Linux Documentation
 help / color / mirror / Atom feed
From: Kaitao Cheng <kaitao.cheng@linux.dev>
To: ast@kernel.org, corbet@lwn.net, martin.lau@linux.dev,
	daniel@iogearbox.net, andrii@kernel.org, eddyz87@gmail.com,
	song@kernel.org, yonghong.song@linux.dev,
	john.fastabend@gmail.com, kpsingh@kernel.org, sdf@fomichev.me,
	haoluo@google.com, jolsa@kernel.org, shuah@kernel.org,
	chengkaitao@kylinos.cn, skhan@linuxfoundation.org,
	memxor@gmail.com
Cc: bpf@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
	linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, vmalik@redhat.com,
	linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH bpf-next v11 2/8] bpf: clear list node owner and unlink before drop
Date: Thu, 21 May 2026 11:23:00 +0800	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260521032306.97118-3-kaitao.cheng@linux.dev> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260521032306.97118-1-kaitao.cheng@linux.dev>

From: Kaitao Cheng <chengkaitao@kylinos.cn>

The issue only becomes exposed once bpf_list_del() is available: callers
can pass an arbitrary bpf_list_head and bpf_list_node pair, including
nodes that are not actually linked to the supplied head, or nodes that
outlive their original head after refcount-based retention.  This was
not practically reachable for callers restricted to pop-style helpers
alone; bpf_list_del() widens the API surface.

A failure mode appears when bpf_list_head_free() runs while a program
still holds an independent refcount on a node (for example via
bpf_refcount_acquire()).  The list head value embedded in map memory can
go away while the node object survives.  If node->owner is left pointing
at the old head address until drop completes, that pointer becomes stale.
If a new bpf_list_head is later allocated at the same address and the
stale node is passed to bpf_list_del(), the owner comparison can succeed
even though the node is not really linked to the new head, and
list_del_init() will follow bogus next/prev pointers with the risk of
memory corruption.

When draining a bpf_list_head, mark each node owner with BPF_PTR_POISON
under the map spinlock while moving it to a private drain list, then
list_del_init() the node and clear owner to NULL before calling
__bpf_obj_drop_impl().  Concurrent readers therefore never observe a
node that appears linked to a head while its list_head is inconsistent,
and surviving refcounted nodes never retain a stale non-NULL owner.

Signed-off-by: Kaitao Cheng <chengkaitao@kylinos.cn>
---
 kernel/bpf/helpers.c | 27 +++++++++++++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/helpers.c b/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
index 094457c3e6d3..59855b434f0b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
@@ -2247,10 +2247,11 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(bpf_base_func_proto);
 void bpf_list_head_free(const struct btf_field *field, void *list_head,
 			struct bpf_spin_lock *spin_lock)
 {
-	struct list_head *head = list_head, *orig_head = list_head;
+	struct list_head *head = list_head, drain, *pos, *n;
 
 	BUILD_BUG_ON(sizeof(struct list_head) > sizeof(struct bpf_list_head));
 	BUILD_BUG_ON(__alignof__(struct list_head) > __alignof__(struct bpf_list_head));
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&drain);
 
 	/* Do the actual list draining outside the lock to not hold the lock for
 	 * too long, and also prevent deadlocks if tracing programs end up
@@ -2261,20 +2262,30 @@ void bpf_list_head_free(const struct btf_field *field, void *list_head,
 	__bpf_spin_lock_irqsave(spin_lock);
 	if (!head->next || list_empty(head))
 		goto unlock;
-	head = head->next;
+	list_for_each_safe(pos, n, head) {
+		struct bpf_list_node_kern *node;
+
+		node = container_of(pos, struct bpf_list_node_kern, list_head);
+		WRITE_ONCE(node->owner, BPF_PTR_POISON);
+		list_move_tail(pos, &drain);
+	}
 unlock:
-	INIT_LIST_HEAD(orig_head);
+	INIT_LIST_HEAD(head);
 	__bpf_spin_unlock_irqrestore(spin_lock);
 
-	while (head != orig_head) {
-		void *obj = head;
+	while (!list_empty(&drain)) {
+		struct bpf_list_node_kern *node;
 
-		obj -= field->graph_root.node_offset;
-		head = head->next;
+		pos = drain.next;
+		node = container_of(pos, struct bpf_list_node_kern, list_head);
+		list_del_init(pos);
+		/* Ensure __bpf_list_add() sees the node as unlinked. */
+		smp_store_release(&node->owner, NULL);
 		/* The contained type can also have resources, including a
 		 * bpf_list_head which needs to be freed.
 		 */
-		__bpf_obj_drop_impl(obj, field->graph_root.value_rec, false);
+		__bpf_obj_drop_impl((char *)pos - field->graph_root.node_offset,
+				    field->graph_root.value_rec, false);
 	}
 }
 
-- 
2.50.1 (Apple Git-155)


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-05-21  3:24 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 18+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-05-21  3:22 [PATCH bpf-next v11 0/8] bpf: Extend the bpf_list family of APIs Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:22 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 1/8] bpf: refactor __bpf_list_del to take list node pointer Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` Kaitao Cheng [this message]
2026-05-21  4:08   ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 2/8] bpf: clear list node owner and unlink before drop bot+bpf-ci
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 3/8] bpf: allow non-owning list-node args via __nonown_allowed Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  4:08   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-05-21  6:29     ` Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 4/8] bpf: Introduce the bpf_list_del kfunc Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  4:08   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-05-21  6:59     ` Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 5/8] bpf: refactor __bpf_list_add to take insertion point via **prev_ptr Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 6/8] bpf: Add bpf_list_add to insert node after a given list node Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  4:08   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-05-21  7:35     ` Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 7/8] bpf: add bpf_list_is_first/last/empty kfuncs Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  3:23 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 8/8] selftests/bpf: Add test cases for bpf_list_del/add/is_first/is_last/empty Kaitao Cheng
2026-05-21  4:08   ` bot+bpf-ci
2026-05-21 10:00 ` [PATCH bpf-next v11 0/8] bpf: Extend the bpf_list family of APIs patchwork-bot+netdevbpf

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=20260521032306.97118-3-kaitao.cheng@linux.dev \
    --to=kaitao.cheng@linux.dev \
    --cc=andrii@kernel.org \
    --cc=ast@kernel.org \
    --cc=bpf@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=chengkaitao@kylinos.cn \
    --cc=corbet@lwn.net \
    --cc=daniel@iogearbox.net \
    --cc=eddyz87@gmail.com \
    --cc=haoluo@google.com \
    --cc=john.fastabend@gmail.com \
    --cc=jolsa@kernel.org \
    --cc=kpsingh@kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-doc@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org \
    --cc=martin.lau@linux.dev \
    --cc=memxor@gmail.com \
    --cc=sdf@fomichev.me \
    --cc=shuah@kernel.org \
    --cc=skhan@linuxfoundation.org \
    --cc=song@kernel.org \
    --cc=vmalik@redhat.com \
    --cc=yonghong.song@linux.dev \
    /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