[PATCH bpf v3 0/2] bpf: reject direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF pointers

[PATCH bpf v3 0/2] bpf: reject direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF pointers

[Qi Tang]

check_mem_access() allows direct dereference of PTR_TO_BUF |
PTR_MAYBE_NULL without a null check, causing kernel NULL dereference
on map iterator stop callbacks.

Patch 1 adds the missing type_may_be_null() guard.
Patch 2 adds a selftest.

Changes in v3:
  - Drop stack trace from commit log
  - Split kernel fix and selftest into separate patches
  - Use [PATCH bpf] prefix

Changes in v2:
  - Add selftest

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260401142316.2452-1-tpluszz77@gmail.com/ (v2)
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260331172720.29938-1-tpluszz77@gmail.com/ (v1)

Qi Tang (2):
  bpf: reject direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF pointers
  selftests/bpf: add test for nullable PTR_TO_BUF access

 kernel/bpf/verifier.c                                  |  3 ++-
 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c | 51 +++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c

[PATCH bpf v3 1/2] bpf: reject direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF pointers

[Qi Tang]

check_mem_access() matches PTR_TO_BUF via base_type() which strips
PTR_MAYBE_NULL, allowing direct dereference without a null check.

Map iterator ctx->key and ctx->value are PTR_TO_BUF | PTR_MAYBE_NULL.
On stop callbacks these are NULL, causing a kernel NULL dereference.

Add a type_may_be_null() guard to the PTR_TO_BUF branch, matching the
existing PTR_TO_BTF_ID pattern.

Fixes: 20b2aff4bc15 ("bpf: Introduce MEM_RDONLY flag")
Signed-off-by: Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com>
---
 kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index 937c9adf1b3d..17850836943b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -7905,7 +7905,8 @@ static int check_mem_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, u32 regn
 	} else if (reg->type == CONST_PTR_TO_MAP) {
 		err = check_ptr_to_map_access(env, regs, regno, off, size, t,
 					      value_regno);
-	} else if (base_type(reg->type) == PTR_TO_BUF) {
+	} else if (base_type(reg->type) == PTR_TO_BUF &&
+		   !type_may_be_null(reg->type)) {
 		bool rdonly_mem = type_is_rdonly_mem(reg->type);
 		u32 *max_access;
 
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH bpf v3 1/2] bpf: reject direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF pointers

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

On Thu, 2 Apr 2026 at 11:41, Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> check_mem_access() matches PTR_TO_BUF via base_type() which strips
> PTR_MAYBE_NULL, allowing direct dereference without a null check.
>
> Map iterator ctx->key and ctx->value are PTR_TO_BUF | PTR_MAYBE_NULL.
> On stop callbacks these are NULL, causing a kernel NULL dereference.
>
> Add a type_may_be_null() guard to the PTR_TO_BUF branch, matching the
> existing PTR_TO_BTF_ID pattern.
>
> Fixes: 20b2aff4bc15 ("bpf: Introduce MEM_RDONLY flag")
> Signed-off-by: Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com>
> ---

Acked-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>

> [...]
>

[PATCH bpf v3 2/2] selftests/bpf: add test for nullable PTR_TO_BUF access

[Qi Tang]

Add iter_buf_null_fail.c with two tests:
  - iter_buf_null_deref: verifier must reject direct dereference of
    ctx->key (PTR_TO_BUF | PTR_MAYBE_NULL) without a null check
  - iter_buf_null_check_ok: verifier must accept dereference after
    an explicit null check

Signed-off-by: Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com>
---
 .../selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c  | 51 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..963a4cfc33f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iter_buf_null_fail.c
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+/* Copyright (c) 2026 Qi Tang */
+
+#include <vmlinux.h>
+#include <bpf/bpf_helpers.h>
+#include "bpf_misc.h"
+
+char _license[] SEC("license") = "GPL";
+
+struct {
+	__uint(type, BPF_MAP_TYPE_HASH);
+	__uint(max_entries, 1);
+	__type(key, __u32);
+	__type(value, __u64);
+} hashmap SEC(".maps");
+
+/*
+ * Verify that the verifier rejects direct access to nullable PTR_TO_BUF
+ * (ctx->key) without a null check.  On the iterator stop callback,
+ * ctx->key is NULL, so unconditional access would be a NULL deref.
+ */
+SEC("iter/bpf_map_elem")
+__failure __msg("invalid mem access")
+int iter_buf_null_deref(struct bpf_iter__bpf_map_elem *ctx)
+{
+	/* ctx->key is PTR_TO_BUF | PTR_MAYBE_NULL | MEM_RDONLY.
+	 * Direct access without null check must be rejected.
+	 */
+	volatile __u32 v = *(__u32 *)ctx->key;
+
+	(void)v;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Verify that access after a null check is still accepted.
+ */
+SEC("iter/bpf_map_elem")
+__success
+int iter_buf_null_check_ok(struct bpf_iter__bpf_map_elem *ctx)
+{
+	__u32 *key = ctx->key;
+
+	if (!key)
+		return 0;
+
+	volatile __u32 v = *key;
+
+	(void)v;
+	return 0;
+}
-- 
2.43.0

Re: [PATCH bpf v3 2/2] selftests/bpf: add test for nullable PTR_TO_BUF access

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

On Thu, 2 Apr 2026 at 11:44, Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Add iter_buf_null_fail.c with two tests:
>   - iter_buf_null_deref: verifier must reject direct dereference of
>     ctx->key (PTR_TO_BUF | PTR_MAYBE_NULL) without a null check
>   - iter_buf_null_check_ok: verifier must accept dereference after
>     an explicit null check
>
> Signed-off-by: Qi Tang <tpluszz77@gmail.com>
> ---

Test looks correct but you forgot to actually invoke it, so it never
actually runs. I verified it manually by including the skeleton and
adding RUN_TESTS(iter_buf_null_fail) in prog_tests/iters.c

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