Handle SIGTERM/SIGINT with a sigaction self-pipe instead of a signalfd, and clear the signal mask of spawned children

The signalfd-based source (calloop's `signals` feature) needs SIGTERM and SIGINT blocked in every thread of the process, since the kernel hands a process-directed signal to any thread that does not block it. calloop only blocks them in the thread that creates the source, so the runtime depended on `ltk::run` being entered before the app spawned any thread — a constraint apps do not honour: crustace-notifier builds its tokio runtime and its D-Bus thread first, and in that configuration a SIGTERM lands on a tokio worker and kills the process outright, skipping the clean exit (`save_state`, `mark_clean_exit`) entirely.
The blocked mask had a second consequence: it is inherited across fork and exec, and Rust's std deliberately does not reset it in the child. Every process an ltk app spawns from a thread created after `ltk::run` therefore started with SIGTERM blocked. For the `gsettings monitor` child of the text-scale watcher this meant it never died on systemd's stop, so the unit's cgroup stayed populated until `TimeoutStopSec` (90 s) expired and systemd resorted to SIGKILL — visible as a stop job holding up every session shutdown.
`install_signal_source` now installs a `sigaction` handler for SIGTERM and SIGINT that writes the signal number to a non-blocking `O_CLOEXEC` pipe (an atomic load and a `write`, errno preserved); the read end is a calloop `Generic` source that drains the pipe and sets `exit_requested`. A handler is process-wide, so the clean exit works no matter which thread receives the signal or when it was created, and no thread blocks anything, so children inherit a clean mask. `SA_RESTART` keeps the handler from injecting spurious EINTRs into the app's own threads; the pipe wakes the event loop regardless.
`text_scale` additionally clears the child's mask in `pre_exec` before running `gsettings`, as a guard against a mask already dirty when the process was launched. The `save_state` docs drop the caveat about threads started before `run`, the ordering comment at the call site goes with the constraint it described, and the `signals` feature is dropped from calloop. `libc` becomes a direct dependency for `sigaction`, `pipe2` and `sigprocmask`.
Tests: `child_starts_with_clear_signal_mask` blocks SIGTERM in the test thread, spawns a child through the helper and checks its `SigBlk` in `/proc`, with the inverse control asserting that std really does inherit the mask (the reason the helper exists); `handler_writes_signal_to_pipe` exercises the handler directly and through a real `sigaction` + `raise`, then restores `SIG_DFL`.

Cargo.toml

@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ chrono = { version = "0.4", features = ["clock"] }
 serde      = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0"
 smithay-client-toolkit = { version = "0.20", features = ["calloop", "calloop-wayland-source", "xkbcommon"] }
-calloop            = { version = "0.14", features = ["signals"] }
+calloop            = "0.14"
 calloop-wayland-source = "0.4"
 tiny-skia          = "0.12"
 fontdue            = "=0.9.3"
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ rust-i18n          = "3"
 # Transitive dep of rust-i18n (globwalk → ignore); 0.4.24+ needs a rustc
 # newer than Debian's 1.85, and its manifest does not declare that MSRV.
 ignore             = "=0.4.23"
+libc               = "0.2"
 wayland-protocols  = { version = "0.32", features = ["client", "unstable", "staging"] }
 wayland-egl        = "0.32"
 wayland-scanner    = "0.31"

src/app.rs

@@ -419,10 +419,9 @@ pub trait App: 'static
 	/// The file is plain on disk: never put secrets in it (passwords
 	/// belong to the secure-mode `text_edit` and its wiped buffers),
 	/// and keep large blobs (images, caches) elsewhere. The signal
-	/// handler only covers threads started after [`run`](crate::run)
+	/// handler is installed process-wide when [`run`](crate::run) is
-	/// was entered; a thread the app spawned earlier that receives
+	/// entered, so the clean exit holds no matter which thread receives
-	/// `SIGTERM` still terminates the process — block the signal in
+	/// the signal or when it was started.
-	/// such threads or start them from inside the app.
 	///
 	/// [`restore_state`](Self::restore_state) explains when — and when
 	/// not — the bytes come back.

src/event_loop/run.rs

@@ -66,8 +66,6 @@ pub( crate ) fn try_run<A: App>( mut app: A ) -> Result<(), RunError>
 		.insert( event_loop.handle() )
 		.map_err( |e| RunError::EventLoop( format!( "WaylandSource::insert: {e:?}" ) ) )?;
 
-	// Before any thread exists: signalfd only sees signals blocked in the
-	// thread that created it, and the mask is inherited by later threads.
 	super::session::install_signal_source( &event_loop.handle() )?;
 
 	let compositor = CompositorState::bind( &globals, &qh )

src/event_loop/session.rs

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 //! `xdg-session-management-v1` client glue plus the runtime hooks that
 //! persist `App::save_state` and turn signals into a clean exit.
 
+use std::os::fd::{ AsRawFd, FromRawFd, OwnedFd };
+use std::sync::atomic::{ AtomicI32, Ordering };
 use std::time::Duration;
 
 use calloop::timer::{ TimeoutAction, Timer };
@@ -144,18 +146,81 @@ impl SessionRuntime
 	}
 }
 
+static SIGNAL_PIPE_WR: AtomicI32 = AtomicI32::new( -1 );
+
+/// Async-signal-safe: an atomic load and a `write`, errno preserved.
+extern "C" fn on_termination_signal( sig: libc::c_int )
+{
+	unsafe
+	{
+		let errno = *libc::__errno_location();
+		let fd = SIGNAL_PIPE_WR.load( Ordering::Acquire );
+		if fd >= 0
+		{
+			let byte = sig as u8;
+			let _ = libc::write( fd, ( &byte as *const u8 ).cast(), 1 );
+		}
+		*libc::__errno_location() = errno;
+	}
+}
+
+/// Self-pipe rather than a signalfd: a `sigaction` handler is process-
+/// wide, so the clean exit works no matter which thread the kernel
+/// picks, without blocking the signal in every thread — a mask that
+/// children would inherit across exec.
 pub( crate ) fn install_signal_source<A: App>( handle: &LoopHandle<'static, AppData<A>> ) -> Result<(), RunError>
 {
-	use calloop::signals::{ Signal, Signals };
+	use calloop::generic::Generic;
-	let signals = Signals::new( &[ Signal::SIGTERM, Signal::SIGINT ] )
+	use calloop::{ Interest, Mode, PostAction };
-		.map_err( |e| RunError::EventLoop( format!( "Signals::new: {e}" ) ) )?;
+
-	handle
+	let mut fds = [ -1i32; 2 ];
-		.insert_source( signals, |event, _, data: &mut AppData<A>|
+	if unsafe { libc::pipe2( fds.as_mut_ptr(), libc::O_CLOEXEC | libc::O_NONBLOCK ) } != 0
+	{
+		return Err( RunError::EventLoop( format!( "signal pipe2: {}", std::io::Error::last_os_error() ) ) );
+	}
+	SIGNAL_PIPE_WR.store( fds[ 1 ], Ordering::Release );
+
+	unsafe
+	{
+		let mut action: libc::sigaction = std::mem::zeroed();
+		action.sa_sigaction = on_termination_signal as usize;
+		action.sa_flags = libc::SA_RESTART;
+		libc::sigemptyset( &mut action.sa_mask );
+		for sig in [ libc::SIGTERM, libc::SIGINT ]
 		{
-			eprintln!( "ltk: {:?} received, exiting cleanly", event.signal() );
+			if libc::sigaction( sig, &action, std::ptr::null_mut() ) != 0
-			data.exit_requested = true;
+			{
+				return Err( RunError::EventLoop( format!( "sigaction: {}", std::io::Error::last_os_error() ) ) );
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	let read_end = unsafe { OwnedFd::from_raw_fd( fds[ 0 ] ) };
+	handle
+		.insert_source( Generic::new( read_end, Interest::READ, Mode::Level ), |_, fd, data: &mut AppData<A>|
+		{
+			let mut sig = None;
+			let mut buf = [ 0u8; 16 ];
+			loop
+			{
+				let n = unsafe { libc::read( fd.as_raw_fd(), buf.as_mut_ptr().cast(), buf.len() ) };
+				if n <= 0 { break; }
+				sig = Some( buf[ 0 ] as i32 );
+			}
+			if let Some( sig ) = sig
+			{
+				let name = match sig
+				{
+					libc::SIGTERM => "SIGTERM",
+					libc::SIGINT  => "SIGINT",
+					_             => "signal",
+				};
+				eprintln!( "ltk: {name} received, exiting cleanly" );
+				data.exit_requested = true;
+			}
+			Ok( PostAction::Continue )
 		} )
-		.map_err( |e| RunError::EventLoop( format!( "signals insert_source: {e:?}" ) ) )?;
+		.map_err( |e| RunError::EventLoop( format!( "signal pipe insert_source: {e:?}" ) ) )?;
 	Ok( () )
 }
 
@@ -224,3 +289,54 @@ impl<A: App> Dispatch<XdgToplevelSessionV1, ()> for AppData<A>
 	{
 	}
 }
+
+#[ cfg( test ) ]
+mod tests
+{
+	use super::*;
+
+	fn read_one( fd: i32 ) -> Option<u8>
+	{
+		let mut buf = [ 0u8; 4 ];
+		let n = unsafe { libc::read( fd, buf.as_mut_ptr().cast(), buf.len() ) };
+		( n == 1 ).then( || buf[ 0 ] )
+	}
+
+	#[ test ]
+	fn handler_writes_signal_to_pipe()
+	{
+		let mut fds = [ -1i32; 2 ];
+		assert_eq!( unsafe { libc::pipe2( fds.as_mut_ptr(), libc::O_CLOEXEC | libc::O_NONBLOCK ) }, 0 );
+		SIGNAL_PIPE_WR.store( fds[ 1 ], Ordering::Release );
+
+		on_termination_signal( libc::SIGTERM );
+		assert_eq!( read_one( fds[ 0 ] ), Some( libc::SIGTERM as u8 ) );
+
+		// The real wiring: raise() delivers synchronously to this
+		// thread, so the handler has run before it returns.
+		unsafe
+		{
+			let mut action: libc::sigaction = std::mem::zeroed();
+			action.sa_sigaction = on_termination_signal as usize;
+			action.sa_flags = libc::SA_RESTART;
+			libc::sigemptyset( &mut action.sa_mask );
+			assert_eq!( libc::sigaction( libc::SIGTERM, &action, std::ptr::null_mut() ), 0 );
+			libc::raise( libc::SIGTERM );
+		}
+		assert_eq!( read_one( fds[ 0 ] ), Some( libc::SIGTERM as u8 ) );
+
+		unsafe
+		{
+			let mut dfl: libc::sigaction = std::mem::zeroed();
+			dfl.sa_sigaction = libc::SIG_DFL;
+			libc::sigemptyset( &mut dfl.sa_mask );
+			libc::sigaction( libc::SIGTERM, &dfl, std::ptr::null_mut() );
+		}
+		SIGNAL_PIPE_WR.store( -1, Ordering::Release );
+		unsafe
+		{
+			libc::close( fds[ 0 ] );
+			libc::close( fds[ 1 ] );
+		}
+	}
+}

src/event_loop/text_scale.rs

@@ -12,11 +12,28 @@
 //! `gsettings` is not installed.
 
 use std::io::{ BufRead, BufReader };
+use std::os::unix::process::CommandExt;
 use std::process::{ Command, Stdio };
 
 const SCHEMA: &str = "org.gnome.desktop.interface";
 const KEY:    &str = "text-scaling-factor";
 
+/// A blocked signal mask survives exec, so clear it: a child that
+/// inherits SIGTERM blocked outlives the session's shutdown.
+fn unblock_signals( cmd: &mut Command ) -> &mut Command
+{
+	unsafe
+	{
+		cmd.pre_exec( ||
+		{
+			let mut set: libc::sigset_t = std::mem::zeroed();
+			libc::sigemptyset( &mut set );
+			libc::sigprocmask( libc::SIG_SETMASK, &set, std::ptr::null_mut() );
+			Ok( () )
+		} )
+	}
+}
+
 /// Spawn the watcher thread. `tx` delivers each observed factor to the
 /// run loop; the initial `gsettings get` value is sent first.
 pub( super ) fn spawn_watcher( tx: calloop::channel::Sender<f32> )
@@ -30,10 +47,11 @@ pub( super ) fn spawn_watcher( tx: calloop::channel::Sender<f32> )
 				let _ = tx.send( v );
 			}
 
-			let Ok( mut child ) = Command::new( "gsettings" )
+			let Ok( mut child ) = unblock_signals(
-				.args( [ "monitor", SCHEMA, KEY ] )
+					Command::new( "gsettings" )
-				.stdout( Stdio::piped() )
+						.args( [ "monitor", SCHEMA, KEY ] )
-				.stderr( Stdio::null() )
+						.stdout( Stdio::piped() )
+						.stderr( Stdio::null() ) )
 				.spawn()
 			else { return };
 			let Some( stdout ) = child.stdout.take() else { return };
@@ -52,9 +70,10 @@ pub( super ) fn spawn_watcher( tx: calloop::channel::Sender<f32> )
 
 fn read_current() -> Option<f32>
 {
-	let out = Command::new( "gsettings" )
+	let out = unblock_signals(
-		.args( [ "get", SCHEMA, KEY ] )
+			Command::new( "gsettings" )
-		.stderr( Stdio::null() )
+				.args( [ "get", SCHEMA, KEY ] )
+				.stderr( Stdio::null() ) )
 		.output()
 		.ok()?;
 	parse_factor( std::str::from_utf8( &out.stdout ).ok()? )
@@ -73,7 +92,7 @@ fn parse_factor( s: &str ) -> Option<f32>
 #[ cfg( test ) ]
 mod tests
 {
-	use super::parse_factor;
+	use super::{ parse_factor, unblock_signals };
 
 	#[ test ]
 	fn parses_monitor_line_and_bare_value()
@@ -83,4 +102,40 @@ mod tests
 		assert_eq!( parse_factor( "" ), None );
 		assert_eq!( parse_factor( "text-scaling-factor: nope" ), None );
 	}
+
+	fn spawn_and_read_sigblk( clear: bool ) -> u64
+	{
+		let mut cmd = std::process::Command::new( "sleep" );
+		cmd.arg( "30" );
+		if clear
+		{
+			unblock_signals( &mut cmd );
+		}
+		let mut child = cmd.spawn().unwrap();
+		let status = std::fs::read_to_string( format!( "/proc/{}/status", child.id() ) ).unwrap();
+		let _ = child.kill();
+		let _ = child.wait();
+		status.lines()
+			.find_map( |l| l.strip_prefix( "SigBlk:" ) )
+			.and_then( |v| u64::from_str_radix( v.trim(), 16 ).ok() )
+			.unwrap()
+	}
+
+	#[ test ]
+	fn child_starts_with_clear_signal_mask()
+	{
+		unsafe
+		{
+			let mut set: libc::sigset_t = std::mem::zeroed();
+			libc::sigemptyset( &mut set );
+			libc::sigaddset( &mut set, libc::SIGTERM );
+			libc::pthread_sigmask( libc::SIG_BLOCK, &set, std::ptr::null_mut() );
+		}
+		let sigterm_bit = 1u64 << ( libc::SIGTERM - 1 );
+
+		// std deliberately lets the child inherit the mask — the very
+		// reason unblock_signals exists.
+		assert_ne!( spawn_and_read_sigblk( false ) & sigterm_bit, 0 );
+		assert_eq!( spawn_and_read_sigblk( true ) & sigterm_bit, 0 );
+	}
 }