Is there a load leak if dlopen() is called from a dlopen'd library?

Question

If my executable calls dlopen to load a library but neglects to call dlclose , the library will stay loaded until the process exits and the OS forces it to unload.

If I load a.so which loads b.so , then call dlclose on a.so , does the OS unload b.so as well?

How does this compare with a similar scenario using the Microsoft equivalent, LoadLibraryEx ?

Answer 1

The application need only worry about what the app loads directly . If you load a.so , all you need to be concerned with is unloading a.so .

If a.so refuses to unload b.so , that is a problem with a.so , your app is not responsible for this. The author of a.so needs to get their act together and fix the problem with their library.