[PATCH v2 1/2] selftests/clone3: Fix wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[PATCH v2 1/2] selftests/clone3: Fix wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[Chris Gellermann]

Clone3_set_tid uses getline(&line, ...) in a loop to read the child's
process status. The code expects that getline allocates the buffer for
the line on the first loop iteration. According to the Open Group
Spec[1], char *line has to be null pointer for this:

> ssize_t getline(char **restrict lineptr, ...);
> If *lineptr is a null pointer or if the object pointed to by *lineptr
> is of insufficient size, an object shall be allocated as if by
malloc()
> or the object shall be reallocated as if by realloc()[...].

However, char *line is only declared, leading to an undefined value
that is potentially non-null. In an example run with Musl v1.2.6, the
realloc call[2] of getdelim, which implements getline, triggers a
segfault:

./run_kselftest.sh --test clone3:clone3_set_tid
[ 1366.165898] kselftest: Running tests in clone3
...
[ 1367.799244] clone3_set_tid[811]: unhandled signal 11 code 0x1 at
0x0000000000000000 in libc.so[68184,3fbf69f000+4c000]
[ 1367.802808] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 811 Comm: clone3_set_tid Not tainted
..
[ 1367.804188]  epc: 0x0000003fbf6b0184
[ 1367.804188]  ra : 0x0000003fbf6d4664
[ 1367.804188]  sp : 0x0000003fce5f2e40
[ 1367.805314]  gp : 0x0000002aaab0dfb8
[ 1367.805314]  tp : 0x0000003fbf6f14a8
[ 1367.805314]  t0 : 0x0000003fbf63d000
...

Looking at the realloc implementation, Musl mallocs for a null pointer
memory. But for a non-null pointer, it assumes it's passed a valid
pointer to the heap and tries to access its meta-data. This leads to the
segfault we see:

void *realloc(void *p, size_t n)
{
        if (!p) return malloc(n);
        if (size_overflows(n)) return 0;

        struct meta *g = get_meta(p);
        ...
}

Fix this by properly initializing the line pointer to NULL.

[1] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/getline.html
[2] https://git.musl-libc.org/cgit/musl/tree/src/stdio/getdelim.c#n38

Fixes: 41585bbeeef9 ("selftests: add tests for clone3() with *set_tid")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (arm) <david@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Chris Gellermann <christian.gellermann@codasip.com>
---
 tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
index 5c944aee6b41..485efa7c9eed 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	FILE *f;
 	char buf;
-	char *line;
+	char *line = NULL;
 	int status;
 	int ret = -1;
 	size_t len = 0;
-- 
2.47.3

[PATCH v2 2/2] selftests/mm: Fix potential wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[Chris Gellermann]

This is another occurrence of using getline where the code assumes that
getline allocates memory to store the line, but the pointer passed to
it is uninitialized and potentially a non-null pointer. This
violates the Open Group Spec[1] and caused a segfault in a similar
situation in selftest/clone3/clone3_set_tid. Fix it by initializing the
line pointer to NULL.

The issue has been found by simply grepping through the selftest code
after running into the issue in clone3_set_tid. Whether it segfaults in
its current state is unknown to me. But it's good to be addressed due to
defensive reasons.

[1] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/getline.html

Fixes: 26b4224d9961 ("selftests: expanding more mlock selftest")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (arm) <david@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Chris Gellermann <christian.gellermann@codasip.com>
---
 tools/testing/selftests/mm/mlock-random-test.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/mlock-random-test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/mlock-random-test.c
index 9d349c151360..16294bc7dae6 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/mm/mlock-random-test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/mm/mlock-random-test.c
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ int get_proc_locked_vm_size(void)
 int get_proc_page_size(unsigned long addr)
 {
 	FILE *smaps;
-	char *line;
+	char *line = NULL;
 	unsigned long mmupage_size = 0;
 	size_t size;
 
-- 
2.47.3

Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] selftests/clone3: Fix wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[Lorenzo Stoakes]

Hm you're combining 2 of my least favourite things in one :)

- Doing a >1 patch series with patch N+1 in-reply-to patch N
- Doing a vN+1 in reply to a vN series.

Just for future, please send series independent of each other not in reply to
other series, and if there's more than 1 patch, send a cover letter and have all
the patches reply to that!

Thanks, Lorenzo

On Wed, Jun 03, 2026 at 12:43:09PM +0200, Chris Gellermann wrote:
> Clone3_set_tid uses getline(&line, ...) in a loop to read the child's
> process status. The code expects that getline allocates the buffer for
> the line on the first loop iteration. According to the Open Group
> Spec[1], char *line has to be null pointer for this:
>
> > ssize_t getline(char **restrict lineptr, ...);
> > If *lineptr is a null pointer or if the object pointed to by *lineptr
> > is of insufficient size, an object shall be allocated as if by
> malloc()
> > or the object shall be reallocated as if by realloc()[...].
>
> However, char *line is only declared, leading to an undefined value
> that is potentially non-null. In an example run with Musl v1.2.6, the
> realloc call[2] of getdelim, which implements getline, triggers a
> segfault:
>
> ./run_kselftest.sh --test clone3:clone3_set_tid
> [ 1366.165898] kselftest: Running tests in clone3
> ...
> [ 1367.799244] clone3_set_tid[811]: unhandled signal 11 code 0x1 at
> 0x0000000000000000 in libc.so[68184,3fbf69f000+4c000]
> [ 1367.802808] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 811 Comm: clone3_set_tid Not tainted
> ..
> [ 1367.804188]  epc: 0x0000003fbf6b0184
> [ 1367.804188]  ra : 0x0000003fbf6d4664
> [ 1367.804188]  sp : 0x0000003fce5f2e40
> [ 1367.805314]  gp : 0x0000002aaab0dfb8
> [ 1367.805314]  tp : 0x0000003fbf6f14a8
> [ 1367.805314]  t0 : 0x0000003fbf63d000
> ...
>
> Looking at the realloc implementation, Musl mallocs for a null pointer
> memory. But for a non-null pointer, it assumes it's passed a valid
> pointer to the heap and tries to access its meta-data. This leads to the
> segfault we see:
>
> void *realloc(void *p, size_t n)
> {
>         if (!p) return malloc(n);
>         if (size_overflows(n)) return 0;
>
>         struct meta *g = get_meta(p);
>         ...
> }
>
> Fix this by properly initializing the line pointer to NULL.
>
> [1] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/getline.html
> [2] https://git.musl-libc.org/cgit/musl/tree/src/stdio/getdelim.c#n38
>
> Fixes: 41585bbeeef9 ("selftests: add tests for clone3() with *set_tid")
> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (arm) <david@kernel.org>
> Reviewed-by: Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>
> Signed-off-by: Chris Gellermann <christian.gellermann@codasip.com>
> ---
>  tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
> index 5c944aee6b41..485efa7c9eed 100644
> --- a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
> +++ b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
> @@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
>  {
>  	FILE *f;
>  	char buf;
> -	char *line;
> +	char *line = NULL;
>  	int status;
>  	int ret = -1;
>  	size_t len = 0;
> --
> 2.47.3
>

Re: Re: [PATCH v2 1/2] selftests/clone3: Fix wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[Chris Gellermann]

Sorry about the mess. It's my first time upstreaming something.

> Just for future, please send series independent of each other not in reply to
> other series, and if there's more than 1 patch, send a cover letter and have all
> the patches reply to that!

Sure, will do that.

Best,
Chris

[PATCH v2 1/2] selftests/clone3: Fix wild pointer access of getline due to missing init

[Chris Gellermann]

Clone3_set_tid uses getline(&line, ...) in a loop to read the child's
process status. The code expects that getline allocates the buffer for
the line on the first loop iteration. According to the Open Group
Spec[1], char *line has to be null pointer for this:

> ssize_t getline(char **restrict lineptr, ...);
> If *lineptr is a null pointer or if the object pointed to by *lineptr
> is of insufficient size, an object shall be allocated as if by
malloc()
> or the object shall be reallocated as if by realloc()[...].

However, char *line is only declared, leading to an undefined value
that is potentially non-null. In an example run with Musl v1.2.6, the
realloc call[2] of getdelim, which implements getline, triggers a
segfault:

./run_kselftest.sh --test clone3:clone3_set_tid
[ 1366.165898] kselftest: Running tests in clone3
...
[ 1367.799244] clone3_set_tid[811]: unhandled signal 11 code 0x1 at
0x0000000000000000 in libc.so[68184,3fbf69f000+4c000]
[ 1367.802808] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 811 Comm: clone3_set_tid Not tainted
..
[ 1367.804188]  epc: 0x0000003fbf6b0184
[ 1367.804188]  ra : 0x0000003fbf6d4664
[ 1367.804188]  sp : 0x0000003fce5f2e40
[ 1367.805314]  gp : 0x0000002aaab0dfb8
[ 1367.805314]  tp : 0x0000003fbf6f14a8
[ 1367.805314]  t0 : 0x0000003fbf63d000
...

Looking at the realloc implementation, Musl mallocs for a null pointer
memory. But for a non-null pointer, it assumes it's passed a valid
pointer to the heap and tries to access its meta-data. This leads to the
segfault we see:

void *realloc(void *p, size_t n)
{
        if (!p) return malloc(n);
        if (size_overflows(n)) return 0;

        struct meta *g = get_meta(p);
        ...
}

Fix this by properly initializing the line pointer to NULL.

[1] https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/functions/getline.html
[2] https://git.musl-libc.org/cgit/musl/tree/src/stdio/getdelim.c#n38

Fixes: 41585bbeeef9 ("selftests: add tests for clone3() with *set_tid")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Acked-by: David Hildenbrand (arm) <david@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Lorenzo Stoakes <ljs@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Chris Gellermann <christian.gellermann@codasip.com>
---
 tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
index 5c944aee6b41..485efa7c9eed 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/clone3/clone3_set_tid.c
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	FILE *f;
 	char buf;
-	char *line;
+	char *line = NULL;
 	int status;
 	int ret = -1;
 	size_t len = 0;
-- 
2.47.3