()
{
  try {
    throw std::out_of_range("foo");
  }
  catch (const std::logic_error&) {
    boost::current_exception();
  }
}

Build/run with g++ -std=c++17 -O0 -g3 crash.cpp && ./a.out

[Thread debugging using libthread_db enabled]
Using host libthread_db library "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1".
pure virtual method called
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::out_of_range'
  what():  foo

Program received signal SIGABRT, Aborted.
__pthread_kill_implementation (threadid=<optimized out>, signo=6, no_tid=0) at ./nptl/pthread_kill.c:44
warning: 44     ./nptl/pthread_kill.c: No such file or directory
(gdb) bt full
#0  __pthread_kill_implementation (threadid=<optimized out>, signo=6, no_tid=0) at ./nptl/pthread_kill.c:44
        tid = <optimized out>
        ret = 0
        pd = <optimized out>
        old_mask = {__val = {0}}
        ret = <optimized out>
        pd = <optimized out>
        old_mask = <optimized out>
        ret = <optimized out>
        tid = <optimized out>
        ret = <optimized out>
        resultvar = <optimized out>
        resultvar = <optimized out>
        __arg3 = <optimized out>
        __arg2 = <optimized out>
        __arg1 = <optimized out>
        _a3 = <optimized out>
        _a2 = <optimized out>
        _a1 = <optimized out>
        __futex = <optimized out>
        resultvar = <optimized out>
        __arg3 = <optimized out>
        __arg2 = <optimized out>
        __arg1 = <optimized out>
        _a3 = <optimized out>
        _a2 = <optimized out>
        _a1 = <optimized out>
        __futex = <optimized out>
        __private = <optimized out>
        __oldval = <optimized out>
#1  __pthread_kill_internal (threadid=<optimized out>, signo=6) at ./nptl/pthread_kill.c:89
No locals.
#2  __GI___pthread_kill (threadid=<optimized out>, signo=signo@entry=6) at ./nptl/pthread_kill.c:100
No locals.
#3  0x00007ffff78456de in __GI_raise (sig=sig@entry=6) at ../sysdeps/posix/raise.c:26
        ret = <optimized out>
#4  0x00007ffff78288cd in __GI_abort () at ./stdlib/abort.c:73
        act = {__sigaction_handler = {sa_handler = 0x0, sa_sigaction = 0x0}, sa_mask = {__val = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 140737347921251, 140737347911632, 140737488344912, 140737346375855, 1, 140737347921120, 10, 
              93824992359488, 93824992277640, 140737354125312, 140737488344960}}, sa_flags = -141976989, sa_restorer = 0x555555573428}
#5  0x00007ffff7cab05f in ?? () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
No symbol table info available.
#6  0x00007ffff7cc10aa in ?? () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
No symbol table info available.
#7  0x00007ffff7caaa9e in std::terminate() () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
No symbol table info available.
#8  0x00007ffff7cc1f83 in __cxa_pure_virtual () from /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6
No symbol table info available.
#9  0x0000555555557ed8 in boost::exception_detail::wrap_exception_ptr (e=...) at /usr/include/boost/exception/detail/exception_ptr.hpp:68
        base = @0x7fffffffd840: {_vptr.clone_base = 0x55555555fa68 <vtable for boost::exception_detail::clone_base+16>}
#10 0x0000555555557f92 in boost::exception_ptr::exception_ptr (this=0x7fffffffd920, e=...) at /usr/include/boost/exception/detail/exception_ptr.hpp:89
No locals.
#11 0x00005555555585e7 in boost::exception_detail::current_exception_impl () at /usr/include/boost/exception/detail/exception_ptr.hpp:491
        e = 0x0
        __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ = "boost::exception_ptr boost::exception_detail::current_exception_impl()"
#12 0x0000555555558745 in boost::current_exception () at /usr/include/boost/exception/detail/exception_ptr.hpp:514
        ret = {ptr_ = {px = 0x0, pn = {pi_ = 0x0}}}
        __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ = "boost::exception_ptr boost::current_exception()"
#13 0x00005555555574d0 in main () at crash.cpp:10
No locals.
(gdb) 

I could not reproduce with clang 20 on the same platform. Raising the optimization level to -O1 or -O2 also makes the crash disappear (so, it could be a gcc miscompilation).

[zajo]

Sorry I realize this is an old post, I've been busy lately haven't been able to pay attention to this. I don't see a crash on godbolt. Maybe the configuration is wrong, feel free to tweak and post another godbolt link: https://godbolt.org/z/oj71hh8c6

[julianbrost]

I ran into the same issue on Debian trixie (13) which happens to have the same GCC and Boost versions as mention in this bug report. The reproducer from above can also be easily tried in a Debian container:

$ docker run --pull=always --rm -it debian:13
13: Pulling from library/debian
Digest: sha256:35b8ff74ead4880f22090b617372daff0ccae742eb5674455d542bef71ef1999
Status: Image is up to date for debian:13
root@125725f86155:/# apt update && apt install -y g++ libboost-dev
[...]
Get:39 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 g++-14-x86-64-linux-gnu amd64 14.2.0-19 [12.1 MB]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
[...]
Get:43 http://deb.debian.org/debian trixie/main amd64 libboost1.83-dev amd64 1.83.0-4.2 [10.6 MB]                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
[...]
root@125725f86155:/# cat > demo.cpp <<EOF
#include <stdexcept>
#include <boost/exception_ptr.hpp>

int main()
{
  try {
    throw std::out_of_range("foo");
  }
  catch (const std::logic_error&) {
    boost::current_exception();
  }
}
EOF
root@125725f86155:/# g++ -std=c++17 -o demo demo.cpp 
root@125725f86155:/# ./demo 
pure virtual method called
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::out_of_range'
  what():  foo
Aborted (core dumped)

However, even when I tried adjusting the versions on compiler explorer as close as possible to the ones used on Debian 13 and Ubuntu 25.04, I couldn't reproduce it there (see https://godbolt.org/z/E9vjbn9vf).