PRoot returns inconsistent metadata for hard-linked regular files (scandir reports symlink, lstat reports regular file)

[szgk]

Hi, and thank you for creating and maintaining this amazing open-source project.

I've been using PRoot on a Google Pixel 9a through Termux.

While building a Next.js project with pnpm and Turbopack, I encountered the following error:

Invalid symlink

After investigating the issue, I found what appears to be a bug in PRoot's handling of filesystem metadata for hard-linked files. I've included a minimal reproduction and the investigation results below.

Summary

When running Next.js (Turbopack) inside Termux + PRoot Ubuntu, a project installed with pnpm hardlink mode fails to build with:

TurbopackInternalError: Invalid symlink

The investigation indicates that PRoot returns inconsistent metadata for hard-linked regular files.

For the same filesystem path:

• os.scandir().is_symlink() reports True
• os.lstat() reports a regular file
• os.readlink() returns EINVAL
• st_nlink == 2 (hard-linked file)

As a result, applications that trust directory enumeration metadata (such as Turbopack) treat the file as a symbolic link and fail with Invalid symlink.

---

Environment

• Device: Google Pixel 9a
• Android: 17
• Termux: googleplay.2026.06.21
• Ubuntu: 25.10(PRoot v5.1.0)
• PRoot-distro: v4.38.0
• pnpm: 10.34.5
• Next.js: 16.2.12
• Turbopack: bundled with Next.js 16.2.12

---

Reproduction

1. Create a new Next.js project

pnpm create next-app proot-test
cd proot-test

---

2. Install dependencies using hardlink mode

rm -rf node_modules

pnpm install --package-import-method=hardlink

---

3. Verify hard-linked files exist

find node_modules -links +1 -print | head

Example:

node_modules/.pnpm/has-flag@4.0.0/node_modules/has-flag/package.json

---

4. Build with Turbopack

pnpm build

Result:

Error [TurbopackInternalError]: Invalid symlink

Relevant stack:

- Execution of try_get_next_package failed
- Execution of read_package_json failed
- Execution of <FileSource as Asset>::content failed
- Invalid symlink

---

Metadata inspection

The following script finds one hard-linked regular file and compares the metadata returned by os.scandir() and os.lstat().

import os
import stat
import sys

root = "node_modules"
target = None

stack = [root]

while stack:
    directory = stack.pop()

    try:
        entries = list(os.scandir(directory))
    except OSError:
        continue

    for entry in entries:
        path = entry.path

        try:
            st = os.lstat(path)
        except OSError:
            continue

        if stat.S_ISDIR(st.st_mode):
            stack.append(path)
            continue

        if stat.S_ISREG(st.st_mode) and st.st_nlink > 1:
            target = path
            break

    if target:
        break

if target is None:
    print("No hard-linked regular file found.")
    sys.exit(1)

parent = os.path.dirname(target)
name = os.path.basename(target)

print("target:", target)

for entry in os.scandir(parent):
    if entry.name != name:
        continue

    st = os.lstat(target)

    print("scandir is_symlink:", entry.is_symlink())
    print("scandir inode     :", entry.inode())
    print("lstat inode       :", st.st_ino)
    print("lstat mode        :", oct(st.st_mode))
    print("lstat is regular  :", stat.S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
    print("lstat is symlink  :", stat.S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
    print("nlink             :", st.st_nlink)

    try:
        print("readlink          :", os.readlink(target))
    except OSError as error:
        print("readlink error    :", repr(error))

    break

---

Actual output

target: node_modules/.pnpm/has-flag@4.0.0/node_modules/has-flag/package.json

scandir is_symlink: True
scandir inode     : 1523265

lstat inode       : 1349956
lstat mode        : 0o100644
lstat is regular  : True
lstat is symlink  : False
nlink             : 2

readlink error    : OSError(22, 'Invalid argument')

---

Expected behavior

For the same filesystem entry:

os.scandir().is_symlink() == False

entry.inode() == os.lstat().st_ino

os.readlink() should not be called on a regular file.

---

Actual behavior

For the same filesystem path:

API	Result
os.scandir().is_symlink()	True
os.lstat()	Regular file
st_nlink	2
os.readlink()	EINVAL

Additionally:

entry.inode() != os.lstat().st_ino

which indicates inconsistent metadata for the same filesystem entry.

---

Workaround

Removing node_modules and reinstalling using copy mode avoids the issue.

rm -rf node_modules

pnpm install --package-import-method=copy

pnpm build

The build succeeds.

---

Suspected cause

PRoot appears to return inconsistent metadata during directory enumeration.

A hard-linked regular file is reported as a symbolic link by os.scandir(), while os.lstat() correctly reports it as a regular file.

Applications that trust directory enumeration metadata subsequently attempt to resolve the file as a symbolic link.

Since the file is actually a regular file, readlink() fails with:

EINVAL (Invalid argument)

which ultimately causes errors such as:

TurbopackInternalError: Invalid symlink

---

Additional notes

This issue is reproducible only when pnpm installs packages using hardlink mode.

Reinstalling with:

pnpm install --package-import-method=copy

eliminates the issue, strongly suggesting that the bug is triggered by hard-linked regular files.