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| author | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-09-13 12:27:00 -0700 |
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| committer | Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> | 2026-09-13 12:27:00 -0700 |
| commit | 22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0 (patch) | |
| tree | 3962f95a34df034652ff93686cdd156c7197f2d9 /Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0.tar.gz linux-stable-22098763a10d9c1340827fcf6edab66f153b27f0.zip | |
Merge tag 'trace-v7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-tracegrafted
Pull tracing fixes from Steven Rostedt:
- Don't destroy user event fields when removal fails
User event fields are destroyed before the event is removed from
visibility. But that can fail leaving the still visible event with no
fields. Move the destroying of the fields to after the event is
successfully removed from visibility.
- Initialize function graph state is fork before calling
copy_exec_state()
For non-CLONE_VM forks, copy_exec_state() allocates a new
task_exec_state. If that allocation fails, ftrace_graph_exit_task()
will free the tasks ret_stack pointer. Since that pointer is still
using the parent's ret_stack, it mistakenly frees the parent's
pointer too.
Call ftrace_graph_init() on the task first which will NULL out the
new tasks's ret_stack and if the copy fails, it will not free
anything.
- Remove FGRAPH_MAX_INDEX
The macro FGRAPH_MAX_INDEX was added but never used. Remove it.
- Save ent_size in function graph printing of nested functions
The function graph tracer needs to look at the next event to see if
the next event is the return of the current function entry. If it is,
it prints a single line:
ktime_get();
Otherwise it prints it like a nested function:
tick_nohz_irq_exit() {
ktime_get();
kcpustat_irq_exit();
}
In order to look at the next event, it must save the current event so
that it has the information to print from it. It saves the event in
the iterator descriptor called "ent". What it doesn't save is the
ent_size of the event which is now used to know if the function graph
arguments are to be printed. The peek doesn't save the size so the
size used happens to be that of the size of the last event that was
seen.
Save the entry event size in the iterator descriptor so that the
correct size is used.
- Fix several errors with freeing data in the histogram code
The histogram code had a lot of leaked or or incorrect accounting
when failures happen. Correct them.
- Fix histogram regression of .percent and .graph modifiers
Up until 6.3 histogram values could have "percent" or "graph"
modifiers that changed how they were printed. But a change that added
restricting histograms values from being strings, stack traces and
other modifiers inadvertently prevented them from using the percent
and graph modifiers, which were legal use cases for values.
Put back the percent and graph modifiers.
- Fix various typos in the comments
- Set the trace_clock before initializing a histogram with clock
argument
The histogram API allows the user to specific which trace clock to
use via a "clock=" string. The histogram is set up first before the
clock is checked. If the passed in clock is not valid, it exits
without fully fixing up the histogram leaving it on the list and a
use-after-free can trigger.
Update the clock argument first and if it fails then exit gracefully
before the histogram trigger is placed on any lists.
- Restore :mod: trailer after parsing in ftrace_set_clr_event
The function ftrace_set_clr_event() modifies the parse string and
needs to put it back to what was passed in. It searches for ":mod:"
via a strsep() but fails to put back the first ':' in the string.
Add back the ':' in the passed in string.
- Take trace_array reference when opening a tracer options file
The options files are dynamically created and some tracers add their
own options. When a tracer adds their own list of options, the
trace_array holding them has an array to hold the list of options for
each tracer. This array increases in size via a krealloc(), and the
new entry gets a newly allocated array to hold the options of the new
tracer being added.
The element in each entry of the tracer's option array holds a
pointer back to the trace_array, a pointer to the tracer it is
associated to, a pointer to the flags of the option.
The issue is that these arrays are freed when the trace_array is
freed when its instance it represents is removed from the instances
directory. There's a race that an open of one of these options files
can happen when the instance is being removed.
Add a new helper function to be called by the open function of the
options file to iterate all existing trace_arrays under a lock and
find the one that has the given option element in one of it's tracer
arrays. If found, then update the associated trace_array's reference
counter to keep it from being freed. If not found, have the open call
return -ENODEV.
- Disable interrupts when acquiring the lock in rb_wake_up_waiters()
The function rb_wake_up_waiters() assumes it will be called in
interrupt context and does not disable irqs when taking
cpu_buffer->reader_lock, which can be called in hard interrupt
context. The issue is in PREEMPT_RT, this function is called in
thread context leaving this lock open to a deadlock.
Take the lock with interrupts disabled.
- Use rcu_assign_pointer() for tmp_ops filter hash
The tmp_ops used in update_ftrace_direct_mod() assigns its
filter_hash field directly, but that field is annotated as __rcu and
sparse complains. Assign it with rcu_assign_pointer()
- Fix use-after-free in enable_trigger_private_data_free()
The trace_event_call is accessed through the event_trigger_data's
trace_event_file pointer to put the trace_event_call on freeing. The
issue is that the trace_event_file data may have been freed already
causing a use-after-free. Add a field to the event_trigger_data that
points directly to the trace_event_call so that it can decrement its
reference directly without needing to go through the
trace_event_file.
- Fix accounting of buffer data remote headers
trace_buffer_desc_size() and trace_remote_alloc_buffer() undercount
the number of pages is needed for the asked for size as it doesn't
take into account the meta data on each page. Add a helper function
to do the calculation properly and use that in these functions.
- Catch nr_page_va overflow in ring_buffer_desc sizing
The number of pages per remote ring buffer is capped by
ring_buffer_desc::nr_page_va (32 bits). A buffer_size large enough to
overflow that field would silently allocate a descriptor smaller than
what was asked for.
- Do not resize the subbuf order if any per_cpu buffer is disabled
The mmapping of ring buffers disables resizing the subbuffers, but it
is done per-cpu whereas the subbuf size change is done for all the
per_cpu buffers under the buffer->mutex. It could change the size of
some while the mapping is happening on others. Have the resize of the
subbuf order check all the per_cpu buffers under the lock to see if
any of them is disabled before starting and causing an inconsistency
between buffers that are being mapped.
* tag 'trace-v7.3-rc2' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace: (25 commits)
ring-buffer: Check resize_disabled before publishing the new subbuf order
tracing/remotes: Catch nr_page_va overflow in ring_buffer_desc sizing
tracing/remotes: Account for ring buffer page header in size calculation
tracing: Don't dereference trace_event_file in deferred trigger free
ftrace: Use rcu_assign_pointer() for tmp_ops filter hash
ring-buffer: Acquire the lock with irqsave in rb_wake_up_waiters()
tracing: Take trace_array reference when opening a tracer options file
tracing: Fix ring_buffer_read_page_size() kernel-doc
tracing: Restore :mod: trailer after parsing in ftrace_set_clr_event()
tracing: Fix memory corruption from a "STACKTRACE" histogram key
tracing: Fix memory corruption from the histogram stacktrace modifier
tracing: Undo the registration when enabling the histogram trigger fails
tracing: Take the reference before publishing the named histogram trigger
tracing: Set the trace clock before registering the histogram trigger
tracing: Fix typo "preceeded" in comment
tracing: Fix typo "availabe" in comment
tracing: Let histogram values keep the percent and graph modifiers
tracing: Keep the entry count when the histogram stats allocation fails
tracing: Free histogram the field rejected for a bad modifier
tracing: Free histogram the var ref when its initialization fails
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst | 182 |
1 files changed, 182 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..1619e5e5c --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/testing-overview.rst @@ -0,0 +1,182 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +==================== +Kernel Testing Guide +==================== + + +There are a number of different tools for testing the Linux kernel, so knowing +when to use each of them can be a challenge. This document provides a rough +overview of their differences, and how they fit together. + + +Writing and Running Tests +========================= + +The bulk of kernel tests are written using either the kselftest or KUnit +frameworks. These both provide infrastructure to help make running tests and +groups of tests easier, as well as providing helpers to aid in writing new +tests. + +If you're looking to verify the behaviour of the Kernel — particularly specific +parts of the kernel — then you'll want to use KUnit or kselftest. + + +The Difference Between KUnit and kselftest +------------------------------------------ + +KUnit (Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst) is an entirely in-kernel system +for "white box" testing: because test code is part of the kernel, it can access +internal structures and functions which aren't exposed to userspace. + +KUnit tests therefore are best written against small, self-contained parts +of the kernel, which can be tested in isolation. This aligns well with the +concept of 'unit' testing. + +For example, a KUnit test might test an individual kernel function (or even a +single codepath through a function, such as an error handling case), rather +than a feature as a whole. + +This also makes KUnit tests very fast to build and run, allowing them to be +run frequently as part of the development process. + +There is a KUnit test style guide which may give further pointers in +Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/style.rst + + +kselftest (Documentation/dev-tools/kselftest.rst), on the other hand, is +largely implemented in userspace, and tests are normal userspace scripts or +programs. + +This makes it easier to write more complicated tests, or tests which need to +manipulate the overall system state more (e.g., spawning processes, etc.). +However, it's not possible to call kernel functions directly from kselftest. +This means that only kernel functionality which is exposed to userspace somehow +(e.g. by a syscall, device, filesystem, etc.) can be tested with kselftest. To +work around this, some tests include a companion kernel module which exposes +more information or functionality. If a test runs mostly or entirely within the +kernel, however, KUnit may be the more appropriate tool. + +kselftest is therefore suited well to tests of whole features, as these will +expose an interface to userspace, which can be tested, but not implementation +details. This aligns well with 'system' or 'end-to-end' testing. + +For example, all new system calls should be accompanied by kselftest tests. + +Code Coverage Tools +=================== + +The Linux Kernel supports two different code coverage measurement tools. These +can be used to verify that a test is executing particular functions or lines +of code. This is useful for determining how much of the kernel is being tested, +and for finding corner-cases which are not covered by the appropriate test. + +Documentation/dev-tools/gcov.rst is GCC's coverage testing tool, which can be +used with the kernel to get global or per-module coverage. Unlike KCOV, it +does not record per-task coverage. Coverage data can be read from debugfs, +and interpreted using the usual gcov tooling. + +Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst is a feature which can be built in to the +kernel to allow capturing coverage on a per-task level. It's therefore useful +for fuzzing and other situations where information about code executed during, +for example, a single syscall is useful. + + +Dynamic Analysis Tools +====================== + +The kernel also supports a number of dynamic analysis tools, which attempt to +detect classes of issues when they occur in a running kernel. These typically +each look for a different class of bugs, such as invalid memory accesses, +concurrency issues such as data races, or other undefined behaviour like +integer overflows. + +Some of these tools are listed below: + +* kmemleak detects possible memory leaks. See + Documentation/dev-tools/kmemleak.rst +* KASAN detects invalid memory accesses such as out-of-bounds and + use-after-free errors. See Documentation/dev-tools/kasan.rst +* UBSAN detects behaviour that is undefined by the C standard, like integer + overflows. See Documentation/dev-tools/ubsan.rst +* KCSAN detects data races. See Documentation/dev-tools/kcsan.rst +* KFENCE is a low-overhead detector of memory issues, which is much faster than + KASAN and can be used in production. See Documentation/dev-tools/kfence.rst +* lockdep is a locking correctness validator. See + Documentation/locking/lockdep-design.rst +* Runtime Verification (RV) supports checking specific behaviours for a given + subsystem. See Documentation/trace/rv/runtime-verification.rst +* There are several other pieces of debug instrumentation in the kernel, many + of which can be found in lib/Kconfig.debug + +These tools tend to test the kernel as a whole, and do not "pass" like +kselftest or KUnit tests. They can be combined with KUnit or kselftest by +running tests on a kernel with these tools enabled: you can then be sure +that none of these errors are occurring during the test. + +Some of these tools integrate with KUnit or kselftest and will +automatically fail tests if an issue is detected. + +Static Analysis Tools +===================== + +In addition to testing a running kernel, one can also analyze kernel source code +directly (**at compile time**) using **static analysis** tools. The tools +commonly used in the kernel allow one to inspect the whole source tree or just +specific files within it. They make it easier to detect and fix problems during +the development process. + +Sparse can help test the kernel by performing type-checking, lock checking, +value range checking, in addition to reporting various errors and warnings while +examining the code. See the Documentation/dev-tools/sparse.rst documentation +page for details on how to use it. + +Smatch extends Sparse and provides additional checks for programming logic +mistakes such as missing breaks in switch statements, unused return values on +error checking, forgetting to set an error code in the return of an error path, +etc. Smatch also has tests against more serious issues such as integer +overflows, null pointer dereferences, and memory leaks. See the project page at +http://smatch.sourceforge.net/. + +Coccinelle is another static analyzer at our disposal. Coccinelle is often used +to aid refactoring and collateral evolution of source code, but it can also help +to avoid certain bugs that occur in common code patterns. The types of tests +available include API tests, tests for correct usage of kernel iterators, checks +for the soundness of free operations, analysis of locking behavior, and further +tests known to help keep consistent kernel usage. See the +Documentation/dev-tools/coccinelle.rst documentation page for details. + +Beware, though, that static analysis tools suffer from **false positives**. +Errors and warns need to be evaluated carefully before attempting to fix them. + +When to use Sparse and Smatch +----------------------------- + +Sparse does type checking, such as verifying that annotated variables do not +cause endianness bugs, detecting places that use ``__user`` pointers improperly, +and analyzing the compatibility of symbol initializers. + +Smatch does flow analysis and, if allowed to build the function database, it +also does cross function analysis. Smatch tries to answer questions like where +is this buffer allocated? How big is it? Can this index be controlled by the +user? Is this variable larger than that variable? + +It's generally easier to write checks in Smatch than it is to write checks in +Sparse. Nevertheless, there are some overlaps between Sparse and Smatch checks. + +Strong points of Smatch and Coccinelle +-------------------------------------- + +Coccinelle is probably the easiest for writing checks. It works before the +pre-processor so it's easier to check for bugs in macros using Coccinelle. +Coccinelle also creates patches for you, which no other tool does. + +For example, with Coccinelle you can do a mass conversion from +``kmalloc(x * size, GFP_KERNEL)`` to ``kmalloc_array(x, size, GFP_KERNEL)``, and +that's really useful. If you just created a Smatch warning and try to push the +work of converting on to the maintainers they would be annoyed. You'd have to +argue about each warning if can really overflow or not. + +Coccinelle does no analysis of variable values, which is the strong point of +Smatch. On the other hand, Coccinelle allows you to do simple things in a simple +way. |
