BUG #19474: LIKE with nondeterministic collations mis-handle literal backslashes in patterns containing escape
The following bug has been logged on the website:
Bug reference: 19474
Logged by: Bowen Shi
Email address: zxwsbg12138@gmail.com
PostgreSQL version: 18.3
Operating system: centos
Description:
After commit 85b7efa1cdd63c2fe2b70b725b8285743ee5787f ("Support LIKE with
nondeterministic collations"), LIKE on a nondeterministic collation can
return an incorrect result when the pattern contains a literal backslash.
The problem appears to be in MatchText() in
src/backend/utils/adt/like_match.c. In the nondeterministic-collation path,
when a pattern substring contains escape processing, the code builds an
unescaped copy of the substring. In that logic, a backslash that should
remain as a literal character can be dropped, so the substring compared by
pg_strncoll() is not the same as the original SQL pattern semantics.
As a result, a LIKE pattern that should match a string containing a literal
backslash can incorrectly return false.
SQL reproduction:
CREATE COLLATION ignore_accents (
provider = icu,
locale = 'und-u-ks-level1',
deterministic = false
);
SELECT 'back\slash' COLLATE ignore_accents LIKE 'back\slash%' ESCAPE '#';
Expected result:
t
Actual result:
f
The same pattern works as expected without the nondeterministic collation
semantics.
A table-based reproduction:
CREATE COLLATION ignore_accents (
provider = icu,
locale = 'und-u-ks-level1',
deterministic = false
);
CREATE TABLE like_test (val text);
INSERT INTO like_test VALUES ('back\slash');
SELECT val
FROM like_test
WHERE val COLLATE ignore_accents LIKE 'back\slash%' ESCAPE '#';
Expected result:
one row: back\slash
Actual result:
zero rows
This seems to be caused by the unescape logic in like_match.c for
nondeterministic collations, where a pattern fragment containing backslashes
is copied incorrectly before calling pg_strncoll().
Hi,
I have proposed a fix for this on pgsql-hackers[1]/messages/by-id/CAH5HC94yU+K8Gcdy12M5BS8gwD_SXLSHzc9k5tNk7JDnpBiFMA@mail.gmail.com. Please take a look
and let me know what you think.
Thanks & Regards,
Nitin Motiani
Google
[1]: /messages/by-id/CAH5HC94yU+K8Gcdy12M5BS8gwD_SXLSHzc9k5tNk7JDnpBiFMA@mail.gmail.com
On Sat, May 9, 2026 at 8:02 AM PG Bug reporting form
<noreply@postgresql.org> wrote:
Show quoted text
The following bug has been logged on the website:
Bug reference: 19474
Logged by: Bowen Shi
Email address: zxwsbg12138@gmail.com
PostgreSQL version: 18.3
Operating system: centos
Description:After commit 85b7efa1cdd63c2fe2b70b725b8285743ee5787f ("Support LIKE with
nondeterministic collations"), LIKE on a nondeterministic collation can
return an incorrect result when the pattern contains a literal backslash.The problem appears to be in MatchText() in
src/backend/utils/adt/like_match.c. In the nondeterministic-collation path,
when a pattern substring contains escape processing, the code builds an
unescaped copy of the substring. In that logic, a backslash that should
remain as a literal character can be dropped, so the substring compared by
pg_strncoll() is not the same as the original SQL pattern semantics.As a result, a LIKE pattern that should match a string containing a literal
backslash can incorrectly return false.SQL reproduction:
CREATE COLLATION ignore_accents (
provider = icu,
locale = 'und-u-ks-level1',
deterministic = false
);SELECT 'back\slash' COLLATE ignore_accents LIKE 'back\slash%' ESCAPE '#';
Expected result:
tActual result:
fThe same pattern works as expected without the nondeterministic collation
semantics.A table-based reproduction:
CREATE COLLATION ignore_accents (
provider = icu,
locale = 'und-u-ks-level1',
deterministic = false
);CREATE TABLE like_test (val text);
INSERT INTO like_test VALUES ('back\slash');SELECT val
FROM like_test
WHERE val COLLATE ignore_accents LIKE 'back\slash%' ESCAPE '#';Expected result:
one row: back\slashActual result:
zero rowsThis seems to be caused by the unescape logic in like_match.c for
nondeterministic collations, where a pattern fragment containing backslashes
is copied incorrectly before calling pg_strncoll().