fix: prevent gatherOutput from being called twice when controller returns Response

Author: gr8man

system/CodeIgniter.php

@@ -505,29 +505,29 @@ protected function handleRequest(?RouteCollectionInterface $routes, Cache $cache
         // If startController returned a Response (from an attribute or Closure), use it
         if ($returned instanceof ResponseInterface) {
             $this->gatherOutput($cacheConfig, $returned);
-        }
-        // Closure controller has run in startController().
-        elseif (! is_callable($this->controller)) {
-            $controller = $this->createController();
+        } else {
+            // Closure controller has run in startController().
+            if (! is_callable($this->controller)) {
+                $controller = $this->createController();
 
-            if (! method_exists($controller, '_remap') && ! is_callable([$controller, $this->method], false)) {
-                throw PageNotFoundException::forMethodNotFound($this->method);
-            }
+                if (! method_exists($controller, '_remap') && ! is_callable([$controller, $this->method], false)) {
+                    throw PageNotFoundException::forMethodNotFound($this->method);
+                }
 
-            // Is there a "post_controller_constructor" event?
-            Events::trigger('post_controller_constructor');
+                // Is there a "post_controller_constructor" event?
+                Events::trigger('post_controller_constructor');
 
-            $returned = $this->runController($controller);
-        } else {
-            $this->benchmark->stop('controller_constructor');
-            $this->benchmark->stop('controller');
-        }
-
-        // If $returned is a string, then the controller output something,
-        // probably a view, instead of echoing it directly. Send it along
-        // so it can be used with the output.
-        $this->gatherOutput($cacheConfig, $returned);
+                $returned = $this->runController($controller);
+            } else {
+                $this->benchmark->stop('controller_constructor');
+                $this->benchmark->stop('controller');
+            }
 
+            // If $returned is a string, then the controller output something,
+            // probably a view, instead of echoing it directly. Send it along
+            // so it can be used with the output.
+            $this->gatherOutput($cacheConfig, $returned);
+        }
         if ($this->enableFilters) {
             /** @var Filters $filters */
             $filters = service('filters');

tests/system/CodeIgniterTest.php

@@ -1308,4 +1308,37 @@ public function testResetForWorkerMode(): void
         $this->assertSame($csp->getStyleNonce(), RichRenderer::$css_nonce);
         $this->assertTrue(RichRenderer::$needs_pre_render);
     }
+
+    public function testGatherOutputCalledOnceWhenControllerReturnsResponse(): void
+    {
+        $this->resetServices();
+
+        $superglobals = service('superglobals');
+        $superglobals->setServer('argv', ['index.php', 'pages/test']);
+        $superglobals->setServer('argc', 2);
+        $superglobals->setServer('REQUEST_URI', '/pages/test');
+        $superglobals->setServer('SCRIPT_NAME', '/index.php');
+
+        $routes = service('routes');
+        $routes->add('pages/test', static fn () => service('response')->setBody('Test Body'));
+
+        $config      = new App();
+        $codeigniter = new class ($config) extends MockCodeIgniter {
+            public int $gatherOutputCalls = 0;
+
+            protected function gatherOutput(?Cache $cacheConfig = null, $returned = null): void
+            {
+                $this->gatherOutputCalls++;
+                parent::gatherOutput($cacheConfig, $returned);
+            }
+        };
+
+        ob_start();
+        $codeigniter->run($routes);
+        ob_end_clean();
+
+        // When startController() returns a ResponseInterface (e.g. from a closure route),
+        // gatherOutput() must be called exactly once — not twice as in the original bug.
+        $this->assertSame(1, $codeigniter->gatherOutputCalls);
+    }
 }

user_guide_src/source/changelogs/v4.7.5.rst

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Bugs Fixed
 - **CLI:** Fixed a bug where pressing backspace in a ``CLI::prompt()`` erased the prompt text when the ``readline`` extension is enabled. The prompt is now passed to ``readline()`` so line redraws repaint it.
   ANSI color codes in the prompt (e.g., option defaults) are wrapped in readline's non-printing markers under GNU readline so cursor positioning stays accurate.
 - **CLIRequest:** Fixed a bug where ``parseCommand()`` could throw a TypeError when ``argv`` is missing.
+- **CodeIgniter:** Fixed a bug where ``gatherOutput()`` could be called twice when ``startController()`` returned a ``ResponseInterface`` (e.g., from filter attributes or closure routes).
 - **Content Security Policy:** Fixed a bug where empty ``Content-Security-Policy``, ``Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only``, and ``Reporting-Endpoints`` response headers were generated when no corresponding values existed.
 - **Helpers:** Fixed a bug where ``get_dir_file_info()`` returned incomplete entries for subdirectories and missing files instead of omitting them.
 - **Honeypot:** Fixed a bug where bot detection returned an HTTP 500 response instead of 403 (Forbidden).