`SIGTERM` killing an invalid `node:child_process` spawn terminates main process

[vdata1]

Tip

Rewritten by @avivkeller

Version

v24.19.0, v26.6.0

Platform

macOS Darwin

Subsystem

node:child_process

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Running .kill('SIGTERM') on an invalid child_process spawn results in the termination of the main Node.js process (the caller)

For instance, running require('child_process').spawn('whoami').kill('SIGTERM');.

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

Every time.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

Node.js should abort killing since .pid will be 0.

Original Issue

Version

v24.18.0

Platform

macOS Darwin

Subsystem

No response

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Hi,

I would like to report a bug that happens only on macOS. When run the code snippet below, the main process gets terminated:

var {spawn} = require('child_process');

Array.prototype[Symbol.iterator] = function* () {};
var proc = spawn("ts-node", ["--version"]); //or any other non-OS native command, e.g., brew --version  
console.log("subprocess forked");
proc.kill('SIGTERM');
console.log("Killed Subprocess");

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

It's a permanent effect

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

To kill the child process only

What do you see instead?

I get the following output:

subprocess forked
zsh: terminated  node test.js

Additional information

No response

[avivkeller]

I think you misclassified this issue. It's not an issue with killing commands, it's an issue with killing unknown commands:

For instance:
node -e "require('child_process').spawn('unknown').kill('SIGTERM');" will result in a termination, but
node -e "require('child_process').spawn('whoami').kill('SIGTERM');" will not