From 6553c0227d44d79c3db1840ffbae16116acfe552 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jared Vititoe <jjvititoe1@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2026 12:25:04 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Fix dogpile cache-overwrite race in CacheHelper::remember()
 (#91)
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remember() had no protection against a slow cache-miss recomputation
overwriting a fresher write. If Request A started computing stats just
before a ticket mutation + invalidateCache(), and Request B started
just after (correctly computing fresh, post-mutation data), A could
finish (using stale pre-mutation data) after B and overwrite B's fresh
cache entry — extending staleness by up to another full TTL.

Added a per-prefix invalidation epoch: delete() bumps it, and
remember() snapshots it before running the callback and only writes
if the epoch hasn't changed since — otherwise a newer invalidation
happened mid-computation and the result being written is already
stale, so it's dropped (the caller still gets its own result; only the
cache write is skipped).

Verified with two real concurrent PHP processes racing against the
same cache key (a slow "Request A" callback vs. a fast "Request B"
that invalidates then recomputes): the cache ends up holding B's fresh
value, not A's late stale overwrite.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01MGDKHiU5RJdo3dqQUDow3X
---
 helpers/CacheHelper.php | 37 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/helpers/CacheHelper.php b/helpers/CacheHelper.php
index 40c1c83..4300adf 100644
--- a/helpers/CacheHelper.php
+++ b/helpers/CacheHelper.php
@@ -121,6 +121,33 @@ class CacheHelper
         return $written;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Read the current invalidation epoch for a prefix (0 if never bumped).
+     * Used by remember() to detect an invalidation that happened while a
+     * cache-miss recomputation was in flight.
+     */
+    private static function getEpoch(string $prefix): int
+    {
+        $safePrefix = preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '_', $prefix);
+        $file = self::getCacheDir() . '/' . $safePrefix . '.epoch';
+        $val = @file_get_contents($file);
+        return $val !== false ? (int)$val : 0;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Bump a prefix's invalidation epoch. Called whenever anything under the
+     * prefix is invalidated.
+     */
+    private static function bumpEpoch(string $prefix): void
+    {
+        $safePrefix = preg_replace('/[^a-zA-Z0-9_]/', '_', $prefix);
+        $file = self::getCacheDir() . '/' . $safePrefix . '.epoch';
+        $next = self::getEpoch($prefix) + 1;
+        if (@file_put_contents($file, (string)$next, LOCK_EX) !== false) {
+            @chmod($file, 0600);
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Delete cached data
      *
@@ -130,6 +157,8 @@ class CacheHelper
      */
     public static function delete(string $prefix, $identifier = null): bool
     {
+        self::bumpEpoch($prefix);
+
         if ($identifier !== null) {
             $key = self::makeKey($prefix, $identifier);
             unset(self::$memoryCache[$key]);
@@ -192,8 +221,14 @@ class CacheHelper
         $data = self::get($prefix, $identifier, $ttl);
 
         if ($data === null) {
+            // Snapshot the epoch before running the (possibly slow) callback so
+            // a concurrent invalidation mid-computation can be detected below —
+            // otherwise this request's stale pre-invalidation result could
+            // overwrite a newer request's fresher write, extending staleness by
+            // up to another full TTL.
+            $epochBefore = self::getEpoch($prefix);
             $data = $callback();
-            if ($data !== null) {
+            if ($data !== null && self::getEpoch($prefix) === $epochBefore) {
                 self::set($prefix, $identifier, $data);
             }
         }