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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/livepatch/module-elf-format.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/livepatch/module-elf-format.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/livepatch/module-elf-format.rst | 305 |
1 files changed, 305 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/livepatch/module-elf-format.rst b/Documentation/livepatch/module-elf-format.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5d48778d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/livepatch/module-elf-format.rst @@ -0,0 +1,305 @@ +=========================== +Livepatch module ELF format +=========================== + +This document outlines the ELF format requirements that livepatch modules must follow. + + +.. Table of Contents + +.. contents:: :local: + + +1. Background and motivation +============================ + +Formerly, livepatch required separate architecture-specific code to write +relocations. However, arch-specific code to write relocations already +exists in the module loader, so this former approach produced redundant +code. So, instead of duplicating code and re-implementing what the module +loader can already do, livepatch leverages existing code in the module +loader to perform the all the arch-specific relocation work. Specifically, +livepatch reuses the apply_relocate_add() function in the module loader to +write relocations. The patch module ELF format described in this document +enables livepatch to be able to do this. The hope is that this will make +livepatch more easily portable to other architectures and reduce the amount +of arch-specific code required to port livepatch to a particular +architecture. + +Since apply_relocate_add() requires access to a module's section header +table, symbol table, and relocation section indices, ELF information is +preserved for livepatch modules (see section 5). Livepatch manages its own +relocation sections and symbols, which are described in this document. The +ELF constants used to mark livepatch symbols and relocation sections were +selected from OS-specific ranges according to the definitions from glibc. + +Why does livepatch need to write its own relocations? +----------------------------------------------------- +A typical livepatch module contains patched versions of functions that can +reference non-exported global symbols and non-included local symbols. +Relocations referencing these types of symbols cannot be left in as-is +since the kernel module loader cannot resolve them and will therefore +reject the livepatch module. Furthermore, we cannot apply relocations that +affect modules not yet loaded at patch module load time (e.g. a patch to a +driver that is not loaded). Formerly, livepatch solved this problem by +embedding special "dynrela" (dynamic rela) sections in the resulting patch +module ELF output. Using these dynrela sections, livepatch could resolve +symbols while taking into account its scope and what module the symbol +belongs to, and then manually apply the dynamic relocations. However this +approach required livepatch to supply arch-specific code in order to write +these relocations. In the new format, livepatch manages its own SHT_RELA +relocation sections in place of dynrela sections, and the symbols that the +relas reference are special livepatch symbols (see section 2 and 3). The +arch-specific livepatch relocation code is replaced by a call to +apply_relocate_add(). + +2. Livepatch modinfo field +========================== + +Livepatch modules are required to have the "livepatch" modinfo attribute. +See the sample livepatch module in samples/livepatch/ for how this is done. + +Livepatch modules can be identified by users by using the 'modinfo' command +and looking for the presence of the "livepatch" field. This field is also +used by the kernel module loader to identify livepatch modules. + +Example: +-------- + +**Modinfo output:** + +:: + + % modinfo livepatch-meminfo.ko + filename: livepatch-meminfo.ko + livepatch: Y + license: GPL + depends: + vermagic: 4.3.0+ SMP mod_unload + +3. Livepatch relocation sections +================================ + +A livepatch module manages its own ELF relocation sections to apply +relocations to modules as well as to the kernel (vmlinux) at the +appropriate time. For example, if a patch module patches a driver that is +not currently loaded, livepatch will apply the corresponding livepatch +relocation section(s) to the driver once it loads. + +Each "object" (e.g. vmlinux, or a module) within a patch module may have +multiple livepatch relocation sections associated with it (e.g. patches to +multiple functions within the same object). There is a 1-1 correspondence +between a livepatch relocation section and the target section (usually the +text section of a function) to which the relocation(s) apply. It is +also possible for a livepatch module to have no livepatch relocation +sections, as in the case of the sample livepatch module (see +samples/livepatch). + +Since ELF information is preserved for livepatch modules (see Section 5), a +livepatch relocation section can be applied simply by passing in the +appropriate section index to apply_relocate_add(), which then uses it to +access the relocation section and apply the relocations. + +Every symbol referenced by a rela in a livepatch relocation section is a +livepatch symbol. These must be resolved before livepatch can call +apply_relocate_add(). See Section 3 for more information. + +3.1 Livepatch relocation section format +======================================= + +Livepatch relocation sections must be marked with the SHF_RELA_LIVEPATCH +section flag. See include/uapi/linux/elf.h for the definition. The module +loader recognizes this flag and will avoid applying those relocation sections +at patch module load time. These sections must also be marked with SHF_ALLOC, +so that the module loader doesn't discard them on module load (i.e. they will +be copied into memory along with the other SHF_ALLOC sections). + +The name of a livepatch relocation section must conform to the following +format:: + + .klp.rela.objname.section_name + ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ + |________||_____| |__________| + [A] [B] [C] + +[A] + The relocation section name is prefixed with the string ".klp.rela." + +[B] + The name of the object (i.e. "vmlinux" or name of module) to + which the relocation section belongs follows immediately after the prefix. + +[C] + The actual name of the section to which this relocation section applies. + +Examples: +--------- + +**Livepatch relocation section names:** + +:: + + .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4_attr_store + .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.cmdline_proc_show + +**`readelf --sections` output for a patch +module that patches vmlinux and modules 9p, btrfs, ext4:** + +:: + + Section Headers: + [Nr] Name Type Address Off Size ES Flg Lk Inf Al + [ snip ] + [29] .klp.rela.9p.text.caches.show RELA 0000000000000000 002d58 0000c0 18 AIo 64 9 8 + [30] .klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs.feature.attr.show RELA 0000000000000000 002e18 000060 18 AIo 64 11 8 + [ snip ] + [34] .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4.attr.store RELA 0000000000000000 002fd8 0000d8 18 AIo 64 13 8 + [35] .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4.attr.show RELA 0000000000000000 0030b0 000150 18 AIo 64 15 8 + [36] .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.cmdline.proc.show RELA 0000000000000000 003200 000018 18 AIo 64 17 8 + [37] .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.meminfo.proc.show RELA 0000000000000000 003218 0000f0 18 AIo 64 19 8 + [ snip ] ^ ^ + | | + [*] [*] + +[*] + Livepatch relocation sections are SHT_RELA sections but with a few special + characteristics. Notice that they are marked SHF_ALLOC ("A") so that they will + not be discarded when the module is loaded into memory, as well as with the + SHF_RELA_LIVEPATCH flag ("o" - for OS-specific). + +**`readelf --relocs` output for a patch module:** + +:: + + Relocation section '.klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs_feature_attr_show' at offset 0x2ba0 contains 4 entries: + Offset Info Type Symbol's Value Symbol's Name + Addend + 000000000000001f 0000005e00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 - 4 + 0000000000000028 0000003d0000000b R_X86_64_32S 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.btrfs.btrfs_ktype,0 + 0 + 0000000000000036 0000003b00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.btrfs.can_modify_feature.isra.3,0 - 4 + 000000000000004c 0000004900000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 - 4 + [ snip ] ^ + | + [*] + +[*] + Every symbol referenced by a relocation is a livepatch symbol. + +4. Livepatch symbols +==================== + +Livepatch symbols are symbols referred to by livepatch relocation sections. +These are symbols accessed from new versions of functions for patched +objects, whose addresses cannot be resolved by the module loader (because +they are local or unexported global syms). Since the module loader only +resolves exported syms, and not every symbol referenced by the new patched +functions is exported, livepatch symbols were introduced. They are used +also in cases where we cannot immediately know the address of a symbol when +a patch module loads. For example, this is the case when livepatch patches +a module that is not loaded yet. In this case, the relevant livepatch +symbols are resolved simply when the target module loads. In any case, for +any livepatch relocation section, all livepatch symbols referenced by that +section must be resolved before livepatch can call apply_relocate_add() for +that reloc section. + +Livepatch symbols must be marked with SHN_LIVEPATCH so that the module +loader can identify and ignore them. Livepatch modules keep these symbols +in their symbol tables, and the symbol table is made accessible through +module->symtab. + +4.1 A livepatch module's symbol table +===================================== +Normally, a stripped down copy of a module's symbol table (containing only +"core" symbols) is made available through module->symtab (See layout_symtab() +in kernel/module/kallsyms.c). For livepatch modules, the symbol table copied +into memory on module load must be exactly the same as the symbol table produced +when the patch module was compiled. This is because the relocations in each +livepatch relocation section refer to their respective symbols with their symbol +indices, and the original symbol indices (and thus the symtab ordering) must be +preserved in order for apply_relocate_add() to find the right symbol. + +For example, take this particular rela from a livepatch module:: + + Relocation section '.klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs_feature_attr_show' at offset 0x2ba0 contains 4 entries: + Offset Info Type Symbol's Value Symbol's Name + Addend + 000000000000001f 0000005e00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 - 4 + +This rela refers to the symbol '.klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0', and the symbol +index is encoded in 'Info'. Here its symbol index is 0x5e, which is 94 in +decimal, which refers to the symbol index 94. + +And in this patch module's corresponding symbol table, symbol index 94 refers +to that very symbol:: + + [ snip ] + 94: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 + [ snip ] + +4.2 Livepatch symbol format +=========================== + +Livepatch symbols must have their section index marked as SHN_LIVEPATCH, so +that the module loader can identify them and not attempt to resolve them. +See include/uapi/linux/elf.h for the actual definitions. + +Livepatch symbol names must conform to the following format:: + + .klp.sym.objname.symbol_name,sympos + ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ + |_______||_____| |_________| | + [A] [B] [C] [D] + +[A] + The symbol name is prefixed with the string ".klp.sym." + +[B] + The name of the object (i.e. "vmlinux" or name of module) to + which the symbol belongs follows immediately after the prefix. + +[C] + The actual name of the symbol. + +[D] + The position of the symbol in the object (as according to kallsyms) + This is used to differentiate duplicate symbols within the same + object. The symbol position is expressed numerically (0, 1, 2...). + The symbol position of a unique symbol is 0. + +Examples: +--------- + +**Livepatch symbol names:** + +:: + + .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 + .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 + .klp.sym.btrfs.btrfs_ktype,0 + +**`readelf --symbols` output for a patch module:** + +:: + + Symbol table '.symtab' contains 127 entries: + Num: Value Size Type Bind Vis Ndx Name + [ snip ] + 73: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 + 74: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.capable,0 + 75: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.find_next_bit,0 + 76: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.si_swapinfo,0 + [ snip ] ^ + | + [*] + +[*] + Note that the 'Ndx' (Section index) for these symbols is SHN_LIVEPATCH (0xff20). + "OS" means OS-specific. + +5. Symbol table and ELF section access +====================================== +A livepatch module's symbol table is accessible through module->symtab. + +Since apply_relocate_add() requires access to a module's section headers, +symbol table, and relocation section indices, ELF information is preserved for +livepatch modules and is made accessible by the module loader through +module->klp_info, which is a :c:type:`klp_modinfo` struct. When a livepatch module +loads, this struct is filled in by the module loader. |
