docs: Remmina Wayland crash fix + upstream MR !2757

- Added learning doc for 2026-07-03 session: diagnosed SIGSEGV in
  XKeysymToKeycode (missing NULL check on XOpenDisplay), forked Remmina
  to gitlab.com/satware, built with FreeRDP3, verified fix, submitted MR.
- Added manual override entry for patched remmina-plugin-rdp.so in
  ~/.config/remmina/plugins/
This commit is contained in:
mw
2026-07-03 12:13:34 +02:00
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---
description: >-
Session record (2026-07-03): diagnosed a Remmina SIGSEGV on Wayland when
keymap was set, traced it to a missing NULL check on XOpenDisplay in
remmina-plugin-rdp, forked Remmina to gitlab.com/satware, built from
source, verified the fix, and submitted MR !2757 upstream.
tags:
- learning
- remmina
- wayland
- rdp
- crash-analysis
- gitlab
- upstream-contribution
last_updated: '2026-07-03'
---
# Remmina SIGSEGV on Wayland - diagnosis, fix, upstream MR - 2026-07-03
## Summary
Remmina crashed (SIGSEGV) every time the "Mothership" RDP profile was
selected. The root cause was a missing NULL check on `XOpenDisplay(0)` in
`remmina_get_rdp_kbd_remap()` (`plugins/rdp/rdp_plugin.c`), triggered only
when a `keymap` profile setting was non-empty (e.g. `Map Meta Keys`) and
the session was Wayland without accessible X11.
Forked Remmina to `gitlab.com/satware/Remmina`, built from source with
FreeRDP3, reproduced the crash, applied a 4-line fix, verified it, and
submitted merge request [!2757](https://gitlab.com/Remmina/Remmina/-/merge_requests/2757)
to the upstream project.
## Incident
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| Symptom | Remmina closes immediately when selecting "Mothership" and clicking connect |
| Signal | SIGSEGV (segfault) |
| Crash location | `XKeysymToKeycode()` in `libX11.so.6`, called from `remmina-plugin-rdp.so` |
| Profile | `group_rdp_mothership_10-10-202-4.remmina` (server `10.10.202.4`) |
| Working profile | `srv-app-2` (`100.64.0.78`) - identical protocol, no crash |
## Diagnosis
### Stack trace (from coredumpctl)
```
#0 XKeysymToKeycode (libX11.so.6 + 0x92cd7)
#1 remmina-plugin-rdp.so + 0xff27
#2 remmina-plugin-rdp.so + 0x1296b
```
### Root cause
In `plugins/rdp/rdp_plugin.c`, function `remmina_get_rdp_kbd_remap()`:
```c
display = XOpenDisplay(0); // Returns NULL on Wayland
// NO NULL CHECK
XKeysymToKeycode(display, table[i]) // SIGSEGV - dereferences NULL
```
The function is only called when `keymap` is non-empty in the profile.
The working profile had `keymap=` (empty), which skipped the entire code
path. The crashing profile had `keymap=Map Meta Keys`.
### Environment
| Component | Version |
|-----------|---------|
| OS | Manjaro Linux, Wayland session (`XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland`) |
| Remmina | 1.4.43 (git n/a) |
| FreeRDP | 3.27.0 |
| Display | `DISPLAY=:0` (Xwayland) but `XOpenDisplay(0)` fails from RDP worker thread |
### Key config difference
| Setting | Mothership (crashes) | srv-app-2 (works) |
|---------|---------------------|-------------------|
| `keymap` | `Map Meta Keys` | (empty) |
## Fix
4-line addition in `plugins/rdp/rdp_plugin.c`, function `remmina_get_rdp_kbd_remap()`:
```diff
display = XOpenDisplay(0);
+if (!display) {
+ g_free(rdp_kbd_remap);
+ return NULL;
+}
for (i = 0; table[i] > 0; i += 2) {
```
The caller at line ~2148 already checks `if (rdp_kbd_remap != NULL)` before
use, so returning NULL causes graceful degradation (empty
`KeyboardRemappingList`) instead of a crash.
## Verification
| Test | Result |
|------|--------|
| Reproduce crash (unpatched, `keymap=Map Meta Keys`) | SIGSEGV - new coredump at 12:05:54 |
| Apply fix, rebuild, same profile | No crash - exit code 0, no new coredump |
| Debug log after fix | `rdp_keyboard_remapping_list:` (empty, as expected) |
## Local workaround (applied)
| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| Mothership profile `keymap` | Set to empty (`keymap=`) as safe setting |
| Patched plugin | `~/.config/remmina/plugins/remmina-plugin-rdp.so` (loads before system plugin) |
| Source build | `~/external/remmina/` (branch `fix/rdp-xopendisplay-null-check`) |
The patched plugin in `~/.config/remmina/plugins/` protects the system
Remmina (`/usr/bin/remmina`) even if `keymap` is set to a non-empty value.
## Upstream contribution
### GitLab.com setup (one-time)
| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| GitLab.com group | `gitlab.com/satware` (public, ID 136548341) |
| User | `ironmikechw` (ID 39970188, Owner of `satware` group) |
| PAT | Stored in `~/.env` as `GITLAB_COM_API_TOKEN` |
| glab CLI | Authenticated to both `gitlab.satware.com` and `gitlab.com` |
### Fork and MR
| Item | Value |
|------|-------|
| Upstream | `gitlab.com/Remmina/Remmina` (canonical, project ID 7153509) |
| Fork | `gitlab.com/satware/Remmina` (project ID 84057632) |
| Local clone | `~/external/remmina/` with `upstream` remote added |
| Build | `cmake -Bbuild -H. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DWITH_FREERDP3=ON` |
| Branch | `fix/rdp-xopendisplay-null-check` |
| Commit | `e6084bd7f` - "rdp: fix SIGSEGV when XOpenDisplay returns NULL on Wayland" |
| MR | [!2757](https://gitlab.com/Remmina/Remmina/-/merge_requests/2757) (opened, target: master) |
### Build notes
- CMake flag `-DWITH_FREERDP3=ON` is required (default is OFF/FreeRDP2)
- All build deps present on this workstation (FreeRDP3 3.27.0, GTK3 3.24.52, etc.)
- Build time: ~30 seconds (incremental, 16 cores)
- Plugin loads from `~/.config/remmina/plugins/` (alt dir, checked before system)
## Files touched
| File | Change |
|------|--------|
| `~/.local/share/remmina/group_rdp_mothership_10-10-202-4.remmina` | `keymap=Map Meta Keys` -> `keymap=` (safe setting) |
| `~/.config/remmina/plugins/remmina-plugin-rdp.so` | Patched plugin (built from source) |
| `~/external/remmina/plugins/rdp/rdp_plugin.c` | 4-line NULL check fix (committed + pushed) |
| `~/.env` | `GITLAB_COM_API_TOKEN` added (for glab CLI) |
| `~/.config/glab-cli/config.yml` | gitlab.com host added (glab auth login) |
## References
- MR: https://gitlab.com/Remmina/Remmina/-/merge_requests/2757
- Fork: https://gitlab.com/satware/Remmina
- Upstream: https://gitlab.com/Remmina/Remmina
- CONTRIBUTING.md: fork-and-pull model on GitLab
+1
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@@ -22,5 +22,6 @@ This document tracks all persistent system changes implemented manually that are
| Date | Change | Rationale | Ansible Status |
|------|--------|-----------|----------------|
| 2026-07-03 | Patched `remmina-plugin-rdp.so` in `~/.config/remmina/plugins/` | Remmina 1.4.43 crashes (SIGSEGV) on Wayland when `keymap` is set in a profile. Built from `~/external/remmina/` fork with NULL check fix. Alt plugin dir loads before system plugin. MR !2757 submitted upstream. See `docs/learnings/2026-07-03-remmina-wayland-crash-fix.md`. | Remove when upstream fix is released and packaged |
| 2026-06-17 | Discovered and deleted `br_vm_internal` bridge (10.10.2.0/24) | Externally-created bridge, no NM config file, no VMs attached. Origin unknown — likely ad-hoc `nmcli con add` or manual `brctl` session (Jun 10). Traffic-shaping qdisc (`htb`) suggests prior VM network isolation attempt. Deleted via `nmcli con delete` + `ip link delete`. | N/A (removed) |
| 2026-04-02 | Moved LLM models to `/home/mw/models/` (SATA SSD) with symlinks | Free root NVMe space (93%→87%, +25G freed) | Not yet |