[PATCH bpf v1 3/8] bpf: Keep refcount_acquire nullable for borrowed RCU kptrs

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>]

From: Ning Ding <dingning04@gmail.com>

bpf_refcount_acquire() is fallible for a borrowed reference because the
object may have reached a zero refcount. The verifier therefore keeps
KF_RET_NULL on the return value unless the argument is an owning reference.

An RCU-protected load of a local kptr is marked MEM_ALLOC, but it only
receives NON_OWN_REF when the pointee contains a graph node. A refcounted
object without a graph node consequently looks like an owning reference
even though the loaded register has no acquired reference state. If the
program drops the last real reference while remaining in the RCU critical
section, refcount_inc_not_zero() returns NULL while the verifier treats the
result as non-NULL.

Only classify the argument as owning when it is backed by a verifier-tracked
reference. This retains the non-NULL return for pointers from bpf_obj_new(),
bpf_kptr_xchg(), or an earlier successful acquisition, while requiring a
NULL check for borrowed RCU kptrs.

Fixes: 1b12171533a9 ("bpf: Mark direct ld of stashed bpf_{rb,list}_node as non-owning ref")
Reported-by: Nicholas Carlini <npc@anthropic.com>
Suggested-by: Nicholas Carlini <npc@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Ning Ding <dingning04@gmail.com>
[ kkd: Rewrote commit log ]
Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
---
 kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index 68353aa61fa1..bc0abf96cc89 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -13178,7 +13178,7 @@ static int check_kfunc_args(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_call_arg_me
 						      bpf_diag_reg_type_plain(env, reg->type));
 				return -EINVAL;
 			}
-			if (!type_is_non_owning_ref(reg->type))
+			if (!type_is_non_owning_ref(reg->type) && reg_is_referenced(env, reg))
 				meta->arg_owning_ref = true;
 
 			rec = reg_btf_record(reg);
-- 
2.53.0