[PATCH v5 5/7] module: deprecate usage of *_gpl sections in module loader

Siddharth Nayyar
2026-03-26T21:25:31Z

The *_gpl section are not being used populated by modpost anymore. Hence
the module loader doesn't need to find and process these sections in
modules.

This patch also simplifies symbol finding logic in module loader since
*_gpl sections don't have to be searched anymore.

Signed-off-by: Siddharth Nayyar <sidnayyar@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Petr Pavlu <petr.pavlu@suse.com>
---
include/linux/module.h | 3 ---
kernel/module/internal.h | 3 ---
kernel/module/main.c | 46 ++++++++++++++++++----------------------------
3 files changed, 18 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/module.h b/include/linux/module.h
index aee3accba73c..a0ec1a9f97b4 100644
--- a/include/linux/module.h
+++ b/include/linux/module.h
@@ -434,9 +434,6 @@ struct module {
unsigned int num_kp;

/* GPL-only exported symbols. */
- unsigned int num_gpl_syms;
- const struct kernel_symbol *gpl_syms;
- const u32 *gpl_crcs;
bool using_gplonly_symbols;

#ifdef CONFIG_MODULE_SIG
diff --git a/kernel/module/internal.h b/kernel/module/internal.h
index 69b84510e097..061161cc79d9 100644
--- a/kernel/module/internal.h
+++ b/kernel/module/internal.h
@@ -53,10 +53,7 @@ extern const size_t modinfo_attrs_count;
/* Provided by the linker */
extern const struct kernel_symbol __start___ksymtab[];
extern const struct kernel_symbol __stop___ksymtab[];
-extern const struct kernel_symbol __start___ksymtab_gpl[];
-extern const struct kernel_symbol __stop___ksymtab_gpl[];
extern const u32 __start___kcrctab[];
-extern const u32 __start___kcrctab_gpl[];
extern const u8 __start___kflagstab[];

#define KMOD_PATH_LEN 256
diff --git a/kernel/module/main.c b/kernel/module/main.c
index d237fa4e0737..189e18b8103d 100644
--- a/kernel/module/main.c
+++ b/kernel/module/main.c
@@ -1464,29 +1464,17 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__symbol_get);
*/
static int verify_exported_symbols(struct module *mod)
{
- unsigned int i;
const struct kernel_symbol *s;
- struct {
- const struct kernel_symbol *sym;
- unsigned int num;
- } arr[] = {
- { mod->syms, mod->num_syms },
- { mod->gpl_syms, mod->num_gpl_syms },
- };
-
- for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(arr); i++) {
- for (s = arr[i].sym; s < arr[i].sym + arr[i].num; s++) {
- struct find_symbol_arg fsa = {
- .name = kernel_symbol_name(s),
- .gplok = true,
- };
- if (find_symbol(&fsa)) {
- pr_err("%s: exports duplicate symbol %s"
- " (owned by %s)\n",
- mod->name, kernel_symbol_name(s),
- module_name(fsa.owner));
- return -ENOEXEC;
- }
+ for (s = mod->syms; s < mod->syms + mod->num_syms; s++) {
+ struct find_symbol_arg fsa = {
+ .name = kernel_symbol_name(s),
+ .gplok = true,
+ };
+ if (find_symbol(&fsa)) {
+ pr_err("%s: exports duplicate symbol %s (owned by %s)\n",
+ mod->name, kernel_symbol_name(s),
+ module_name(fsa.owner));
+ return -ENOEXEC;
}
}
return 0;
@@ -2608,12 +2596,15 @@ static int find_module_sections(struct module *mod, struct load_info *info)
mod->syms = section_objs(info, "__ksymtab",
sizeof(*mod->syms), &mod->num_syms);
mod->crcs = section_addr(info, "__kcrctab");
- mod->gpl_syms = section_objs(info, "__ksymtab_gpl",
- sizeof(*mod->gpl_syms),
- &mod->num_gpl_syms);
- mod->gpl_crcs = section_addr(info, "__kcrctab_gpl");
mod->flagstab = section_addr(info, "__kflagstab");

+ if (section_addr(info, "__ksymtab_gpl"))
+ pr_warn("%s: ignoring obsolete section __ksymtab_gpl\n",
+ mod->name);
+ if (section_addr(info, "__kcrctab_gpl"))
+ pr_warn("%s: ignoring obsolete section __kcrctab_gpl\n",
+ mod->name);
+
#ifdef CONFIG_CONSTRUCTORS
mod->ctors = section_objs(info, ".ctors",
sizeof(*mod->ctors), &mod->num_ctors);
@@ -2823,8 +2814,7 @@ static int check_export_symbol_sections(struct module *mod)
return -ENOEXEC;
}
#ifdef CONFIG_MODVERSIONS
- if ((mod->num_syms && !mod->crcs) ||
- (mod->num_gpl_syms && !mod->gpl_crcs)) {
+ if (mod->num_syms && !mod->crcs) {
return try_to_force_load(mod,
"no versions for exported symbols");
}

--
2.53.0.1018.g2bb0e51243-goog