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Reference counting: dropping the last weak reference frees a live object · case 04

A strongly held object is deallocated when its last weak observer goes away.

Member previewVariant 4 · 3 implementations · 7 checks per implementation

Case contract

Objects carry a strong count and a weak count. new id k: strong 1 (the creating reference), k null fields. drop id: release one strong reference. store src i dst: retain dst, then write, then release the old value. When the strong count reaches 0 the object is destroyed (recorded in freed, its fields released recursively in field order) and, if no weak references remain, its control block is deallocated too; unweak deallocates a destroyed object's block when the last weak reference goes. upgrade id succeeds (and adds a strong reference) only while the strong count is positive. Touching a deallocated block reports "use-after-free".

Why this case matters

Reference-counting collectors must order retains and releases and separate destruction from deallocation.

One recorded failure

Sample boundary fixture

This sample comes from the broken implementation of a controlled reproducer.

Boundary fixture	Actual	Expected	Outcome
dropping a weak reference to a live object	`{"dealloc": [41], "freed": [], "out": ["use-after-free"], "rc": {}}`	`{"dealloc": [41], "freed": [41], "out": [true], "rc": {}}`	Failed

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