symbolic links make snap apps silently crash

[delbian]

this is a generic bug report, referring to a seen more than once problem

several apps are crashing without notice. in my system this happens at least to Bitwarden and Ferdium

the apps run correctly the first time, after install, and then they do not run anymore, quietly crashing

in various forums this have been pointed out to symbolic links, that makes apparmor unhappy. in the same forums most suggested solutions is to transform the symbolic links to binds

I'm not discussing whether this is a forced necessity (I'm not a security expert)

but since this is a sort of common issue, that comes up again and again, in several apps, the crash should be verbose, and explaining which are the offending symbolic links, and delivering suggestions in how to fix the issue

besides, the issue should be detected during the first run. the fact that the first run is successful, and the second and following runs are not, is misleading

I can provide my log for the bug I'm referring, but this is not to resolve my bug, but to resolve a snap generic behavior (crashing quietly when apparmor disturbing symbolic links are present)

[delbian (delbian1970)]

besides

I'm moving from snap (which is my preferred packaged app system) to flatpak because of this issue. I cannot blindly transform all my symbolic links to mnt binds hoping to ease the snap problems. it is simpler to me to move to a different system altogether

[Sergio Cazzolato (sergio-j-cazzolato)]

Hi, could you please share journal logs for snapd?
Could you also describe which are the snaps involved?

[delbian (delbian1970)]

hi

> Hi, could you please share journal logs for snapd?
> Could you also describe which are the snaps involved?

sure. but not today

I'll have to reinstall the apps and see if the behaviour persists, and
attach the journal logs

in my previous experience, this was happening with Bitwarden and Ferdium
(and I'll retry with these apps)

On Wed, May 10, 2023, 20:26 Sergio Cazzolato <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Hi, could you please share journal logs for snapd?
> Could you also describe which are the snaps involved?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2016874
>
> Title:
> symbolic links make snap apps silently crash
>
> Status in snapd:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> this is a generic bug report, referring to a seen more than once
> problem
>
> several apps are crashing without notice. in my system this happens at
> least to Bitwarden and Ferdium
>
> the apps run correctly the first time, after install, and then they do
> not run anymore, quietly crashing
>
> in various forums this have been pointed out to symbolic links, that
> makes apparmor unhappy. in the same forums most suggested solutions is
> to transform the symbolic links to binds
>
> I'm not discussing whether this is a forced necessity (I'm not a
> security expert)
>
> but since this is a sort of common issue, that comes up again and
> again, in several apps, the crash should be verbose, and explaining
> which are the offending symbolic links, and delivering suggestions in
> how to fix the issue
>
> besides, the issue should be detected during the first run. the fact
> that the first run is successful, and the second and following runs
> are not, is misleading
>
> I can provide my log for the bug I'm referring, but this is not to
> resolve my bug, but to resolve a snap generic behavior (crashing
> quietly when apparmor disturbing symbolic links are present)
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapd/+bug/2016874/+subscriptions
>
>

[delbian (delbian1970)]

hi Sergio

I'm including the logs obtained with the following commands:

journalctl --since yesterday | grep snap > snap.log

are these correct?

to make life easier, I'm including several snapshots (pre install, post
install, post 1st run, post 2nd run)

what have I done:
0. remove previous Bitwarden install (flatpak)
1. install snap bitwarden
2. run it : run is ok: login to bitwarden, login is ok, close it
3. run it : run silently fail

finally, I've seen this behaviour with Ferdium as well (but I have not
reinstalled it)