diff -u apport-2.20.1/NEWS apport-2.20.1/NEWS
--- apport-2.20.1/NEWS
+++ apport-2.20.1/NEWS
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
    characters with dots, not just a few known invalid ones. (LP: #1566975)
  * problem_report.py: Instead of AssertionError, raise a ValueError for invalid
    key names and TypeError for invalid kinds of values. Thanks Barry Warsaw.
+ * data/apport: Introduce support for non-positional arguments so we can
+   easily extend core_pattern in the future (LP: #1732962)

 2.20.1 (2016-03-31)
 -------------------
diff -u apport-2.20.1/data/apport apport-2.20.1/data/apport
--- apport-2.20.1/data/apport
+++ apport-2.20.1/data/apport
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@

 import sys, os, os.path, subprocess, time, traceback, pwd, io
 import signal, inspect, grp, fcntl, socket, atexit, array, struct
-import errno
+import errno, argparse

 import apport, apport.fileutils

@@ -350,6 +350,47 @@
     return False


+def parse_arguments():
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(epilog="""
+    Alternatively, the following command line is understood for legacy hosts:
+        <pid> <signal number> <core file ulimit> <dump mode> [global pid]
+    """)
+
+    # TODO: Use type=int
+    parser.add_argument("-p", "--pid", help="process id (%%p)")
+    parser.add_argument("-s", "--signal-number", help="signal number (%%s)")
+    parser.add_argument("-c", "--core-ulimit", help="core ulimit (%%c)")
+    parser.add_argument("-d", "--dump-mode", help="dump mode (%%d)")
+    parser.add_argument("-P", "--global-pid", nargs='?', help="pid in root namespace (%%P)")
+    parser.add_argument("-E", "--executable-path", nargs='?', help="path of executable (%%E)")
+
+    options, rest = parser.parse_known_args()
+
+    if options.pid is not None:
+        for arg in rest:
+            error_log("Unknown argument: %s", arg)
+
+    elif len(rest) in (4, 5, 6):
+        # Translate legacy command line
+        options.pid = rest[0]
+        options.signal_number = rest[1]
+        options.core_ulimit = rest[2]
+        options.dump_mode = rest[3]
+        try:
+            options.global_pid = rest[4]
+        except IndexError:
+            options.global_pid = None
+        try:
+            options.exe_path = rest[5].replace('!', '/')
+        except IndexError:
+            options.exe_path = None
+    else:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    return options
+
+
 #################################################################
 #
 # main
@@ -398,16 +439,7 @@
         error_log('Received a bad number of arguments from forwarder, received %d, expected 5, aborting.' % len(sys.argv))
         sys.exit(1)

-# Normal startup
-if len(sys.argv) not in (5, 6, 7):
-    try:
-        print('Usage: %s <pid> <signal number> <core file ulimit> <dump mode> [global pid] [exe path]' % sys.argv[0])
-        print('The core dump is read from stdin.')
-    except IOError:
-        # sys.stderr might not actually exist, expecially not when being called
-        # from the kernel
-        pass
-    sys.exit(1)
+options = parse_arguments()

 init_error_log()

@@ -415,8 +447,8 @@
 # then compare it with the local PID. If they don't match, it's an
 # indication that the crash originated from another PID namespace.
 # Simply log an entry in the host error log and exit 0.
-if len(sys.argv) >= 6:
-    host_pid = int(sys.argv[5])
+if options.global_pid is not None:
+    host_pid = int(options.global_pid)

     if not is_same_ns(host_pid, "pid") and not is_same_ns(host_pid, "mnt"):
         # If the crash came from a container, don't attempt to handle
@@ -426,7 +458,7 @@
         # forward the process information there.
         if not os.path.exists('/proc/%d/root/run/apport.socket' % host_pid):
             error_log('host pid %s crashed in a container without apport support' %
-                      host_pid)
+                      options.global_pid)
             sys.exit(0)

         proc_host_pid_fd = os.open('/proc/%d' % host_pid, os.O_RDONLY | os.O_PATH | os.O_DIRECTORY)
@@ -499,7 +531,7 @@
             sock.connect('/run/apport.socket')
         except Exception as e:
             error_log('host pid %s crashed in a container with a broken apport' %
-                      sys.argv[5])
+                      options.global_pid)
             sys.exit(0)

         # Send all arguments except for the first (exec path) and last (global pid)
@@ -530,14 +562,17 @@
         # sandbox will use container namespaces as a security measure but are
         # still otherwise host processes. When that's the case, we need to keep
         # handling those crashes locally using the global pid.
-        sys.argv[1] = str(host_pid)
+        options.pid = str(host_pid)

 check_lock()

 try:
     setup_signals()

-    (pid, signum, core_ulimit, dump_mode) = sys.argv[1:5]
+    pid = options.pid
+    signum = options.signal_number
+    core_ulimit = options.core_ulimit
+    dump_mode = options.dump_mode

     get_pid_info(pid)

@@ -598,10 +633,8 @@
     # We already need this here to figure out the ExecutableName (for scripts,
     # etc).

-    if len(sys.argv) >= 7:
-        exec_path = sys.argv[6].replace('!', '/')
-        if os.path.exists(exec_path):
-            info['ExecutablePath'] = exec_path
+    if options.exe_path is not None and os.path.exists(options.exe_path):
+        info['ExecutablePath'] = options.exe_path

     euid = os.geteuid()
     egid = os.getegid()
diff -u apport-2.20.1/debian/changelog apport-2.20.1/debian/changelog
--- apport-2.20.1/debian/changelog
+++ apport-2.20.1/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+apport (2.20.1-0ubuntu2.25) xenial; urgency=medium
+
+  * data/apport: Introduce support for non-positional arguments so we can
+    easily extend core_pattern in the future (LP: #1732962)
+
+ -- Matthieu Clemenceau <matthieu.clemenceau@canonical.com>  Fri, 21 Aug 2020 10:24:13 -0500
+
 apport (2.20.1-0ubuntu2.24) xenial-security; urgency=medium

   * SECURITY UPDATE: information disclosure issue (LP: #1885633)
diff -u apport-2.20.1/etc/init.d/apport apport-2.20.1/etc/init.d/apport
--- apport-2.20.1/etc/init.d/apport
+++ apport-2.20.1/etc/init.d/apport
@@ -50,7 +50,12 @@
 		rm -f /var/lib/pm-utils/resume-hang.log
 	fi

-	echo "|$AGENT %p %s %c %d %P %E" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
+	# Old compatibility mode, switch later to second one
+	if true; then
+		echo "|$AGENT %p %s %c %d %P %E" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
+	else
+		echo "|$AGENT -p%p -s%s -c%c -d%d -P%P -E%E" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
+	fi
 	echo 2 > /proc/sys/fs/suid_dumpable
 }

diff -u apport-2.20.1/use-local apport-2.20.1/use-local
--- apport-2.20.1/use-local
+++ apport-2.20.1/use-local
@@ -7 +7 @@
-echo "|$(readlink -f $(dirname $0)/data/apport) %p %s %c %d %P" > /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern
+echo "|$(readlink -f $(dirname $0)/data/apport) -p%p -s%s -c%c -d%d -P%P" | tee /proc/sys/kernel/core_pattern