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authorKumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>2026-09-04 10:43:19 +0200
committerAlexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>2026-09-04 07:58:36 -0700
commit6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722 (patch)
tree58e8288fead484f6755ad0815fc74c3742663761 /tools/include/uapi/README
downloadlinux-stable-6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722.tar.gz
linux-stable-6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722.zip
selftests/bpf: Reject graph kptr use after RCU unlockgrafted
Add a sleepable verifier test that loads a graph-node local kptr in an explicit RCU read-side critical section, then passes its node to bpf_rbtree_remove() after the section ends. Before the verifier fix, the stale NON_OWN_REF flag makes the node look like a live borrowed reference and the program is accepted. After the fix, the pointer is demoted without NON_OWN_REF and the graph kfunc argument is rejected. Also exercise a graph kptr loaded while a spin lock provides implicit RCU protection. The pointer must be invalidated when the lock is released, which guards the required ordering between non-owning-reference invalidation and RCU demotion. Update the existing fault-protected load test state description. The post-unlock pointer no longer carries NON_OWN_REF, but remains readable because the load is rewritten to use BPF_PROBE_MEM. Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260904084325.52250-7-memxor@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
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+Why we want a copy of kernel headers in tools?
+==============================================
+
+There used to be no copies, with tools/ code using kernel headers
+directly. From time to time tools/perf/ broke due to legitimate kernel
+hacking. At some point Linus complained about such direct usage. Then we
+adopted the current model.
+
+The way these headers are used in perf are not restricted to just
+including them to compile something.
+
+There are sometimes used in scripts that convert defines into string
+tables, etc, so some change may break one of these scripts, or new MSRs
+may use some different #define pattern, etc.
+
+E.g.:
+
+ $ ls -1 tools/perf/trace/beauty/*.sh | head -5
+ tools/perf/trace/beauty/arch_errno_names.sh
+ tools/perf/trace/beauty/drm_ioctl.sh
+ tools/perf/trace/beauty/fadvise.sh
+ tools/perf/trace/beauty/fsconfig.sh
+ tools/perf/trace/beauty/fsmount.sh
+ $
+ $ tools/perf/trace/beauty/fadvise.sh
+ static const char *fadvise_advices[] = {
+ [0] = "NORMAL",
+ [1] = "RANDOM",
+ [2] = "SEQUENTIAL",
+ [3] = "WILLNEED",
+ [4] = "DONTNEED",
+ [5] = "NOREUSE",
+ };
+ $
+
+The tools/perf/check-headers.sh script, part of the tools/ build
+process, points out changes in the original files.
+
+So its important not to touch the copies in tools/ when doing changes in
+the original kernel headers, that will be done later, when
+check-headers.sh inform about the change to the perf tools hackers.
+
+Another explanation from Ingo Molnar:
+It's better than all the alternatives we tried so far:
+
+ - Symbolic links and direct #includes: this was the original approach but
+ was pushed back on from the kernel side, when tooling modified the
+ headers and broke them accidentally for kernel builds.
+
+ - Duplicate self-defined ABI headers like glibc: double the maintenance
+ burden, double the chance for mistakes, plus there's no tech-driven
+ notification mechanism to look at new kernel side changes.
+
+What we are doing now is a third option:
+
+ - A software-enforced copy-on-write mechanism of kernel headers to
+ tooling, driven by non-fatal warnings on the tooling side build when
+ kernel headers get modified:
+
+ Warning: Kernel ABI header differences:
+ diff -u tools/include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h include/uapi/drm/i915_drm.h
+ diff -u tools/include/uapi/linux/fs.h include/uapi/linux/fs.h
+ diff -u tools/include/uapi/linux/kvm.h include/uapi/linux/kvm.h
+ ...
+
+ The tooling policy is to always pick up the kernel side headers as-is,
+ and integate them into the tooling build. The warnings above serve as a
+ notification to tooling maintainers that there's changes on the kernel
+ side.
+
+We've been using this for many years now, and it might seem hacky, but
+works surprisingly well.
+