#966198 gdm3: Defunct gdm-session-worker processes occationally remains unhandled.

Package:
gdm3
Source:
gdm3
Description:
GNOME Display Manager
Submitter:
Mad Horse
Date:
2021-03-18 11:39:05 UTC
Severity:
normal
#966198#5
Date:
2020-07-24 15:53:56 UTC
From:
To:
Dear Maintainer,

Sometimes defunct gdm-session-worker processes may appear after logging out
from a gnome session, which usually lasts several hours, but sometimes
logging
out from a gnome session lasting only one minute can trigger this
phenomenon.

These defunct gdm-session-worker processes are owned by the user
"Debian-gdm",
and their cpu time last only several seconds.

These defunct processes do not clearly impact the functionality of gdm3, but
they occupy available process slots, and cannot be manually cleared unless I
restart gdm3 with no gnome session active (via console or ssh).
#966198#10
Date:
2020-10-09 13:41:17 UTC
From:
To:
These defunct gdm-session-worker processes are in fact for [pam/gdm-launch-environment].
#966198#15
Date:
2021-03-18 11:35:59 UTC
From:
To:
I've noticed quite a few of these processes hanging around:

    $ pgrep gdm-session-worker -f | xargs ps -o pid,ppid,user,unit,uunit,args
	PID    PPID USER     UNIT                            UUNIT                           COMMAND
      13684       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
      14493       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
     533734       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
     562961       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
     924525       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
     966813       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1082590       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1157998       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1330002       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1357332       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1464958       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1629189       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1681338       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1729650       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1811649       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1898863       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1980006       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    1994799       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2038078       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2038182       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2090305       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2183710       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2330631       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2398148       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2922617       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2924774       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    2980937       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3095572       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3126611       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3604886       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3616298       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3631925       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3631965       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3740333       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3740704       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3850981       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3902787       1 root     session-3.scope                 -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]
    3907031    7732 root     session-97366.scope             -                               gdm-session-worker [pam/gdm-password]

I don't know what causes this - I've tried locking and unlocking my
screen and it doesn't seem to increase the number of processes.

This differs from the problem reported by Alberto in that the processes
run as root, and are for [pam/gdm-password]. But I don't know whether
this is a separate bug or not.