[BUG] watch_debounce_ms = 0 Causes High CPU Usage

[EnthusiasticTech]

Project

vgrep

Description

Setting watch_debounce_ms to 0 is accepted without validation. Since this value is incorrectly used as poll_interval (see Bug #3), a value of 0 causes:

• Constant filesystem polling with no delay
• 100% CPU usage on one core
• System resource exhaustion
• Effective denial of service

Error Message

Debug Logs

System Information

Bounty Version: 0.1.0
OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
CPU: AMD EPYC-Genoa Processor (8 cores)
RAM: 15 GB

Screenshots

No response

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set debounce to 0: vgrep config set watch-debounce 0
2. Start file watcher: vgrep watch .
3. Monitor CPU usage: top or htop
4. Observe 100% CPU usage on vgrep process

Expected Behavior

1. Minimum debounce value should be enforced (e.g., >= 10ms)
2. Setting 0 should return error or use sensible minimum
3. Poll interval should be separate from debounce

Actual Behavior

1. Value 0 accepted without validation
2. Results in poll_interval(0ms) causing tight loop
3. CPU spikes to 100% immediately

Additional Context

Tested and Confirmed:

$ vgrep config set watch-debounce 0
✅ Set watch_debounce_ms = 0

DoS Impact: Medium - Can cause local denial of service through CPU exhaustion.

[echobt]

Issue validated. The reported problem has been confirmed in the codebase. A Pull Request with the fix has been submitted: CortexLM/vgrep#85.