From: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
To: bpf@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>,
Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org>,
Daniel Borkmann <daniel@iogearbox.net>,
Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>,
Emil Tsalapatis <emil@etsalapatis.com>,
Ihor Solodrai <ihor.solodrai@linux.dev>,
Tejun Heo <tj@kernel.org>,
kkd@meta.com, kernel-team@meta.com
Subject: [PATCH bpf-next v2 04/13] bpf: Recognize __nullable on pointer members of kernel structs
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2026 10:19:59 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20261013082012.1107446-5-memxor@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261013082012.1107446-1-memxor@gmail.com>
A pointer member of a kernel struct that the verifier derives as trusted
or RCU-protected is assumed to be non-NULL, so a load through it is a
plain dereference. The BTF_TYPE_SAFE_*_OR_NULL lists exist for members
known to be NULL at times, but they live in the verifier and have to be
extended by hand.
Teach btf_struct_walk() to report the "nullable" BTF type tag on a
pointer member as PTR_MAYBE_NULL. The tag combines with any other tag
on the member; it only says that the pointer may be NULL. The verifier
keeps the flag where NULL would otherwise be assumed away, on trusted
and RCU results, so a program has to check such a pointer before
dereferencing it or passing it to a kfunc that needs a trusted
argument. Untrusted results are probed anyway and lose the flag.
The next patch uses the tag on __arena members to decide whether the
injected address translation has to preserve NULL.
Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
---
kernel/bpf/btf.c | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 7 +++++++
2 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/btf.c b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
index b09c04ccdc6d..bcbd49c7ca0b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
@@ -3557,7 +3557,8 @@ static int btf_type_tag_walk(const struct btf *btf,
return 0;
}
-bool btf_type_is_arena_ptr(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t)
+/* Whether the pointee of pointer type @t carries the type tag @name */
+static bool btf_ptr_has_type_tag(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t, const char *name)
{
if (!btf_type_is_ptr(t))
return false;
@@ -3566,13 +3567,18 @@ bool btf_type_is_arena_ptr(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t)
t = btf_type_by_id(btf, t->type)) {
if (!btf_type_is_type_tag(t) || btf_type_kflag(t))
continue;
- if (!strcmp(__btf_name_by_offset(btf, t->name_off), "arena"))
+ if (!strcmp(__btf_name_by_offset(btf, t->name_off), name))
return true;
}
return false;
}
+bool btf_type_is_arena_ptr(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t)
+{
+ return btf_ptr_has_type_tag(btf, t, "arena");
+}
+
static int btf_find_kptr(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t,
u32 off, int sz, struct btf_field_info *info, u32 field_mask)
{
@@ -7961,6 +7967,14 @@ static int btf_struct_walk(struct bpf_verifier_log *log, const struct btf *btf,
id = ctx.id;
stype = ctx.t;
+ /*
+ * __nullable combines with any of the above: it only says
+ * that the pointer may be NULL. The caller decides whether
+ * that matters for the register type it derives.
+ */
+ if (btf_ptr_has_type_tag(btf, mtype, "nullable"))
+ tmp_flag |= PTR_MAYBE_NULL;
+
if (btf_type_is_struct(stype)) {
*next_btf_id = id;
*flag |= tmp_flag;
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index 2f190abe3448..a9c47441fba9 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -6721,6 +6721,13 @@ static int check_ptr_to_btf_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
clear_trusted_flags(&flag);
}
+ /*
+ * A __nullable member only matters where NULL would otherwise be
+ * assumed away, on trusted and RCU pointers; the rest are probed.
+ */
+ if (!(flag & (PTR_TRUSTED | MEM_RCU)))
+ flag &= ~PTR_MAYBE_NULL;
+
if (atype == BPF_READ && value_regno >= 0) {
ret = mark_btf_ld_reg(env, regs, value_regno, ret, reg->btf, btf_id, flag);
if (ret < 0)
--
2.53.0-Meta
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-10-13 8:20 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 22+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-10-13 8:19 [PATCH bpf-next v2 00/13] Fix some arena paper cuts Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:19 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 01/13] libbpf: Keep the fd_array fill index out of bpf_program__clone() Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 13:00 ` Mykyta Yatsenko
2026-10-13 8:19 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 02/13] selftests/bpf: Clone a program that calls a module kfunc Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:19 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 03/13] compiler_types: Add __arena and __nullable BTF type tag qualifiers Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:19 ` Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi [this message]
2026-10-13 8:52 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 04/13] bpf: Recognize __nullable on pointer members of kernel structs sashiko-bot
2026-10-13 9:19 ` Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 05/13] bpf: Turn loads of __arena pointer members into arena pointers Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:40 ` sashiko-bot
2026-10-13 9:04 ` Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 06/13] selftests/bpf: Test __nullable pointer members Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 07/13] selftests/bpf: Test __arena " Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 9:14 ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-13 9:19 ` Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 08/13] libbpf: Bind the arena of an object to every program in it Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 9:14 ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 09/13] selftests/bpf: Test arena binding by libbpf Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 10/13] bpf: Set up the arena base only in functions that use it Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 11/13] libbpf: Render the arena type tag with its address space Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 12/13] selftests/bpf: Test the address space rendering of the arena type tag Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
2026-10-13 8:20 ` [PATCH bpf-next v2 13/13] selftests/bpf: Test an arena kfunc argument passed from a subprogram Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20261013082012.1107446-5-memxor@gmail.com \
--to=memxor@gmail.com \
--cc=andrii@kernel.org \
--cc=ast@kernel.org \
--cc=bpf@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=daniel@iogearbox.net \
--cc=eddyz87@gmail.com \
--cc=emil@etsalapatis.com \
--cc=ihor.solodrai@linux.dev \
--cc=kernel-team@meta.com \
--cc=kkd@meta.com \
--cc=tj@kernel.org \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox