From 51a8a563352bad28576681ffbc9158bb4637b372 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "J. Nick Koston" <nick@home-assistant.io>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2026 09:53:53 -1000
Subject: [PATCH] [esp32] Fix new (std::nothrow) aborting instead of returning
 nullptr

---
 esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py      |  3 ++
 esphome/components/esp32/operator_new.cpp | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 48 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 esphome/components/esp32/operator_new.cpp

diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
index cfa79e3cf1f..4ae25fc8813 100644
--- a/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32/__init__.py
@@ -2949,6 +2949,9 @@ async def to_code(config):
             "_ZSt25__throw_bad_function_callv",
         ]:
             cg.add_build_flag(f"-Wl,--wrap={mangled}")
+        # Replace operator new so nothrow new returns nullptr. See operator_new.cpp.
+        # --undefined pulls it from libsrc.a before libstdc++ (_Znwj: 32 bit size_t on every ESP32).
+        cg.add_build_flag("-Wl,--undefined=_Znwj")
 
         # Wrap FILE*-based printf functions to eliminate newlib's _vfprintf_r
         # (~11 KB). See printf_stubs.cpp for implementation.
diff --git a/esphome/components/esp32/operator_new.cpp b/esphome/components/esp32/operator_new.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..eca94421601
--- /dev/null
+++ b/esphome/components/esp32/operator_new.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * Replaces operator new for ESP-IDF builds without C++ exceptions. libstdc++'s nothrow forms call the
+ * throwing form and catch std::bad_alloc, but the throw aborts here, so they abort instead of returning
+ * nullptr. These forms return nullptr or abort directly, which also drops the exception class code.
+ */
+
+#include "esphome/core/defines.h"
+
+#ifdef USE_ESP_IDF
+#include <sdkconfig.h>
+#ifndef CONFIG_COMPILER_CXX_EXCEPTIONS
+
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <new>
+#include "esp_system.h"
+
+namespace esphome::esp32 {}
+
+void *operator new(std::size_t size, const std::nothrow_t & /*tag*/) noexcept {
+  // malloc(0) may return NULL, but operator new must return a unique pointer
+  if (size == 0)
+    size = 1;
+  for (;;) {
+    void *ptr = std::malloc(size);  // NOLINT(cppcoreguidelines-no-malloc)
+    if (ptr != nullptr)
+      return ptr;
+    std::new_handler handler = std::get_new_handler();
+    if (handler == nullptr)
+      return nullptr;
+    handler();
+  }
+}
+
+void *operator new(std::size_t size) {
+  void *ptr = ::operator new(size, std::nothrow);  // NOLINT: this is the nothrow form being fixed
+  if (ptr == nullptr)
+    esp_system_abort("std::bad_alloc");
+  return ptr;
+}
+
+void *operator new[](std::size_t size) { return ::operator new(size); }
+void *operator new[](std::size_t size, const std::nothrow_t &tag) noexcept { return ::operator new(size, tag); }
+
+#endif  // CONFIG_COMPILER_CXX_EXCEPTIONS
+#endif  // USE_ESP_IDF