astroid.exceptions.InferenceError when module contains collections.py file

[AudriusButkevicius]

Steps to reproduce

Given multiple files:

a.py
collections.py

a.py:

from typing import List

collections.py:

# Blank

In the real world collections.py is in some util module, and linting any file in the util module blows up.

Current behavior

Result of pylint a.py:

************* Module a
a.py:1:0: C0114: Missing module docstring (missing-module-docstring)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/decorators.py", line 136, in raise_if_nothing_inferred
    yield next(generator)
StopIteration: {'node': <Attribute.abc l.1205 at 0x7fc7a681b8d0>, 'context': <astroid.context.InferenceContext object at 0x7fc7a6997e30>}

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/code/.venv/bin/pylint", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(run_pylint())
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/__init__.py", line 24, in run_pylint
    PylintRun(sys.argv[1:])
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/run.py", line 358, in __init__
    linter.check(args)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/pylinter.py", line 877, in check
    self.get_ast, self._iterate_file_descrs(files_or_modules)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/pylinter.py", line 910, in _check_files
    self._check_file(get_ast, check_astroid_module, name, filepath, modname)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/pylinter.py", line 936, in _check_file
    check_astroid_module(ast_node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/pylinter.py", line 1071, in check_astroid_module
    ast_node, walker, rawcheckers, tokencheckers
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/lint/pylinter.py", line 1115, in _check_astroid_module
    walker.walk(ast_node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/utils/ast_walker.py", line 75, in walk
    self.walk(child)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/utils/ast_walker.py", line 72, in walk
    callback(astroid)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/pylint/checkers/variables.py", line 1201, in visit_importfrom
    module = node.do_import_module(name_parts[0])
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/mixins.py", line 101, in do_import_module
    modname, level=level, relative_only=level and level >= 1
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/scoped_nodes.py", line 647, in import_module
    return MANAGER.ast_from_module_name(absmodname)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/manager.py", line 192, in ast_from_module_name
    return self.ast_from_file(found_spec.location, modname, fallback=False)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/manager.py", line 101, in ast_from_file
    return AstroidBuilder(self).file_build(filepath, modname)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/builder.py", line 139, in file_build
    return self._post_build(module, encoding)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/builder.py", line 163, in _post_build
    module = self._manager.visit_transforms(module)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/manager.py", line 78, in visit_transforms
    return self._transform.visit(node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 89, in visit
    module.body = [self._visit(child) for child in module.body]
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 89, in <listcomp>
    module.body = [self._visit(child) for child in module.body]
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 54, in _visit
    visited = self._visit_generic(value)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 67, in _visit_generic
    return self._visit(node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 57, in _visit
    return self._transform(node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/transforms.py", line 40, in _transform
    ret = transform_func(node)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/brain/brain_typing.py", line 179, in infer_typing_alias
    res = next(node.args[0].infer(context=ctx))
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/node_classes.py", line 366, in infer
    yield from self._infer(context, **kwargs)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/decorators.py", line 136, in raise_if_nothing_inferred
    yield next(generator)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/decorators.py", line 100, in wrapped
    res = next(generator)
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/inference.py", line 294, in infer_attribute
    for owner in self.expr.infer(context):
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/node_classes.py", line 380, in infer
    for i, result in enumerate(generator):
  File "/code/.venv/lib/python3.7/site-packages/astroid/decorators.py", line 141, in raise_if_nothing_inferred
    raise exceptions.InferenceError(**error.args[0]) from error
astroid.exceptions.InferenceError: Inference failed for <Attribute.abc l.1205 at 0x7fc7a681b8d0>.

Expected behavior

No exception

pylint --version output

Result of pylint --version output:

pylint 3.0.0a1
astroid 2.5.2
Python 3.7.9 (default, Jan 14 2021, 11:27:07) 
[GCC 7.3.1 20180712 (Red Hat 7.3.1-12)]

Tried latest commit, same issue.

[AudriusButkevicius]

Interestingly adding __init__.py file at the root of the module fixes it, but it's not required for python 3.3+ I believe?

[cdce8p]

@Pierre-Sassoulas @hippo91 I believe we've found the first real world issue for #4206

@AudriusButkevicius Thanks for the report! We are currently working on a solution, but this is a complex issue with astroid that will take some more time. You can track the progress here: pylint-dev/astroid#921. Although not yet complete, the MR already fixes it.