libpng causes GUI apps to crash with EXC_BAD_ACCESS

[PythonCoderAS]

Output of brew config

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 4.3.2-56-gfe16e9d
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew
HEAD: fe16e9d7ef393fdcf353a3c3eba73d0299b744cc
Last commit: 2 hours ago
Core tap HEAD: 4a00cafc112d78970de81aa080e82c9c6c3ac9f6
Core tap last commit: 9 days ago
Core tap JSON: 31 May 20:41 UTC
Core cask tap HEAD: 01ea5381848b5f69e2e495b86f329433f2caad8f
Core cask tap last commit: 9 days ago
Core cask tap branch: add-blitzgg
Core cask tap JSON: 31 May 20:41 UTC
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /opt/homebrew
HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS: []
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: /opt/homebrew/bin/nvim
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 8
HOMEBREW_SORBET_RUNTIME: set
Homebrew Ruby: 3.3.2 => /opt/homebrew/Library/Homebrew/vendor/portable-ruby/3.3.2/bin/ruby
CPU: octa-core 64-bit arm_firestorm_icestorm
Clang: 15.0.0 build 1500
Git: 2.39.3 => /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/git
Curl: 8.4.0 => /usr/bin/curl
macOS: 14.4-arm64
CLT: 15.3.0.0.1.1708646388
Xcode: N/A
Rosetta 2: false

Output of brew doctor

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Description of issue

libpng causes some GUI applications that call into Objective C to crash, such as tauri-apps/tauri#7351. The problem goes away whenever I uninstall libpng or remove /opt/homebrew/lib from DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH.

[carlocab]

Why are you setting DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH?

[PythonCoderAS]

Something would not compile without it set.

[jcelerier]

Also note that IDEs will set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH automatically to the path where libraries are found

[carlocab]

Using DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH that way is a hack, and breaking stuff when using it should be expected. It's also a vector for dylib highjacking.

This is why Apple strips DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH when running the binaries they provide:

# We can pass `DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH` to binaries not built by Apple
❯ DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/homebrew/lib /opt/homebrew/bin/bash -c '[[ -n $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH ]]'; echo $?
0

# We _cannot_ pass `DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH` to binaries built by Apple
❯ DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/homebrew/lib /bin/bash -c '[[ -n $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH ]]'; echo $?
1

# Other environment variables can be passed as normal for both
❯ NOT_DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/homebrew/lib /opt/homebrew/bin/bash -c '[[ -n $NOT_DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH ]]'; echo $?
0
❯ NOT_DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/homebrew/lib /bin/bash -c '[[ -n $NOT_DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH ]]'; echo $?
0

I would strongly advise against the use of any application that sets DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH outside of a carefully controlled environment. You probably should not set it yourself either unless you know what you're doing and are very careful.