The current implementation of show_backtrace hangs on a mutex lock in the malloc/free routines when a segmentation fault due to corruption of the malloc/free administration happens to trigger the backtrace.
There is an alternative implementation using a temporary file to store the translation of address -> symbol name that doesn't malloc storage (see 'man backtrace'). A work around is to force the hanging process to the background and using the "attach" functionality of gdb to force a backtrace with the "where" command. -- Summary: show_backtrace hangs on SIGSEGV in malloc/free Product: gcc Version: 4.3.0 Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: enhancement Priority: P3 Component: libfortran AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: toon at moene dot indiv dot nluug dot nl http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=33905