Bug #71479 [NEW]: Array value turning into reference after passed to any function by reference

From: maxrodikov at gmail dot com Operating system: Any PHP version: 7.0.2 Package: *General Issues Bug Type: Bug Bug description:Array value turning into reference after passed to any function by reference Description: ------------ Bug can be reproduced on almost any 7.* package and almost any OS. Tested by myself on Ubuntu / FreeBSD / Windows on PHP package without additional modules. Seems, that when you pass associative array element to any function/method, that require argument to be passed by reference, you get reference at passed array key instead of scalar/array/NULL value. Didn't found at documentation anything about such conduct. Test script: --------------- <?php // Can be any user or internal function (class method, e.t.c), accepting parameters by reference function make_nothing(&$param) {} $arr1 = ['val' => NULL]; $arr2 = ['val' => 5]; // instead "5" there can be any scalar/array/NULL // Pass array element to function, that doing nothing make_nothing($arr2['val']); // ok, now we have reference instead of value $arr1 = array_merge($arr1, $arr2); var_dump($arr1, $arr2); Expected result: ---------------- array(1) { ["val"]=> int(5) } array(1) { ["val"]=> int(5) } Actual result: -------------- array(1) { ["val"]=> &int(5) } array(1) { ["val"]=> &int(5) } -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=71479&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=trysnapshot54 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.5): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=trysnapshot55 Try a snapshot (trunk): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=fixed Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=php4 Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=71479&r=mysqlcfg