Bug #80668 [Dup]: passed by reference upgraded from notice to error

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80668&edit=1 ID: 80668 Updated by: cmb@php.net Reported by: b dot lau at tamrael dot de Summary: passed by reference upgraded from notice to error Status: Duplicate Type: Bug Package: Reproducible crash Operating System: linux PHP Version: 7.4.14 Assigned To: cmb Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: I tried the search as well, and also failed to find the ticket. :) Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-01-25 14:28:57] b dot lau at tamrael dot de I'm so sorry. I swear I used the search but the linked bug wasn't showing up for me. Thank you for the fast reply. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-01-25 14:24:48] cmb@php.net This is a duplicate of bug #80486. Note that we have not documented this in any changelog, since that only worked coincidentally. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-01-25 14:18:05] nikic@php.net This only affects cases where the passed function is a VM primitive (here "strval" is a cast). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-01-25 14:00:23] b dot lau at tamrael dot de Description: ------------ Since php version 7.4.9 and later, passing any non-variable to a function that expects a reference results in an error. From 7.1.0 to 7.4.8 the same would produce no warning, notice or anything and just work. Before 7.1.0 this would issue a notice but still execute the code. In 5.0.5 this would crash with an error. Maybe this is missing documentation and not a bug but changing behavior like this inside a minor version shouldn't be intended. See https://3v4l.org/iUp7Q Test script: --------------- <?php function test(&$var) { return $var; } echo test(strval('var')); Expected result: ---------------- Output of "var" and a notice Actual result: -------------- fatal error ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80668&edit=1