Re: [PATCH v5 3/3] tracing: Update funcgraph-retval documentation

[sashiko-bot@kernel.org]

Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 2 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [High] Undefined behavior in `btf_trim_retval()` when evaluating `GENMASK()` for zero-sized types like empty structs.
- [Medium] Zero-extension of signed return values breaks display formatting for negative integers.
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commit 9a068f6032f17c7055ec2012793c0a9a00b1e9a0
Author: pengdonglin <pengdonglin@xiaomi.com>

tracing: Update funcgraph-retval documentation

The existing documentation for funcgraph-retval is outdated and partially
incorrect, as it describes limitations that have now been resolved. Recent
changes (e.g., using BTF to obtain function return types) have addressed
key issues.

> diff --git a/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst b/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
> index 7261f25f8b4ba..696bfbede5905 100644
> --- a/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/trace/ftrace.rst
[ ... ]
> +- Under certain procedure-call standards (e.g., arm64's AAPCS64), when the return
> +  type is smaller than a general-purpose register (GPR), the caller is responsible
> +  for narrowing the value; the upper bits of the register may contain undefined data.
> +  For instance, when a u8 is returned in 64-bit GPR, bits [63:8] can hold arbitrary
> +  values, especially when larger types are truncated (explicitly or implicitly). It
> +  is therefore advisable to inspect the code in such cases. If CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF
> +  is enabled (y), the return value is automatically trimmed to the width of the return
> +  type.

[Severity: High]
Does the trimming logic in btf_trim_retval() handle empty structs correctly?

Looking at btf_trim_retval() in kernel/trace/trace_btf.c:

    msb = BITS_PER_BYTE * t->size - 1;
    *retval &= GENMASK(msb, 0);

If a function returns a zero-sized type (like an empty struct), t->size is 0.
This causes msb to underflow to 0xFFFFFFFF, which means GENMASK(0xFFFFFFFF, 0)
attempts a shift by 64. Can this trigger undefined behavior and potentially a
UBSAN panic if CONFIG_UBSAN_SHIFT is enabled?

[Severity: Medium]
Also, does this zero-extension break display formatting for negative integers?

When a function returns a negative value, btf_trim_retval() zeroes out the
upper bits. Later in kernel/trace/trace_functions_graph.c:print_graph_retval():

    if (!IS_ERR_VALUE(err_code))
        err_code = 0;
    // ...
    trace_seq_printf(s, " ret=%ld", err_code ?: retval);

For non-error negative values (like -5000) or small signed types (like s8),
IS_ERR_VALUE() evaluates to false, resetting err_code to 0. The code then
falls back to printing the zero-extended retval as a positive number using
%ld. Won't this cause these negative returns to be printed as large positive
numbers instead?

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260901134604.4052265-1-dolinux.peng@gmail.com?part=3