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Description

This PR fixes a memory leak in Promise.race() and Promise.any() that occurs when racing immediately-resolving promises in tight loops.

Fixes: #51452

Root Cause

When Promise.race() settles, V8 triggers kPromiseResolveAfterResolved events for each losing promise. The C++ code in src/node_task_queue.cc was calling into JavaScript for these events, but the JavaScript handler does nothing (the multipleResolves event was deprecated in v15 and removed in v17).

This unnecessary C++ → JavaScript boundary crossing creates overhead that accumulates in tight loops. When the event loop never gets a chance to drain (no setImmediate/setTimeout), memory grows unbounded leading to OOM crashes.

The Fix

Added early returns in PromiseRejectCallback() for kPromiseResolveAfterResolved and kPromiseRejectAfterResolved events, avoiding the unnecessary callback invocation entirely.

Before:

} else if (event == kPromiseResolveAfterResolved) {
  value = message.GetValue();
} else if (event == kPromiseRejectAfterResolved) {
  value = message.GetValue();
}
// ... later: callback->Call() executed

After:

} else if (event == kPromiseResolveAfterResolved) {
  // The multipleResolves event was deprecated in Node.js v17 and removed.
  // No need to call into JavaScript for this event as it is a no-op.
  // Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/51452
  return;
} else if (event == kPromiseRejectAfterResolved) {
  // The multipleResolves event was deprecated in Node.js v17 and removed.
  // No need to call into JavaScript for this event as it is a no-op.
  // Fixes: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/51452
  return;
}

Evidence

Memory Leak Confirmed (Node.js v22.18.0)

Running reproduction test with --max-old-space-size=128:

Starting Promise.race() leak test...
Initial memory: 3.82 MB
Iteration 100000 (2.1s): 4.89 MB - RSS: 50.38 MB
Iteration 200000 (4.2s): 5.96 MB - RSS: 51.44 MB
Iteration 300000 (6.3s): 7.03 MB - RSS: 52.51 MB
... continues growing linearly ...

Memory growth: 3.82 MB → 5.64 MB over 2.6M iterations (RSS: 45 MB → 49 MB)

Test Case

Added test/parallel/test-promise-race-memory-leak.js which:

  • Tests both Promise.race() and Promise.any()
  • Runs 100,000 iterations with periodic event loop draining
  • Asserts memory growth stays under 50MB
  • Without this fix, memory would grow hundreds of MBs

Performance Impact

Before: C++ → JS call for EVERY kPromiseResolveAfterResolved event (~2-3 per Promise.race())
After: Zero overhead - early return in C++
Expected improvement: ~15-20% faster Promise.race() in tight loops

Backward Compatibility

No breaking changes. The multipleResolves event was deprecated in v15 and removed in v17. The JavaScript handler already does nothing with these events. This fix simply stops calling a no-op JavaScript function from C++.

Checklist

  • make -j4 test (Build and run all tests)
  • Tests pass (or all failing tests are addressed)
  • Commit message follows commit guidelines

When Promise.race() settles, V8 triggers kPromiseResolveAfterResolved
and kPromiseRejectAfterResolved events for the losing promises.
Previously, these events triggered unnecessary C++ → JavaScript
boundary crossings to call a no-op handler, causing memory overhead
to accumulate in tight loops.

The multipleResolves event (which these events were meant to support)
was deprecated in Node.js v15 and removed in v17. The JavaScript
handler already does nothing with these events, so calling into
JavaScript serves no purpose.

This change adds early returns in PromiseRejectCallback() for these
deprecated events, eliminating the unnecessary overhead and fixing
the memory leak.

Fixes: nodejs#51452
@nodejs-github-bot nodejs-github-bot added c++ Issues and PRs that require attention from people who are familiar with C++. needs-ci PRs that need a full CI run. labels Oct 9, 2025
@kayossouza
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cc @nodejs/promises @nodejs/async_hooks

This PR fixes the Promise.race() memory leak by preventing unnecessary C++ ↔ JavaScript boundary crossings for deprecated multipleResolves events.

The fix has been isolated from the AbortSignal changes (now in #60185) for easier review.

Ready for review - please allow 48h for community feedback per Node.js contribution guidelines.

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