Re: [RFC PATCH v2 07/24] unwind_user/eh_frame: Add support for reading .eh_frame_hdr section

From
sashiko-bot@kernel.org
Date
2026-08-21 20:06:16
Also in
linux-s390
Reply to
Jens Remus, 2026-08-21
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 3 potential issue(s) to consider:
- [High] Incorrect pointer size assumption for 32-bit compat tasks using DW_EH_PE_absptr encoding.
- [High] Bypassing speculative execution pointer masking by using an unmasked pointer within a `scoped_user_read_access_size` block.
- [Low] Mixing goto-based cleanup labels and scoped_guard declarations in the same function.
--
--- Patch [7]: [RFC PATCH v2 07/24] unwind_user/eh_frame: Add support for reading .eh_frame_hdr section ---
commit d29ad7450daa52f7e2ed07991186d7ccf95beadb
Author: Jens Remus [off-list ref]

unwind_user/eh_frame: Add support for reading .eh_frame_hdr section
    
In preparation for unwinding user space stacks with .eh_frame, add
basic unwind user eh_frame infrastructure and support for reading the
.eh_frame_hdr section.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
diff --git a/kernel/unwind/eh_frame.c b/kernel/unwind/eh_frame.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f25a0923e315b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernel/unwind/eh_frame.c
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+static __always_inline int encoded_pointer_size(u8 encoding)
+{
+	u8 format = DW_EH_PE_format(encoding);
+
+	switch (format) {
+	case DW_EH_PE_absptr:
+		return sizeof(unsigned long);
[Severity: High]
Does hardcoding sizeof(unsigned long) here cause issues for 32-bit compat
tasks?

If a 64-bit kernel is profiling a 32-bit application, DW_EH_PE_absptr is
expected to match the application's native 4-byte pointer size. Using
sizeof(unsigned long) means the kernel will read 8 bytes, which could
consume too much data and misalign the current pointer for the remainder
of the unwinding process.
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	case DW_EH_PE_udata2:
+	case DW_EH_PE_sdata2:
+		return 2;
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+static __always_inline int read_encoded_pointer(struct eh_frame_section *sec,
+						unsigned long *addr,
+						unsigned long end,
+						u8 encoding,
+						unsigned long *value)
+{
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	/* Read value based on format */
+	switch (format) {
+	case DW_EH_PE_absptr: {
+		unsigned long tmp;
+		UNSAFE_GET_USER_INC(tmp, cur, end, Efault);
+		result += tmp;
+		break;
+	}
[Severity: High]
Will this also read 8 bytes instead of 4 for a 32-bit task?

Similar to encoded_pointer_size(), this reads a full unsigned long for an
absolute pointer. If this is a 64-bit kernel unwinding a 32-bit compat
application, it seems this might read past the intended data boundaries
and corrupt the address parsing.
+	case DW_EH_PE_uleb128: {
+		unsigned long tmp;
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+static int eh_frame_read_header(struct eh_frame_section *sec)
+{
+	struct mm_struct *mm = current->mm;
+	void __user *eh_frame_hdr = (void __user *)sec->eh_frame_hdr_start;
+	unsigned long cur = sec->eh_frame_hdr_start, end = sec->eh_frame_hdr_end;
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	scoped_user_read_access_size(eh_frame_hdr, end - sec->eh_frame_hdr_start,
+				     Efault) {
+		/* Read version */
+		UNSAFE_GET_USER_INC(version, cur, end, Efault);
[Severity: High]
Does this bypass the speculative execution pointer masking provided by
scoped_user_read_access_size()?

The block masks the eh_frame_hdr pointer, but inside the block,
UNSAFE_GET_USER_INC() reads from the unmasked unsigned long cur variable:

#define UNSAFE_GET_USER_INC(to, from, end, label)
...
	unsafe_get_user(__to, (typeof(to) __user *)from, label);

Since cur is passed to unsafe_get_user() without being masked, it appears
this defeats the Spectre V1 mitigation for architectures relying on
can_do_masked_user_access().
+		if (version != 1)
+			return -EINVAL;
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+int eh_frame_add_section(unsigned long eh_frame_hdr_start,
+			 unsigned long eh_frame_hdr_end,
+			 unsigned long text_start,
+			 unsigned long text_end)
+{
+	struct mm_struct *mm = current->mm;
+	struct eh_frame_section *sec;
+	int ret;
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	scoped_guard(mmap_read_lock, mm) {
+		struct vm_area_struct *eh_frame_hdr_vma, *text_vma;
+
+		eh_frame_hdr_vma = vma_lookup(mm, eh_frame_hdr_start);
[ ... ]
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
+	ret = eh_frame_read_header(sec);
+	if (ret)
+		goto err_free;
+
+	/* TODO nowhere to store it yet - just free it and return an error */
+	ret = -ENOSYS;
+
+err_free:
+	free_section(sec);
+	return ret;
+}
[Severity: Low]
This isn't a bug, but should this function avoid mixing scoped_guard() and
goto-based error handling?

The kernel cleanup guidelines recommend either fully converting to
scope-based cleanup (for example, using __free() for the sec allocation)
or strictly using goto-based cleanups without scoped_guard(). Mixing them
in the same function can create confusing ownership semantics.

-- 
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20260821195259.2688377-1-jremus@linux.ibm.com?part=7
Thread (58 messages) 58 messages, 3 authors, last reply 2026-09-14
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