[PATCH 02/12] arm64/module: Fix BTI exceptions caused by omitted landing pads in Clang 21
From: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
Date: 2026-08-15 04:46:05
Also in:
linux-arm-kernel, linux-toolchains, lkml
Subsystem:
arm64 port (aarch64 architecture), the rest · Maintainers:
Catalin Marinas, Will Deacon, Linus Torvalds
The following BTI exception was seen when loading a livepatch module:
Internal error: Oops - BTI: 0000000036000001 [#1] SMP
pstate: 634004c9 (nZCv daIF +PAN -UAO +TCO +DIT -SSBS BTYPE=jc)
pc : kill_orphaned_pgrp+0x0/0x150
lr : do_exit+0x498/0xaf0 [livepatch_combined]
The problem is that the patch module's do_exit() is branching to a
static function in vmlinux using a module PLT veneer (indirect branch),
but the target function doesn't have a BTI landing pad.
Clang 21+ omits the landing pad for static functions which can only be
reached by a direct branch. But livepatch modules use klp relocations
to reference arbitrary kernel symbols, and with
CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_MODULE_REGION_FULL the module is far enough away that
every call to vmlinux needs a PLT.
Note this problem is actually not specific to livepatch. It's possible
for any module's .init section to be allocated > 128MB away from its
.text section. So calls from .init to .text via a PLT can trigger a BTI
exception when the target function doesn't have a landing pad.
GCC has always omitted the landing pad when possible, so kernel BTI is
already considered incompatible with GCC since commit c0a454b9044f
("arm64/bti: Disable in kernel BTI when cross section thunks are
broken").
When missing landing pads are detected, allocate a page close to the
target which can be used to hold BTI veneers which receive PLT veneer
indirect branches and direct branch to the final target:
bti c
b <target>
Fixes: fd1e0fd71f65 ("arm64: Implement HAVE_LIVEPATCH")
Signed-off-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
---
arch/arm64/include/asm/module.h | 5 +
arch/arm64/kernel/module-plts.c | 186 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 191 insertions(+)
diff --git a/arch/arm64/include/asm/module.h b/arch/arm64/include/asm/module.h
index fb9b88eebeb15..f705cbec4463f 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/include/asm/module.h
+++ b/arch/arm64/include/asm/module.h@@ -13,10 +13,15 @@ struct mod_plt_sec { int plt_max_entries; }; +struct bti_veneer_page; + struct mod_arch_specific { struct mod_plt_sec core; struct mod_plt_sec init; + /* for CONFIG_ARM64_BTI_KERNEL */ + struct bti_veneer_page *bti_veneers; + /* for CONFIG_DYNAMIC_FTRACE */ struct plt_entry *ftrace_trampolines; struct plt_entry *init_ftrace_trampolines;
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/module-plts.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/module-plts.c
index 7afd370da9f48..4ba31e336deb6 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/module-plts.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/module-plts.c@@ -3,12 +3,18 @@ * Copyright (C) 2014-2017 Linaro Ltd. <ard.biesheuvel@linaro.org> */ +#define pr_fmt(fmt) KBUILD_MODNAME ": " fmt + #include <linux/elf.h> #include <linux/ftrace.h> #include <linux/kernel.h> #include <linux/module.h> #include <linux/moduleloader.h> +#include <linux/slab.h> #include <linux/sort.h> +#include <linux/vmalloc.h> +#include <asm/cpufeature.h> +#include <asm/text-patching.h> static struct plt_entry __get_adrp_add_pair(u64 dst, u64 pc, enum aarch64_insn_register reg)
@@ -66,6 +72,180 @@ static bool plt_entries_equal(const struct plt_entry *a, (q + aarch64_insn_adrp_get_offset(le32_to_cpu(b->adrp))); } +/* + * The compiler may omit a function's BTI landing pad if it's a static function + * with no pointers referencing it. That breaks two cases where a PLT might be + * needed to call such a function: + * + * 1) module cross-section call (e.g., .init to .text) + * + * 2) livepatch module using a klp relocation + * + * Fix up such cases with a second veneer which lives close to the target. + */ +struct bti_veneer { + __le32 bti_c; + __le32 b; +}; + +struct bti_veneer_page { + struct bti_veneer_page *next; + struct bti_veneer *veneers; + unsigned int used; +}; + +#define BTI_VENEERS_PER_PAGE (PAGE_SIZE / sizeof(struct bti_veneer)) + +static bool plt_target_has_landing_pad(u64 target) +{ + u32 insn; + + if (!system_supports_bti_kernel()) + return true; + + if (aarch64_insn_read((void *)target, &insn)) + return true; + + if (!aarch64_insn_is_hint(insn)) + return false; + + switch (insn & 0xFE0) { + case AARCH64_INSN_HINT_BTIC: + case AARCH64_INSN_HINT_BTIJ: + case AARCH64_INSN_HINT_BTIJC: + case AARCH64_INSN_HINT_PACIASP: + case AARCH64_INSN_HINT_PACIBSP: + return true; + } + + return false; +} + +static void *bti_veneer_vmalloc(u64 start, u64 end, gfp_t gfp) +{ + pgprot_t prot = __pgprot(pgprot_val(PAGE_KERNEL_ROX) | PTE_MAYBE_GP); + + return __vmalloc_node_range(PAGE_SIZE, PAGE_SIZE, PAGE_ALIGN(start), + ALIGN_DOWN(end, PAGE_SIZE), gfp, prot, + VM_FLUSH_RESET_PERMS, NUMA_NO_NODE, + __builtin_return_address(0)); +} + +static bool bti_veneer_in_range(const struct bti_veneer *veneer, u64 target) +{ + s64 offset = (s64)target - (s64)&veneer->b; + + return offset >= -SZ_128M && offset < SZ_128M; +} + +static struct bti_veneer_page *bti_veneer_page_alloc(struct module *mod, + u64 target) +{ + struct bti_veneer_page *page; + void *p; + + /* + * vmalloc allocates at the lowest free address in the given range, so + * try the range above the target first so it will be as close as + * possible, making it more likely to be reusable for other targets in + * the same object. + */ + p = bti_veneer_vmalloc(target, target + SZ_128M, + GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NOWARN); + if (!p) + p = bti_veneer_vmalloc(target - SZ_128M, target, + GFP_KERNEL | __GFP_NOWARN); + if (!p) { + pr_err("%s: no address space within branch range of %pS for a BTI veneer\n", + mod->name, (void *)target); + return NULL; + } + + /* Don't leave unused slots executable */ + aarch64_insn_set(p, AARCH64_BREAK_FAULT, PAGE_SIZE); + + page = kzalloc_obj(*page, GFP_KERNEL); + if (!page) { + vfree(p); + return NULL; + } + + page->veneers = p; + page->next = mod->arch.bti_veneers; + mod->arch.bti_veneers = page; + + return page; +} + +static u64 module_emit_bti_veneer(struct module *mod, u64 target) +{ + struct bti_veneer_page *page; + struct bti_veneer *veneer, insns; + u32 insn; + + /* Look for an existing veneer for the target */ + for (page = mod->arch.bti_veneers; page; page = page->next) { + for (unsigned int i = 0; i < page->used; i++) { + s32 offset; + + veneer = &page->veneers[i]; + insn = le32_to_cpu(veneer->b); + offset = aarch64_get_branch_offset(insn); + + if ((u64)&veneer->b + offset == target) + return (u64)veneer; + } + } + + /* Look for a free slot in range of the target */ + for (page = mod->arch.bti_veneers; page; page = page->next) { + if (page->used == BTI_VENEERS_PER_PAGE) + continue; + + veneer = &page->veneers[page->used]; + if (bti_veneer_in_range(veneer, target)) + goto emit; + } + + page = bti_veneer_page_alloc(mod, target); + if (!page) + return 0; + + veneer = &page->veneers[0]; + +emit: + insn = aarch64_insn_gen_branch_imm((u64)&veneer->b, target, + AARCH64_INSN_BRANCH_NOLINK); + if (WARN_ON(insn == AARCH64_BREAK_FAULT)) + return 0; + + insns.bti_c = cpu_to_le32(aarch64_insn_gen_hint(AARCH64_INSN_HINT_BTIC)); + insns.b = cpu_to_le32(insn); + + if (!aarch64_insn_copy(veneer, &insns, sizeof(insns))) { + pr_err("%s: failed to write BTI veneer for %pS\n", + mod->name, (void *)target); + return 0; + } + + page->used++; + + return (u64)veneer; +} + +void module_arch_cleanup(struct module *mod) +{ + struct bti_veneer_page *page, *next; + + for (page = mod->arch.bti_veneers; page; page = next) { + next = page->next; + vfree(page->veneers); + kfree(page); + } + + mod->arch.bti_veneers = NULL; +} + u64 module_emit_plt_entry(struct module *mod, Elf64_Shdr *sechdrs, void *loc, const Elf64_Rela *rela, Elf64_Sym *sym)
@@ -77,6 +257,12 @@ u64 module_emit_plt_entry(struct module *mod, Elf64_Shdr *sechdrs, int j = i - 1; u64 val = sym->st_value + rela->r_addend; + if (!plt_target_has_landing_pad(val)) { + val = module_emit_bti_veneer(mod, val); + if (!val) + return 0; + } + if (is_forbidden_offset_for_adrp(&plt[i].adrp)) i++;
--
2.55.0