From bcc9319cc740e07016474ff2a6d731f262e4871f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kanishk Sachan <yashk242810@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2026 11:50:28 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] fix(pr): reject huge --column/-COLUMN counts instead of
 panicking (fixes #12996)

A column count that parses as a valid usize but is enormous (e.g.
9999999999999999999) overflows the Vec allocations in to_table(),
to_table_across(), and to_table_short_file(), causing a "capacity
overflow" panic and abort (exit 134).

Reject column counts above i32::MAX up front with a GNU-style
"Value too large for defined data type" error and exit 1, matching
GNU pr's behavior. Add regression tests for both the --column and
-COLUMN forms.
---
 src/uu/pr/src/pr.rs      | 14 ++++++++++++++
 tests/by-util/test_pr.rs | 19 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 33 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/uu/pr/src/pr.rs b/src/uu/pr/src/pr.rs
index 43df8caca5..1a14701c1a 100644
--- a/src/uu/pr/src/pr.rs
+++ b/src/uu/pr/src/pr.rs
@@ -858,6 +858,20 @@ fn build_options(
         None => start_column_option,
     };
 
+    // Reject column counts that would later overflow the Vec allocations in
+    // to_table()/to_table_across()/to_table_short_file() (issue #12996),
+    // matching GNU's "Value too large for defined data type" rejection.
+    if let Some(columns) = column_option_value {
+        if columns > i32::MAX as usize {
+            return Err(PrError::EncounteredErrors {
+                msg: format!(
+                    "invalid number of columns: {}: Value too large for defined data type",
+                    columns.to_string().quote()
+                ),
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
     let column_mode_options = column_option_value.map(|columns| ColumnModeOptions {
         columns,
         width: column_width,
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_pr.rs b/tests/by-util/test_pr.rs
index dfe42fd811..ccc909d72c 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_pr.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_pr.rs
@@ -942,6 +942,25 @@ fn test_zero_columns_shortcut() {
         .stderr_contains("pr: invalid --column argument '0'");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_huge_columns_does_not_panic() {
+    // Previously panicked with "capacity overflow" (issue #12996).
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("--column=9999999999999999999")
+        .fails_with_code(1)
+        .stderr_contains("invalid number of columns")
+        .stderr_contains("Value too large for defined data type");
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_huge_columns_shortcut_does_not_panic() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("-9999999999999999999")
+        .fails_with_code(1)
+        .stderr_contains("invalid number of columns")
+        .stderr_contains("Value too large for defined data type");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_zero_expand_tab_width() {
     let expected = "pr: '-e' extra characters or invalid number in the argument: ‘0’\nTry 'pr --help' for more information.\n";