Add --with-sanitizers option to configure

This enables the use of different compiler sanitizers, coresponding to
the -fsanitize option in GCC and Clang.

1 files changed, 51 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/developer-notes.md b/doc/developer-notes.md
index 8f06ee4eca..3be599623a 100644
--- a/doc/developer-notes.md
+++ b/doc/developer-notes.md
@@ -204,6 +204,57 @@ make cov
 # A coverage report will now be accessible at `./test_bitcoin.coverage/index.html`.
 ```
 
+**Sanitizers**
+
+Bitcoin can be compiled with various "sanitizers" enabled, which add
+instrumentation for issues regarding things like memory safety, thread race
+conditions, or undefined behavior. This is controlled with the
+`--with-sanitizers` configure flag, which should be a comma separated list of
+sanitizers to enable. The sanitizer list should correspond to supported
+`-fsanitize=` options in your compiler. These sanitizers have runtime overhead,
+so they are most useful when testing changes or producing debugging builds.
+
+Some examples:
+
+```bash
+# Enable both the address sanitizer and the undefined behavior sanitizer
+./configure --with-sanitizers=address,undefined
+
+# Enable the thread sanitizer
+./configure --with-sanitizers=thread
+```
+
+If you are compiling with GCC you will typically need to install corresponding
+"san" libraries to actually compile with these flags, e.g. libasan for the
+address sanitizer, libtsan for the thread sanitizer, and libubsan for the
+undefined sanitizer. If you are missing required libraries, the configure script
+will fail with a linker error when testing the sanitizer flags.
+
+The test suite should pass cleanly with the `thread` and `undefined` sanitizers,
+but there are a number of known problems when using the `address` sanitizer. The
+address sanitizer is known to fail in
+[sha256_sse4::Transform](/src/crypto/sha256_sse4.cpp) which makes it unusable
+unless you also use `--disable-asm` when running configure. We would like to fix
+sanitizer issues, so please send pull requests if you can fix any errors found
+by the address sanitizer (or any other sanitizer).
+
+Not all sanitizer options can be enabled at the same time, e.g. trying to build
+with `--with-sanitizers=address,thread` will fail in the configure script as
+these sanitizers are mutually incompatible. Refer to your compiler manual to
+learn more about these options and which sanitizers are supported by your
+compiler.
+
+Additional resources:
+
+ * [AddressSanitizer](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AddressSanitizer.html)
+ * [LeakSanitizer](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/LeakSanitizer.html)
+ * [MemorySanitizer](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/MemorySanitizer.html)
+ * [ThreadSanitizer](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThreadSanitizer.html)
+ * [UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer.html)
+ * [GCC Instrumentation Options](https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Instrumentation-Options.html)
+ * [Google Sanitizers Wiki](https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki)
+ * [Issue #12691: Enable -fsanitize flags in Travis](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/12691)
+
 Locking/mutex usage notes
 -------------------------