From 3c8d7bcea029b55505d74f50acf84102b1e0ba7a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Raphael Fakhri <153192858+RaphaelFakhri@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2026 23:30:22 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Fixes split_args handling of quotes that start or end inside
 an argument.

---
 src/manage/scriptutils.py | 68 +++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 tests/test_scriptutils.py | 20 ++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 31 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/manage/scriptutils.py b/src/manage/scriptutils.py
index 0a517c4..1f74b69 100644
--- a/src/manage/scriptutils.py
+++ b/src/manage/scriptutils.py
@@ -344,44 +344,50 @@ def split_args(arg_string, argv0=False):
     """Splits a single argument string into separate unquoted items.
 
 If argv0 is True, the first argument is parsed as if it is the executable name.
+
+Arguments are split using the same rules as the C runtime, so quotes may begin
+and end anywhere within an argument.
 """
     args = []
     if argv0 and arg_string[:1] == '"':
         a, _, arg_string = arg_string[1:].partition('"')
         args.append(a)
 
-    arg_buffer = None
-    quoted_arg = []
-    bits = arg_string.strip().split(' ')
-    while bits:
-        a = bits.pop(0)
-        pre, quot, post = a.partition('"')
-        if arg_buffer:
-            pre = arg_buffer + pre
-            arg_buffer = None
-        if not quot:
-            if quoted_arg:
-                quoted_arg.append(pre)
-                quoted_arg.append(' ')
-            else:
-                args.append(pre.replace('\\\\', '\\'))
+    arg = None
+    in_quotes = False
+    backslashes = 0
+    i = 0
+    while i < len(arg_string):
+        c = arg_string[i]
+        i += 1
+        if c == '\\':
+            backslashes += 1
             continue
-        if pre[-1:] == '\\' and (len(pre) - len(pre.rstrip('\\'))) % 2 == 1:
-            arg_buffer = pre[:-1] + quot
-            if post:
-                bits.insert(0, post)
+        if c == '"':
+            # 2n backslashes + quote -> n backslashes and toggle quoting
+            # 2n+1 backslashes + quote -> n backslashes and a literal quote
+            arg = (arg or '') + '\\' * (backslashes // 2)
+            if backslashes % 2:
+                arg += '"'
+            elif in_quotes and arg_string[i:i + 1] == '"':
+                # A doubled quote inside quotes is a literal quote
+                arg += '"'
+                i += 1
+            else:
+                in_quotes = not in_quotes
+            backslashes = 0
             continue
-        elif quoted_arg:
-            quoted_arg.append(pre)
-            args.append(''.join(quoted_arg).replace('\\\\', '\\'))
-            quoted_arg.clear()
+        if backslashes:
+            arg = (arg or '') + '\\' * backslashes
+            backslashes = 0
+        if c in ' \t' and not in_quotes:
+            if arg is not None:
+                args.append(arg)
+                arg = None
             continue
-
-        quoted_arg.append(pre)
-        if pre:
-            quoted_arg.append(quot)
-        if post:
-            bits.insert(0, post)
-    if quoted_arg:
-        args.append(''.join(quoted_arg))
+        arg = (arg or '') + c
+    if backslashes:
+        arg = (arg or '') + '\\' * backslashes
+    if arg is not None:
+        args.append(arg)
     return args
diff --git a/tests/test_scriptutils.py b/tests/test_scriptutils.py
index bd35f89..f80a343 100644
--- a/tests/test_scriptutils.py
+++ b/tests/test_scriptutils.py
@@ -279,6 +279,26 @@ def test_quote_args(args, expect):
     assert args == split_args(expect), expect
 
 
+# Examples from "Parsing C command-line arguments" in the Microsoft C runtime
+# documentation, plus quotes that begin or end partway through an argument.
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("arg_string, expect", [pytest.param(*a, id=a[0]) for a in [
+    ('"a b c" d e', ['a b c', 'd', 'e']),
+    ('"ab\\"c" "\\\\" d', ['ab"c', '\\', 'd']),
+    ('a\\\\\\b d"e f"g h', ['a\\\\\\b', 'de fg', 'h']),
+    ('a\\\\\\"b c d', ['a\\"b', 'c', 'd']),
+    ('a\\\\\\\\"b c" d e', ['a\\\\b c', 'd', 'e']),
+    ('a"b"" c d', ['ab" c d']),
+    ('--opt="a b" -E', ['--opt=a b', '-E']),
+    ('-W"ignore"', ['-Wignore']),
+    ('"a b"c d', ['a bc', 'd']),
+    ('-X  utf8', ['-X', 'utf8']),
+    ('x "" y', ['x', '', 'y']),
+    ('a\tb', ['a', 'b']),
+]])
+def test_split_args(arg_string, expect):
+    assert expect == split_args(arg_string)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("line, expect_id, expect_line", [pytest.param(*a, id=a[0]) for a in [
     ("#!/usr/bin/python", "Test1", None),
     ("#!/usr/bin/python -Es", "Test1", None),