[PATCH bpf v4 0/2] Compare stack frames in exact register states

[PATCH bpf v4 0/2] Compare stack frames in exact register states

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

regs_exact() compares register values and their ID relationships, but it
does not compare frameno. regsafe() checks frameno for ordinary
PTR_TO_STACK comparisons, while its EXACT path returns through regs_exact()
before reaching that check. Infinite-loop detection can therefore mistake
pointers to the same offset in different stack frames for the same pointer
and reject a finite loop.

Move frameno into bpf_reg_state's type-specific metadata union so the
existing regs_exact() prefix comparison covers it. This avoids a separate
PTR_TO_STACK case and keeps the structure at 80 bytes. Adjust the
states_maybe_looping() comparison boundary for the new layout. Since
frameno now aliases other pointer metadata, bpf_func() returns NULL for
registers that are not stack pointers; the callers that look up the frame
before checking the register type dereference it only afterwards.

The selftest keeps a stack pointer live in a register across a loop
whose only change at the header is the pointer's frame number. On the
unfixed tree, the program is rejected with "infinite loop detected". With
the fix, it loads and returns the expected value.

Changelog:
----------
v3 -> v4
v3: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260919004327.1403382-1-memxor@gmail.com

 * Return NULL from bpf_func() for non-stack registers, since frameno now
   aliases other pointer metadata and some callers look up the frame before
   checking the register type. (Sashiko)

v2 -> v3
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260918011313.3053497-1-memxor@gmail.com

 * Rebase on bpf/master.
 * Drop the redundant spilled-pointer test, since existing tests already
   cover the stacksafe() -> regsafe() path. (Eduard)
 * Place asm labels on their own line in the selftest. (Eduard)
 * Collect Acked-by and Tested-by tags.

v1 -> v2
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20260914161340.3419141-1-memxor@gmail.com

 * Rebase on bpf/master.
 * Move frameno into the type-specific metadata union so regs_exact()'s
   existing prefix comparison covers it without growing bpf_reg_state.

Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi (2):
  bpf: Compare stack frames in regs_exact()
  selftests/bpf: Cover frame changes in bounded loops

 include/linux/bpf_verifier.h                  | 23 +++++++-----
 kernel/bpf/states.c                           |  7 ++--
 .../selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c     | 36 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 53 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)


base-commit: b4e875d397da451fb4e9c573ff4b86db53caba05
-- 
2.53.0

[PATCH bpf v4 1/2] bpf: Compare stack frames in regs_exact()

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

regs_exact() compares the register state up to id, followed by the ID
mappings, but does not compare frameno. The PTR_TO_STACK case in regsafe()
checks frameno separately, which is bypassed when exact comparison is
requested. Consequently, infinite-loop detection can treat pointers to
different stack frames as the same pointer and reject a finite loop.

For example, initialize fp-8 to zero in the caller and to one in the
callee, then pass the caller's fp-8 to the callee as r1:

    loop:
        r0 = *(u64 *)(r1 + 0);
        if r0 != 0 goto done;
        r1 = r10;
        r1 += -8;
        goto loop;
    done:
        exit;

The loop terminates after reading the callee's slot on its second
iteration. At the loop header, however, the only relevant difference is
r1's frameno, so exact comparison incorrectly reports an infinite loop.
The same problem occurs when the pointer is spilled to the stack.

Move frameno into the type-specific metadata union, ahead of id, so the
existing prefix comparison in regs_exact() covers it. Ordinary stack
pointers do not use another union member. Iterator and IRQ stack-slot
states use their dedicated union views and do not need a frame lookup.
This also keeps bpf_reg_state at 80 bytes.

Since frameno now shares storage with other pointer metadata, it is only
meaningful for PTR_TO_STACK registers. Return NULL from bpf_func() for
other register types. process_iter_arg(), get_constant_map_key() and
is_dynptr_reg_valid_init() look up the frame before checking the register
type and would otherwise index frame[] with a byte of the register's map
or BTF pointer. They dereference the frame only after their type check.

Move the states_maybe_looping() boundary from frameno to precise after the
field relocation. Its prefix comparison continues to cover the complete
value state and now includes frameno.

Continue to ignore precise. Precision marks control whether pruning may
ignore scalar ranges; they do not change the represented values, and exact
comparison already compares those ranges unconditionally. Marks can also
change through backtracking while an ancestor state is still being
explored.

Fixes: d5b892fd607a ("bpf: make infinite loop detection in is_state_visited() exact")
Reported-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
---
 include/linux/bpf_verifier.h | 23 +++++++++++++++--------
 kernel/bpf/states.c          |  7 ++-----
 2 files changed, 17 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/bpf_verifier.h b/include/linux/bpf_verifier.h
index a7202b44ab10..6fe8e5dc57aa 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpf_verifier.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpf_verifier.h
@@ -45,6 +45,14 @@ struct bpf_reg_state {
 	union {
 		/* valid when type == PTR_TO_PACKET */
 		int range;
+		/*
+		 * Valid when type == PTR_TO_STACK. Inside the callee two registers
+		 * can be both PTR_TO_STACK like R1=fp-8 and R2=fp-8, but one of them
+		 * points to this function stack while another to the caller's stack.
+		 * To differentiate them 'frameno' is used which is an index in
+		 * bpf_verifier_state->frame[] array pointing to bpf_func_state.
+		 */
+		u8 frameno;
 
 		/*
 		 * For CONST_PTR_TO_MAP, PTR_TO_MAP_KEY, PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE and
@@ -155,14 +163,6 @@ struct bpf_reg_state {
 	 * during state comparisons.
 	 */
 	u32 map_uid;
-	/*
-	 * Inside the callee two registers can be both PTR_TO_STACK like
-	 * R1=fp-8 and R2=fp-8, but one of them points to this function stack
-	 * while another to the caller's stack. To differentiate them 'frameno'
-	 * is used which is an index in bpf_verifier_state->frame[] array
-	 * pointing to bpf_func_state.
-	 */
-	u8 frameno;
 	/* if (!precise && SCALAR_VALUE) min/max/tnum don't affect safety */
 	bool precise;
 };
@@ -1239,11 +1239,18 @@ static inline int bpf_get_spi(s32 off)
 	return (-off - 1) / BPF_REG_SIZE;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Return the function state a stack pointer register refers to. frameno
+ * shares storage with other pointer metadata, so return NULL for any
+ * other register type instead of indexing frame[] with aliased bytes.
+ */
 static inline struct bpf_func_state *bpf_func(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 					      const struct bpf_reg_state *reg)
 {
 	struct bpf_verifier_state *cur = env->cur_state;
 
+	if (reg->type != PTR_TO_STACK)
+		return NULL;
 	return cur->frame[reg->frameno];
 }
 
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/states.c b/kernel/bpf/states.c
index e4ec007f7fa6..012b82513a3b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/states.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/states.c
@@ -644,10 +644,7 @@ static bool regsafe(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_reg_state *rold,
 		return range_within(rold, rcur) &&
 		       tnum_in(rold->var_off, rcur->var_off);
 	case PTR_TO_STACK:
-		/* two stack pointers are equal only if they're pointing to
-		 * the same stack frame, since fp-8 in foo != fp-8 in bar
-		 */
-		return regs_exact(rold, rcur, idmap) && rold->frameno == rcur->frameno;
+		return regs_exact(rold, rcur, idmap);
 	case PTR_TO_ARENA:
 		return true;
 	case PTR_TO_INSN:
@@ -1126,7 +1123,7 @@ static bool states_maybe_looping(struct bpf_verifier_state *old,
 	fcur = cur->frame[fr];
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_BPF_REG; i++)
 		if (memcmp(&fold->regs[i], &fcur->regs[i],
-			   offsetof(struct bpf_reg_state, frameno)))
+			   offsetof(struct bpf_reg_state, precise)))
 			return false;
 	return true;
 }
-- 
2.53.0

[PATCH bpf v4 2/2] selftests/bpf: Cover frame changes in bounded loops

[Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi]

Add a finite loop whose progress is represented only by changing the
frame number of a stack pointer. The loop first reads zero from the
caller's stack, switches to the same offset in the callee's stack, and
exits after reading one on its next iteration.

Force frequent checkpoints so the test exercises infinite-loop detection,
and check that the program returns one when run.

Without the frameno comparison in regs_exact(), the program is rejected
with an "infinite loop detected" diagnostic instead of loading
successfully.

Tested-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
---
 .../selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c     | 36 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c
index d248ce877f14..48a966cda199 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_loops1.c
@@ -303,4 +303,40 @@ __naked void maybe_exit_scc_bug1(void)
 	::: __clobber_all);
 }
 
+/*
+ * The loop reads zero from the caller's stack on its first iteration and
+ * one from the callee's stack on its second iteration. At the loop header,
+ * only the frame number of the pointer in r1 changes.
+ */
+static __naked __noinline __used
+void loop_stack_frames_reg(void)
+{
+	asm volatile (
+	"*(u64 *)(r10 - 8) = 1;"
+"1:"
+	"r0 = *(u64 *)(r1 + 0);"
+	"if r0 != 0 goto 2f;"
+	"r1 = r10;"
+	"r1 += -8;"
+	"goto 1b;"
+"2:"
+	"exit;"
+	::: __clobber_all);
+}
+
+SEC("xdp")
+__description("bounded loop changing stack frame in a register")
+__success __retval(1)
+__flag(BPF_F_TEST_STATE_FREQ)
+__naked void bounded_loop_stack_frames_reg(void)
+{
+	asm volatile (
+	"*(u64 *)(r10 - 8) = 0;"
+	"r1 = r10;"
+	"r1 += -8;"
+	"call loop_stack_frames_reg;"
+	"exit;"
+	::: __clobber_all);
+}
+
 char _license[] SEC("license") = "GPL";
-- 
2.53.0

Re: [PATCH bpf v4 1/2] bpf: Compare stack frames in regs_exact()

[bot+bpf-ci]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1469 bytes --]

> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/states.c b/kernel/bpf/states.c
> index e4ec007f7fa61..012b82513a3bc 100644
> --- a/kernel/bpf/states.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/states.c
> @@ -644,10 +644,7 @@ static bool regsafe(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_reg_state *rold,
>  		return range_within(rold, rcur) &&
>  		       tnum_in(rold->var_off, rcur->var_off);
>  	case PTR_TO_STACK:
> -		/* two stack pointers are equal only if they're pointing to
> -		 * the same stack frame, since fp-8 in foo != fp-8 in bar
> -		 */
> -		return regs_exact(rold, rcur, idmap) && rold->frameno == rcur->frameno;
> +		return regs_exact(rold, rcur, idmap);

This isn't a bug, but now that the PTR_TO_STACK case returns exactly
what the default case returns (both just 'return regs_exact(rold, rcur,
idmap);'), is the explicit case statement kept deliberately to document
that stack pointers still need exact comparison, or could it be dropped
to avoid carrying what looks like a silent duplicate?

The rationale mentioned in the deleted comment (fp-8 in foo != fp-8 in
bar) is preserved in the relocated frameno comment in
include/linux/bpf_verifier.h, but the case arm itself no longer conveys
anything distinct.

>  	case PTR_TO_ARENA:
>  		return true;


---
AI reviewed your patch. Please fix the bug or email reply why it's not a bug.
See: https://github.com/kernel-patches/vmtest/blob/master/ci/claude/README.md

CI run summary: https://github.com/kernel-patches/bpf/actions/runs/35414429846

Re: [PATCH bpf v4 0/2] Compare stack frames in exact register states

[patchwork-bot+netdevbpf]

Hello:

This series was applied to bpf/bpf.git (master)
by Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>:

On Sat, 19 Sep 2026 03:42:09 +0200 you wrote:
> regs_exact() compares register values and their ID relationships, but it
> does not compare frameno. regsafe() checks frameno for ordinary
> PTR_TO_STACK comparisons, while its EXACT path returns through regs_exact()
> before reaching that check. Infinite-loop detection can therefore mistake
> pointers to the same offset in different stack frames for the same pointer
> and reject a finite loop.
> 
> [...]

Here is the summary with links:
  - [bpf,v4,1/2] bpf: Compare stack frames in regs_exact()
    https://git.kernel.org/bpf/bpf/c/8901cee9316d
  - [bpf,v4,2/2] selftests/bpf: Cover frame changes in bounded loops
    https://git.kernel.org/bpf/bpf/c/070587848985

You are awesome, thank you!
-- 
Deet-doot-dot, I am a bot.
https://korg.docs.kernel.org/patchwork/pwbot.html