gdaldem double free or corruption on all runs

[tmcw]

I'm trying to use gdaldem to generate hillshades, but being stopped by a fatal error that occurs even when gdaldem is run with no arguments and simply attempting to list help information:

The backtrace is below. This is using gdal, compiled with libtiff=internal and no other args, on Ubuntu 9.04.

root@domU-12-31-39-09-ED-32:/mnt# gdaldem
Not enough arguments
 Usage: 
 - To generate a shaded relief map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster : 

     gdaldem hillshade input_dem output_hillshade 
                 [-z ZFactor (default=1)] [-s scale* (default=1)] 
                 [-az Azimuth (default=315)] [-alt Altitude (default=45)]
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 - To generates a slope map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster :

     gdaldem slope input_dem output_slope_map 
                 [-p use percent slope (default=degrees)] [-s scale* (default=1)]
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 - To generate an aspect map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster
   Outputs a 32-bit float tiff with pixel values from 0-360 indicating azimuth :

     gdaldem aspect input_dem output_aspect_map 
                 [-trigonometric] [-zero_for_flat]
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 - To generate a color relief map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster
     gdaldem color-relief input_dem color_text_file output_color_relief_map
                 [-alpha] [-exact_color_entry | -nearest_color_entry]
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]
     where color_text_file contains lines of the format "elevation_value red green blue"

 - To generate a Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI) map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster
     gdaldem TRI input_dem output_TRI_map
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 - To generate a Topographic Position Index (TPI) map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster
     gdaldem TPI input_dem output_TPI_map
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 - To generate a roughness map from any GDAL-supported elevation raster
     gdaldem roughness input_dem output_roughness_map
                 [-b Band (default=1)] [-of format] [-co "NAME=VALUE"]* [-q]

 Notes : 
   Scale is the ratio of vertical units to horizontal
    for Feet:Latlong use scale=370400, for Meters:LatLong use scale=111120 

*** glibc detected *** gdaldem: double free or corruption (fasttop): 0x000000000060ed90 ***
======= Backtrace: =========
/lib/libc.so.6[0x2aaab05bccb8]
/lib/libc.so.6(cfree+0x76)[0x2aaab05bf276]
/usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6(_ZNSsD1Ev+0x3d)[0x2aaaafe4050d]
/lib/libc.so.6(__cxa_finalize+0xb0)[0x2aaab057bab0]
/usr/lib/libgeos-3.1.1.so[0x2aaab0923486]
======= Memory map: ========
00400000-0040b000 r-xp 00000000 08:01 140533                             /usr/local/bin/gdaldem
0060b000-0060c000 r--p 0000b000 08:01 140533    
...
[stack]
ffffffffff600000-ffffffffff601000 r-xp 00000000 00:00 0                  [vdso]
Aborted

The error also appears when simply running gdalinfo.

[warmerdam]

The problem does not appear to be GDAL specific and does seem to relate to GEOS. I have advised tmcw to try building without GEOS support, or to review possible GEOS issues. I'm going to tentative close this issue under the assumption it is not a GDAL problem, but please reopen if you find that it is.