Bug #80955 [NEW]: References to elements in an array has side-affects to original array

From: yahya12 at outlook dot com Operating system: Any PHP version: 8.0.3 Package: Scripting Engine problem Bug Type: Bug Bug description:References to elements in an array has side-affects to original array Description: ------------ There is a bug in PHP where the below code returns an unexpected value. It looks like making references to an array or elements has side-effects to the original array. This is an issue that has been reported many times around 20 years ago, but reported as "won't fix" (I believe due to performance issues). - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=20993 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=6417 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=7412 - https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=15025 I'm unsure if this issue has been raised recently, but would like to see if this major bug will finally be fixed. Also, can we at least have this documented in the official PHP docs. Currently I can only find this mentioned in comments: - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.php#79220 - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.whatdo.php#102123 - https://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.php#79220 Test script: --------------- $a = [['name' => 'John']]; $unusedVariable = &$a[0]; // seems to modify $a[0], so its type &array $b = $a; $b[0]['name'] = "Bob"; echo $a[0]['name]; Expected result: ---------------- John Actual result: -------------- Bob -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80955&edit=1 -- Fix committed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=fixed Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=globals PHP version support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=phptooold Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=80955&r=mysqlcfg