ref-filter: don't look for objects when outside of a repository

The command 'git ls-remote --sort=authordate <remote>' segfaults when
run outside of a repository, ever since the introduction of its
'--sort' option in 1fb20dfd8e (ls-remote: create '--sort' option,
2018-04-09).

While in general the 'git ls-remote' command can be run outside of a
repository just fine, its '--sort=<key>' option with certain keys does
require access to the referenced objects.  This sorting is implemented
using the generic ref-filter sorting facility, which already handles
missing objects gracefully with the appropriate 'missing object
deadbeef for HEAD' message.  However, being generic means that it
checks replace refs while trying to retrieve an object, and while
doing so it accesses the 'git_replace_ref_base' variable, which has
not been initialized and is still a NULL pointer when outside of a
repository, thus causing the segfault.

Make ref-filter more careful upfront while parsing the format string,
and make it error out when encountering a format atom requiring object
access when we are not in a repository.  Also add a test to ensure
that 'git ls-remote --sort' fails gracefully when executed outside of
a repository.

Reported-by: H.Merijn Brand <h.m.brand@xs4all.nl>
Signed-off-by: SZEDER Gábor <szeder.dev@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 4 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/ref-filter.c b/ref-filter.c
index 0c45ed9d94..a1290659af 100644
--- a/ref-filter.c
+++ b/ref-filter.c
@@ -534,6 +534,10 @@ static int parse_ref_filter_atom(const struct ref_format *format,
 	if (ARRAY_SIZE(valid_atom) <= i)
 		return strbuf_addf_ret(err, -1, _("unknown field name: %.*s"),
 				       (int)(ep-atom), atom);
+	if (valid_atom[i].source != SOURCE_NONE && !have_git_dir())
+		return strbuf_addf_ret(err, -1,
+				       _("not a git repository, but the field '%.*s' requires access to object data"),
+				       (int)(ep-atom), atom);
 
 	/* Add it in, including the deref prefix */
 	at = used_atom_cnt;