Why does _exit() jump to _etext? - gcc

Question

I am running a project using the ARM Embedded Tollchain on a stm32 microcontroller which uses the newLib.
I called assert(false) to test the assert output and ended in a Hard Fault Exception. I debugged into the assembly of assert(...) and found out that a subsequent call to _exit(1) jumps to a Address which is called _etext. Taking a look to the manpage of _etext shows that _etext is the address of the end of the .text section.
I am really confused. Normally I had supposed that _exit() is calling __exit() (which is defined as global symbol by the newLib) which I had implemented in a file named syscalls.c.
Why does _exit() jump to _etext?
Here are some cope snippets for a better understanding:
The subsequent call to _exit() by assert() taken from newLib 2.5:
_VOID
_DEFUN_VOID (abort)
{
#ifdef ABORT_MESSAGE
write (2, "Abort called\n", sizeof ("Abort called\n")-1);
#endif
while (1)
{
raise (SIGABRT);
_exit (1);
}
}
The disassembly of abort and assert. Take a special look to address 0808a10a where the jump to 80a5198 (_etext) is performed:
abort:
0808a100: push {r3, lr}
0808a102: movs r0, #6
0808a104: bl 0x808bfdc <raise>
0808a108: movs r0, #1
0808a10a: bl 0x80a51d8
0808a10e: nop
__assert_func:
0808a110: push {lr}
0808a112: ldr r4, [pc, #40] ; (0x808a13c <__assert_func+44>)
0808a114: ldr r6, [r4, #0]
0808a116: mov r5, r0
0808a118: sub sp, #20
0808a11a: mov r4, r3
0808a11c: ldr r0, [r6, #12]
0808a11e: cbz r2, 0x808a136 <__assert_func+38>
0808a120: ldr r3, [pc, #28] ; (0x808a140 <__assert_func+48>)
0808a122: str r2, [sp, #8]
0808a124: stmia.w sp, {r1, r3}
0808a128: mov r2, r4
0808a12a: mov r3, r5
0808a12c: ldr r1, [pc, #20] ; (0x808a144 <__assert_func+52>)
0808a12e: bl 0x808a5f4 <fiprintf>
0808a132: bl 0x808a100 <abort>
0808a136: ldr r3, [pc, #16] ; (0x808a148 <__assert_func+56>)
0808a138: mov r2, r3
0808a13a: b.n 0x808a122 <__assert_func+18>
0808a13c: str r0, [r3, #120] ; 0x78
0808a13e: movs r0, #0
0808a140: add r12, r11
0808a142: lsrs r2, r1, #32
0808a144: add r12, sp
0808a146: lsrs r2, r1, #32
0808a148: add r8, sp
0808a14a: lsrs r2, r1, #32
The lss-file which shows that 80a5198 is the address of _etext:
0808a0c0 <abort>:
808a0c0: b508 push {r3, lr}
808a0c2: 2006 movs r0, #6
808a0c4: f001 ff6a bl 808bf9c <raise>
808a0c8: 2001 movs r0, #1
808a0ca: f01b f865 bl 80a5198 <_etext>
808a0ce: bf00 nop