linux-stable.git/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h, branch v6.1.174

tracing: Fix race condition in kprobe initialization causing NULL pointer dereference

2025-10-19T14:23:20+00:00

[ Upstream commit 9cf9aa7b0acfde7545c1a1d912576e9bab28dc6f ]

There is a critical race condition in kprobe initialization that can lead to
NULL pointer dereference and kernel crash.

[1135630.084782] Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 0000710a04630000
...
[1135630.260314] pstate: 404003c9 (nZcv DAIF +PAN -UAO)
[1135630.269239] pc : kprobe_perf_func+0x30/0x260
[1135630.277643] lr : kprobe_dispatcher+0x44/0x60
[1135630.286041] sp : ffffaeff4977fa40
[1135630.293441] x29: ffffaeff4977fa40 x28: ffffaf015340e400
[1135630.302837] x27: 0000000000000000 x26: 0000000000000000
[1135630.312257] x25: ffffaf029ed108a8 x24: ffffaf015340e528
[1135630.321705] x23: ffffaeff4977fc50 x22: ffffaeff4977fc50
[1135630.331154] x21: 0000000000000000 x20: ffffaeff4977fc50
[1135630.340586] x19: ffffaf015340e400 x18: 0000000000000000
[1135630.349985] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000
[1135630.359285] x15: 0000000000000000 x14: 0000000000000000
[1135630.368445] x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000
[1135630.377473] x11: 0000000000000000 x10: 0000000000000000
[1135630.386411] x9 : 0000000000000000 x8 : 0000000000000000
[1135630.395252] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000
[1135630.403963] x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 0000000000000000
[1135630.412545] x3 : 0000710a04630000 x2 : 0000000000000006
[1135630.421021] x1 : ffffaeff4977fc50 x0 : 0000710a04630000
[1135630.429410] Call trace:
[1135630.434828]  kprobe_perf_func+0x30/0x260
[1135630.441661]  kprobe_dispatcher+0x44/0x60
[1135630.448396]  aggr_pre_handler+0x70/0xc8
[1135630.454959]  kprobe_breakpoint_handler+0x140/0x1e0
[1135630.462435]  brk_handler+0xbc/0xd8
[1135630.468437]  do_debug_exception+0x84/0x138
[1135630.475074]  el1_dbg+0x18/0x8c
[1135630.480582]  security_file_permission+0x0/0xd0
[1135630.487426]  vfs_write+0x70/0x1c0
[1135630.493059]  ksys_write+0x5c/0xc8
[1135630.498638]  __arm64_sys_write+0x24/0x30
[1135630.504821]  el0_svc_common+0x78/0x130
[1135630.510838]  el0_svc_handler+0x38/0x78
[1135630.516834]  el0_svc+0x8/0x1b0

kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c: 1308
0xffff3df8995039ec :     ldr     x21, [x24,#120]
include/linux/compiler.h: 294
0xffff3df8995039f0 :     ldr     x1, [x21,x0]

kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c
1308: head = this_cpu_ptr(call->perf_events);
1309: if (hlist_empty(head))
1310: 	return 0;

crash> struct trace_event_call -o
struct trace_event_call {
  ...
  [120] struct hlist_head *perf_events;  //(call->perf_event)
  ...
}

crash> struct trace_event_call ffffaf015340e528
struct trace_event_call {
  ...
  perf_events = 0xffff0ad5fa89f088, //this value is correct, but x21 = 0
  ...
}

Race Condition Analysis:

The race occurs between kprobe activation and perf_events initialization:

  CPU0                                    CPU1
  ====                                    ====
  perf_kprobe_init
    perf_trace_event_init
      tp_event->perf_events = list;(1)
      tp_event->class->reg (2)← KPROBE ACTIVE
                                          Debug exception triggers
                                          ...
                                          kprobe_dispatcher
                                            kprobe_perf_func (tk->tp.flags & TP_FLAG_PROFILE)
                                              head = this_cpu_ptr(call->perf_events)(3)
                                              (perf_events is still NULL)

Problem:
1. CPU0 executes (1) assigning tp_event->perf_events = list
2. CPU0 executes (2) enabling kprobe functionality via class->reg()
3. CPU1 triggers and reaches kprobe_dispatcher
4. CPU1 checks TP_FLAG_PROFILE - condition passes (step 2 completed)
5. CPU1 calls kprobe_perf_func() and crashes at (3) because
   call->perf_events is still NULL

CPU1 sees that kprobe functionality is enabled but does not see that
perf_events has been assigned.

Add pairing read and write memory barriers to guarantee that if CPU1
sees that kprobe functionality is enabled, it must also see that
perf_events has been assigned.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251001022025.44626-1-chenyuan_fl@163.com/

Fixes: 50d780560785 ("tracing/kprobes: Add probe handler dispatcher to support perf and ftrace concurrent use")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Yuan Chen 
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
[ Drop fprobe changes + context ]
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin 
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman

tracing/kprobes: Return EADDRNOTAVAIL when func matches several symbols

2023-10-25T10:03:16+00:00

[ Upstream commit b022f0c7e404887a7c5229788fc99eff9f9a80d5 ]

When a kprobe is attached to a function that's name is not unique (is
static and shares the name with other functions in the kernel), the
kprobe is attached to the first function it finds. This is a bug as the
function that it is attaching to is not necessarily the one that the
user wants to attach to.

Instead of blindly picking a function to attach to what is ambiguous,
error with EADDRNOTAVAIL to let the user know that this function is not
unique, and that the user must use another unique function with an
address offset to get to the function they want to attach to.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20231020104250.9537-2-flaniel@linux.microsoft.com/

Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Fixes: 413d37d1eb69 ("tracing: Add kprobe-based event tracer")
Suggested-by: Masami Hiramatsu 
Signed-off-by: Francis Laniel 
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20230819101105.b0c104ae4494a7d1f2eea742@kernel.org/
Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

tracing/probes: Add symstr type for dynamic events

2023-08-03T08:23:54+00:00

[ Upstream commit b26a124cbfa80f42bfc4e63e1d5643ca98159d66 ]

Add 'symstr' type for storing the kernel symbol as a string data
instead of the symbol address. This allows us to filter the
events by wildcard symbol name.

e.g.
  # echo 'e:wqfunc workqueue.workqueue_execute_start symname=$function:symstr' >> dynamic_events
  # cat events/eprobes/wqfunc/format
  name: wqfunc
  ID: 2110
  format:
  	field:unsigned short common_type;	offset:0;	size:2;	signed:0;
  	field:unsigned char common_flags;	offset:2;	size:1;	signed:0;
  	field:unsigned char common_preempt_count;	offset:3;	size:1;	signed:0;
  	field:int common_pid;	offset:4;	size:4;	signed:1;

  	field:__data_loc char[] symname;	offset:8;	size:4;	signed:1;

  print fmt: " symname=\"%s\"", __get_str(symname)

Note that there is already 'symbol' type which just change the
print format (so it still stores the symbol address in the tracing
ring buffer.) On the other hand, 'symstr' type stores the actual
"symbol+offset/size" data as a string.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/166679930847.1528100.4124308529180235965.stgit@devnote3/

Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Stable-dep-of: 66bcf65d6cf0 ("tracing/probes: Fix to avoid double count of the string length on the array")
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin

tracing/probe: trace_probe_primary_from_call(): checked list_first_entry

2023-06-09T08:34:24+00:00

commit 81d0fa4cb4fc0e1a49c2b22f92c43d9fe972ebcf upstream.

All callers of trace_probe_primary_from_call() check the return
value to be non NULL. However, the function returns
list_first_entry(&tpe->probes, ...) which can never be NULL.
Additionally, it does not check for the list being possibly empty,
possibly causing a type confusion on empty lists.
Use list_first_entry_or_null() which solves both problems.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-trace-kernel/20230128-list-entry-null-check-v1-1-8bde6a3da2ef@diag.uniroma1.it/

Fixes: 60d53e2c3b75 ("tracing/probe: Split trace_event related data from trace_probe")
Signed-off-by: Pietro Borrello 
Reviewed-by: Steven Rostedt (Google) 
Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Acked-by: Mukesh Ojha 
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman

tracing/eprobe: Add eprobe filter support

2022-09-26T17:01:08+00:00

Add the filter option to the event probe. This is useful if user wants
to derive a new event based on the condition of the original event.

E.g.
 echo 'e:egroup/stat_runtime_4core sched/sched_stat_runtime \
        runtime=$runtime:u32 if cpu < 4' >> ../dynamic_events

Then it can filter the events only on first 4 cores.
Note that the fields used for 'if' must be the fields in the original
events, not eprobe events.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/165932114513.2850673.2592206685744598080.stgit@devnote2

Cc: Tzvetomir Stoyanov 
Cc: Ingo Molnar 
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (Google)

tracing/eprobe: Show syntax error logs in error_log file

2022-08-02T19:22:55+00:00

Show the syntax errors for event probes in error_log file as same as
other dynamic events, so that user can understand what is the problem.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/165932113556.2850673.3483079297896607612.stgit@devnote2

Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (Google)

eprobes: Remove redundant event type information

2022-02-25T17:07:01+00:00

Currently, the event probes save the type of the event they are attached
to when recording the event. For example:

  # echo 'e:switch sched/sched_switch prev_state=$prev_state prev_prio=$prev_prio next_pid=$next_pid next_prio=$next_prio' > dynamic_events
  # cat events/eprobes/switch/format

 name: switch
 ID: 1717
 format:
        field:unsigned short common_type;       offset:0;       size:2; signed:0;
        field:unsigned char common_flags;       offset:2;       size:1; signed:0;
        field:unsigned char common_preempt_count;       offset:3;       size:1; signed:0;
        field:int common_pid;   offset:4;       size:4; signed:1;

        field:unsigned int __probe_type;        offset:8;       size:4; signed:0;
        field:u64 prev_state;   offset:12;      size:8; signed:0;
        field:u64 prev_prio;    offset:20;      size:8; signed:0;
        field:u64 next_pid;     offset:28;      size:8; signed:0;
        field:u64 next_prio;    offset:36;      size:8; signed:0;

 print fmt: "(%u) prev_state=0x%Lx prev_prio=0x%Lx next_pid=0x%Lx next_prio=0x%Lx", REC->__probe_type, REC->prev_state, REC->prev_prio, REC->next_pid, REC->next_prio

The __probe_type adds 4 bytes to every event.

One of the reasons for creating eprobes is to limit what is traced in an
event to be able to limit what is written into the ring buffer. Having
this redundant 4 bytes to every event takes away from this.

The event that is recorded can be retrieved from the event probe itself,
that is available when the trace is happening. For user space tools, it
could simply read the dynamic_event file to find the event they are for.
So there is really no reason to write this information into the ring
buffer for every event.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20220218190057.2f5a19a8@gandalf.local.home

Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu 
Reviewed-by: Joel Fernandes 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (Google)

tracing: Add a probe that attaches to trace events

2021-08-20T18:18:40+00:00

A new dynamic event is introduced: event probe. The event is attached
to an existing tracepoint and uses its fields as arguments. The user
can specify custom format string of the new event, select what tracepoint
arguments will be printed and how to print them.
An event probe is created by writing configuration string in
'dynamic_events' ftrace file:
 e[:[SNAME/]ENAME] SYSTEM/EVENT [FETCHARGS]	- Set an event probe
 -:SNAME/ENAME					- Delete an event probe

Where:
 SNAME	- System name, if omitted 'eprobes' is used.
 ENAME	- Name of the new event in SNAME, if omitted the SYSTEM_EVENT is used.
 SYSTEM	- Name of the system, where the tracepoint is defined, mandatory.
 EVENT	- Name of the tracepoint event in SYSTEM, mandatory.
 FETCHARGS - Arguments:
  =$[:TYPE] - Fetch given filed of the tracepoint and print
			   it as given TYPE with given name. Supported
			   types are:
	                    (u8/u16/u32/u64/s8/s16/s32/s64), basic type
        	            (x8/x16/x32/x64), hexadecimal types
			    "string", "ustring" and bitfield.

Example, attach an event probe on openat system call and print name of the
file that will be opened:
 echo "e:esys/eopen syscalls/sys_enter_openat file=\$filename:string" >> dynamic_events
A new dynamic event is created in events/esys/eopen/ directory. It
can be deleted with:
 echo "-:esys/eopen" >> dynamic_events

Filters, triggers and histograms can be attached to the new event, it can
be matched in synthetic events. There is one limitation - an event probe
can not be attached to kprobe, uprobe or another event probe.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20210812145805.2292326-1-tz.stoyanov@gmail.com
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20210819152825.142428383@goodmis.org

Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu 
Co-developed-by: Steven Rostedt (VMware) 
Signed-off-by: Tzvetomir Stoyanov (VMware) 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (VMware)

tracing/probes: Reject events which have the same name of existing one

2021-08-19T13:15:19+00:00

Since kprobe_events and uprobe_events only check whether the
other same-type probe event has the same name or not, if the
user gives the same name of the existing tracepoint event (or
the other type of probe events), it silently fails to create
the tracefs entry (but registered.) as below.

/sys/kernel/tracing # ls events/task/task_rename
enable   filter   format   hist     id       trigger
/sys/kernel/tracing # echo p:task/task_rename vfs_read >> kprobe_events
[  113.048508] Could not create tracefs 'task_rename' directory
/sys/kernel/tracing # cat kprobe_events
p:task/task_rename vfs_read

To fix this issue, check whether the existing events have the
same name or not in trace_probe_register_event_call(). If exists,
it rejects to register the new event.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/162936876189.187130.17558311387542061930.stgit@devnote2

Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (VMware)

tracing/probe: Change traceprobe_set_print_fmt() to take a type

2021-08-19T13:08:29+00:00

Instead of a boolean "is_return" have traceprobe_set_print_fmt() take a
type (currently just PROBE_PRINT_NORMAL and PROBE_PRINT_RETURN). This will
simplify adding different types. For example, the development of the
event_probe, will need its own type as it prints an event, and not an IP.

Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20210819041842.104626301@goodmis.org

Acked-by: Masami Hiramatsu 
Signed-off-by: Steven Rostedt (VMware)