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From: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
To: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
	 Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@kernel.org>,
	Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>, Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>,
	 Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>,
	James Clark <james.clark@linaro.org>,
	 Zecheng Li <zli94@ncsu.edu>,
	Masami Hiramatsu <masami.hiramatsu.pt@hitachi.com>,
	 linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v1] perf dwarf-aux: Fix libdw segmentation fault in cu_walk_functions_at
Date: Fri,  1 May 2026 23:48:39 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260502064839.282422-1-irogers@google.com> (raw)

A segmentation fault was observed in `libdw` when running `perf kmem`
with `--page stat` on some workloads. The crash occurred deep inside
`libdw` (specifically in `dwarf_child` and `dwarf_diename`) when
processing DWARF information.

There were two separate issues contributing to this crash:

1. Dangling pointers from `dwarf_getfuncs`:
`die_find_realfunc` uses `dwarf_getfuncs` to iterate over all functions
in a Compile Unit (CU) to find the one enclosing a given address.
`dwarf_getfuncs` passes temporary `Dwarf_Die` structures to its
callback. Copying these via `memcpy` leads to dangling internal
pointers (such as to `Dwarf_Abbrev` structures) once `dwarf_getfuncs`
returns and cleans up its temporary state. Dereferencing these dangling
pointers in subsequent calls like `dwarf_child` causes a SIGSEGV.

To fix this, use `dwarf_cu_getdwarf(cu_die->cu)` to obtain the `Dwarf`
session pointer, and then use `dwarf_offdie` to securely reconstruct
and cache the `Dwarf_Die` from its offset. This ensures all internal
pointers remain valid and persistent.

2. Uninitialized memory access in `cu_walk_functions_at`:
A logic bug in the `for` loop of `cu_walk_functions_at` attempted to
avoid in-place modifications by using a separate `next_die` buffer.
However, it performed a `memcpy(&die_mem, &next_die)` at the end of the
loop body *before* `next_die` was actually initialized by
`die_find_child` in the loop increment step. This resulted in copying
uninitialized memory into `die_mem` on the first iteration, leading to
a crash on the subsequent step.

Rewrite the loop as a standard `while` loop to ensure that
`die_find_child` fills `next_die` *before* any data is copied into
`die_mem` for the next iteration.

Assisted-by: Gemini:gemini-3.1-pro-preview
Fixes: 221d061182b8 ("perf probe: Support inline function call-site tracing")
Signed-off-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
---
 tools/perf/util/dwarf-aux.c | 44 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------------
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/dwarf-aux.c b/tools/perf/util/dwarf-aux.c
index 92db2fccc788..52fdf6d49d3b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/dwarf-aux.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/dwarf-aux.c
@@ -156,22 +156,25 @@ static int __die_find_inline_cb(Dwarf_Die *die_mem, void *data);
 int cu_walk_functions_at(Dwarf_Die *cu_die, Dwarf_Addr addr,
 		    int (*callback)(Dwarf_Die *, void *), void *data)
 {
-	Dwarf_Die die_mem;
+	Dwarf_Die die_mem, next_die;
 	Dwarf_Die *sc_die;
 	int ret = -ENOENT;
 
 	/* Inlined function could be recursive. Trace it until fail */
-	for (sc_die = die_find_realfunc(cu_die, addr, &die_mem);
-	     sc_die != NULL;
-	     sc_die = die_find_child(sc_die, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr,
-				     &die_mem)) {
+	sc_die = die_find_realfunc(cu_die, addr, &die_mem);
+	while (sc_die != NULL) {
 		ret = callback(sc_die, data);
 		if (ret)
 			break;
+
+		sc_die = die_find_child(sc_die, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr, &next_die);
+		if (sc_die) {
+			memcpy(&die_mem, &next_die, sizeof(Dwarf_Die));
+			sc_die = &die_mem;
+		}
 	}
 
 	return ret;
-
 }
 
 /**
@@ -561,7 +564,7 @@ Dwarf_Die *die_find_child(Dwarf_Die *rt_die,
 			  int (*callback)(Dwarf_Die *, void *),
 			  void *data, Dwarf_Die *die_mem)
 {
-	Dwarf_Die child_die;
+	Dwarf_Die child_die, sibling_die;
 	int ret;
 
 	ret = dwarf_child(rt_die, die_mem);
@@ -579,7 +582,8 @@ Dwarf_Die *die_find_child(Dwarf_Die *rt_die,
 			return die_mem;
 		}
 	} while ((ret & DIE_FIND_CB_SIBLING) &&
-		 dwarf_siblingof(die_mem, die_mem) == 0);
+		 dwarf_siblingof(die_mem, &sibling_die) == 0 &&
+		 (memcpy(die_mem, &sibling_die, sizeof(Dwarf_Die)), 1));
 
 	return NULL;
 }
@@ -622,10 +626,14 @@ Dwarf_Die *die_find_tailfunc(Dwarf_Die *cu_die, Dwarf_Addr addr,
 	/* dwarf_getscopes can't find subprogram. */
 	if (!dwarf_getfuncs(cu_die, __die_search_func_tail_cb, &ad, 0))
 		return NULL;
-	else
-		return die_mem;
+
+	if (dwarf_offdie(dwarf_cu_getdwarf(cu_die->cu), dwarf_dieoffset(die_mem), die_mem) == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	return die_mem;
 }
 
+
 /* die_find callback for non-inlined function search */
 static int __die_search_func_cb(Dwarf_Die *fn_die, void *data)
 {
@@ -647,6 +655,7 @@ static int __die_search_func_cb(Dwarf_Die *fn_die, void *data)
  * die_find_realfunc - Search a non-inlined function at given address
  * @cu_die: a CU DIE which including @addr
  * @addr: target address
+ * @dbg: Dwarf session
  * @die_mem: a buffer for result DIE
  *
  * Search a non-inlined function DIE which includes @addr. Stores the
@@ -661,8 +670,11 @@ Dwarf_Die *die_find_realfunc(Dwarf_Die *cu_die, Dwarf_Addr addr,
 	/* dwarf_getscopes can't find subprogram. */
 	if (!dwarf_getfuncs(cu_die, __die_search_func_cb, &ad, 0))
 		return NULL;
-	else
-		return die_mem;
+
+	if (dwarf_offdie(dwarf_cu_getdwarf(cu_die->cu), dwarf_dieoffset(die_mem), die_mem) == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	return die_mem;
 }
 
 /* die_find callback for inline function search */
@@ -710,15 +722,15 @@ Dwarf_Die *die_find_inlinefunc(Dwarf_Die *sp_die, Dwarf_Addr addr,
 {
 	Dwarf_Die tmp_die;
 
-	sp_die = die_find_child(sp_die, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr, &tmp_die);
+	sp_die = die_find_child(sp_die, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr, die_mem);
 	if (!sp_die)
 		return NULL;
 
 	/* Inlined function could be recursive. Trace it until fail */
 	while (sp_die) {
-		memcpy(die_mem, sp_die, sizeof(Dwarf_Die));
-		sp_die = die_find_child(sp_die, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr,
-					&tmp_die);
+		sp_die = die_find_child(die_mem, __die_find_inline_cb, &addr, &tmp_die);
+		if (sp_die)
+			memcpy(die_mem, &tmp_die, sizeof(Dwarf_Die));
 	}
 
 	return die_mem;
-- 
2.54.0.545.g6539524ca2-goog


             reply	other threads:[~2026-05-02  6:48 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-05-02  6:48 Ian Rogers [this message]
2026-05-02 15:56 ` [PATCH v2 0/6] perf DWARF: Fix libdw API contract violations and crashes Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 1/6] perf dwarf-aux: Fix libdw segmentation fault in cu_walk_functions_at Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 2/6] perf dwarf-aux: Fix libdw API contract violations Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 3/6] perf libdw: " Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 4/6] perf probe-finder: " Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 5/6] perf annotate-data: " Ian Rogers
2026-05-02 15:56   ` [PATCH v2 6/6] perf debuginfo: " Ian Rogers

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