Gitlab will not show any diffs on an MR if there is a text file that has a null byte at the end (0x0)

Summary

gitlab will not show any diffs on an MR if there is a text file that has a null byte at the end (0x0)

Steps to reproduce

gitlab will not show any diffs on an MR if there is a text file that has a null byte at the end (0x0), even if .gitattributes flags the file as binary with "*.cfg -diff -text -merge" Instead we just get a spinning wheel of nothingness on the MR.

Here's what the changes look like on the branch before creating the MR: (note the .cfg file seems to think it is text in spite of .gitattributes entry above):

added devopscreate merge requests typebug labels

Setting label(s) groupsource code based on merge requests.

added groupsource code label

mentioned in issue #230641 (closed)

mentioned in issue #232363 (closed)

mentioned in issue #233318 (closed)

added priority3 severity3 labels

changed milestone to %Backlog

added [deprecated] Accepting merge requests label

added sectiondev label

Important to a commercial customer https://gitlab.my.salesforce.com/0016100001Eo2H5 (internal)

added customer label

Setting label(s) Category:Source Code Management based on groupsource code.

added Category:Source Code Management label

added Category:Code Review Workflow groupcode review labels and removed Category:Source Code Management groupsource code labels

added vintage label

I think I am experiencing the same issue, but

• it does not seem to be limited to merge requests; GitLab refuses to show the content at all, when browsing the repository and when viewing the commit changes. It only offers to download the file.
• it does not seem to matter where in the file the null byte is

Note that this might have a security aspect (similar to the Unicode bidi characters). An adversary could use this to 'force' a maintainer to review the changes locally (for example by claiming that this is a GitLab bug), hoping that the Git client of the maintainer does not properly handle the null byte (e.g. omits the rest of the line it is on). So it would probably be better to show the file content on GitLab, but either omit the null byte (which seems to be what GitHub is doing) or to warn the user, similar to the Unicode bidi character handling.

The GitLab Ultimate self-managed customer previously mentioned by Max is curious if there is any update or target milestone. Thanks!

added SLOMissed label

added twtriaged label