[Bug 1351574] [NEW] UnicodeDecodeError in localeconv(): 'locale' codec can't decode byte in position 0

Sat Aug 2 09:28:03 UTC 2014

Public bug reported:

update-manager crashes reproducibly when it is about to show the list of
packages to be updated, apparently when it tries to calculate the amount
of data to be downloaded. It fires up, loads updates and then crashes or
shows an empty window.

The crash should be reproducible by others by setting e.g.
LC_MONETARY=de_AT.iso885915 at euro or its alias de_AT at euro where all other
locales are UTF-8 (see my detailed environment). When testing make sure
that the locale is available, otherwise it will fall back to 'C' and
update-manager will not crash.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/UpdatesAvailable.py", line 1018, in set_update_list
    self._add_header(_("Security updates"), self.list.security_groups)
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/UpdatesAvailable.py", line 964, in _add_header
    humanize_size(total_size),
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/Core/utils.py", line 489, in humanize_size
    return locale.format_string(_("%.1f MB"), bytes / 1000.0 / 1000.0)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 249, in format_string
    *val[i+1:i+1+starcount]))
  File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 208, in _format
    decimal_point = localeconv()[monetary and 'mon_decimal_point'
  File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 111, in localeconv
    d = _localeconv()
UnicodeDecodeError: 'locale' codec can't decode byte 0xa4 in position 0: Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character

As also the traceback suggests this might even be a security issue if it
keeps people from updating their systems.

Of course, a simple fix/workaround is to avoid the troublesome locale by
setting it to e.g. de_AT.UTF-8 or C. Still, I think that update-manager
should not crash.

Note the similarities of an older bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/1131958

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: update-manager 1:0.196.12
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-32.57-generic 3.13.11.4
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-32-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: LXDE
Date: Sat Aug  2 11:03:55 2014
DpkgHistoryLog.txt:

DpkgTerminalLog.txt:

GsettingsChanges:
 b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'show-details' b'true'
 b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'window-height' b'345'
 b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'first-run' b'false'
 b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'window-width' b'485'
 b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'launch-time' b'1406968074'
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-05-12 (81 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.2)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: update-manager
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

** Affects: update-manager (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Tags: amd64 apport-bug trusty

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1351574

Title:
  UnicodeDecodeError in localeconv(): 'locale' codec can't decode byte
  in position 0

Status in “update-manager” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  update-manager crashes reproducibly when it is about to show the list
  of packages to be updated, apparently when it tries to calculate the
  amount of data to be downloaded. It fires up, loads updates and then
  crashes or shows an empty window.

  The crash should be reproducible by others by setting e.g.
  LC_MONETARY=de_AT.iso885915 at euro or its alias de_AT at euro where all
  other locales are UTF-8 (see my detailed environment). When testing
  make sure that the locale is available, otherwise it will fall back to
  'C' and update-manager will not crash.

  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/UpdatesAvailable.py", line 1018, in set_update_list
      self._add_header(_("Security updates"), self.list.security_groups)
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/UpdatesAvailable.py", line 964, in _add_header
      humanize_size(total_size),
    File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/UpdateManager/Core/utils.py", line 489, in humanize_size
      return locale.format_string(_("%.1f MB"), bytes / 1000.0 / 1000.0)
    File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 249, in format_string
      *val[i+1:i+1+starcount]))
    File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 208, in _format
      decimal_point = localeconv()[monetary and 'mon_decimal_point'
    File "/usr/lib/python3.4/locale.py", line 111, in localeconv
      d = _localeconv()
  UnicodeDecodeError: 'locale' codec can't decode byte 0xa4 in position 0: Invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character

  As also the traceback suggests this might even be a security issue if
  it keeps people from updating their systems.

  Of course, a simple fix/workaround is to avoid the troublesome locale
  by setting it to e.g. de_AT.UTF-8 or C. Still, I think that update-
  manager should not crash.

  Note the similarities of an older bug report:
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/1131958

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
  Package: update-manager 1:0.196.12
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-32.57-generic 3.13.11.4
  Uname: Linux 3.13.0-32-generic x86_64
  ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.2
  Architecture: amd64
  CurrentDesktop: LXDE
  Date: Sat Aug  2 11:03:55 2014
  DpkgHistoryLog.txt:

  DpkgTerminalLog.txt:

  GsettingsChanges:
   b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'show-details' b'true'
   b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'window-height' b'345'
   b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'first-run' b'false'
   b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'window-width' b'485'
   b'com.ubuntu.update-manager' b'launch-time' b'1406968074'
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-05-12 (81 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.2)
  PackageArchitecture: all
  SourcePackage: update-manager
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

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