Subject: [PATCH] Fix memory leak of reply_message in walreceiver

From: DaeMyung Kang <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 01:59:09 +0900

Hi, Hackers,

  While reading walreceiver.c, I noticed that the static StringInfoData
  reply_message gets initialized inside the outer streaming loop in
  WalReceiverMain(), specifically right after walrcv_startstreaming()
  succeeds:

      /* Initialize LogstreamResult and buffers for processing messages */
      LogstreamResult.Write = LogstreamResult.Flush = GetXLogReplayRecPtr(NULL);
      initStringInfo(&reply_message);

  initStringInfo() unconditionally allocates a fresh ~1KB buffer with
  palloc() and overwrites the existing data pointer without freeing the
  previous one. So every time the walreceiver re-enters the streaming
  path -- e.g., after a timeline switch, end-of-WAL, or any other
  condition that drives the outer for(;;) loop to iterate -- the prior
  buffer is leaked. The leak is bounded per streaming restart but
  accumulates over the lifetime of a long-running standby that
  restarts streaming often.

  Subsequent uses of reply_message already call resetStringInfo() to
  reuse the buffer, so a single one-time initialization before the
  outer loop is sufficient. The attached patch moves the call up and
  adjusts the comment accordingly.

  This appears to date back to commit add6c3179a4 ("Make the streaming
  replication protocol messages architecture-independent.", 2012), so
  the fix is likely a candidate for back-patching to all supported
  branches.

  No new tests are added; the fix only releases resources and does not
  change observable behavior. `make check` and the streaming replication
  TAP test (src/test/recovery/t/001_stream_rep.pl) pass with the patch
  applied.

  Patch attached.

  Regards,
  DaeMyung Kang

diff --git a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
index 8185412a810..23fce948967 100644
--- a/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
+++ b/src/backend/replication/walreceiver.c
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(const void *startup_data, size_t startup_data_len)
 	if (sender_host)
 		pfree(sender_host);
 
+	initStringInfo(&reply_message);
+
 	first_stream = true;
 	for (;;)
 	{
@@ -405,9 +407,8 @@ WalReceiverMain(const void *startup_data, size_t startup_data_len)
 				walrcv->walRcvState = WALRCV_STREAMING;
 			SpinLockRelease(&walrcv->mutex);
 
-			/* Initialize LogstreamResult and buffers for processing messages */
+			/* Initialize LogstreamResult for processing messages */
 			LogstreamResult.Write = LogstreamResult.Flush = GetXLogReplayRecPtr(NULL);
-			initStringInfo(&reply_message);
 
 			/* Initialize nap wakeup times. */
 			now = GetCurrentTimestamp();

---

From: Michael Paquier <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:46:02 +0900

> restarts streaming often.

This is a problem similar to [1], and I'd agree about cleaning that up
properly.

> the fix is likely a candidate for back-patching to all supported

This is minor, so I don't really see a point in back-patching.  Same
reason as the other thread.

I'll go merge that together.

[1]: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/[email-masked]
--
Michael