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authorJoe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com>2026-08-07 14:37:52 -0700
committerJosh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>2026-08-11 16:10:51 -0700
commit72d76d0c18ebd40f6a32df875ff40528564849c1 (patch)
treef57c488a9eef89dce5a4c97f73653f7aab3e417b
parent86a697572c6271083694025eefa8de518eeef623 (diff)
objtool/klp: Allow new references to module exports
klp_reloc_needed() returns true for module exports to support late-module patching. However, clone_reloc_klp() unconditionally rejects symbols without a twin (i.e., new references added by the patch), even when the symbol is a known export from Module.symvers. Relax the check: allow new references to exported symbols by only erroring on !twin when there is no export. The export metadata from Module.symvers provides sufficient context to emit the klp-relocation without a twin. For a module export that isn't sufficient on its own though, as the resulting klp relocation will only be resolved at patch-enable time if the exporting module is loaded. If the original (unpatched) module already depends on the exporting module, the dependency is safe: the module loader ensures the dependency is satisfied before the patched module can be loaded, so the klp relocation target will exist. However, if the patch introduces a reference to a module that the original doesn't depend on, there is no such guarantee. The exporting module could be absent or could be unloaded at any time, leading to a relocation failure or use-after-free. So also add a build-time check: when a new symbol reference (no twin) targets a module export, verify that the original module already has at least one UNDEF symbol resolving to that same exporting module. If not, error out with a diagnostic message. Signed-off-by: Joe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com> Acked-by: Song Liu <song@kernel.org> Acked-by: Joe Lawrence <joe.lawrence@redhat.com> Link: https://patch.msgid.link/e0d725acb4774747f0e271308b4ca33daae2d5db.1786138493.git.jpoimboe@kernel.org Signed-off-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@kernel.org>
-rw-r--r--tools/objtool/klp-diff.c35
1 files changed, 33 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
index a7cdba08b1de..0211e5c87160 100644
--- a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
+++ b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c
@@ -1296,6 +1296,28 @@ static int convert_reloc_sym(struct elf *elf, struct reloc *reloc)
}
/*
+ * Check if the original module already has a dependency on dep_mod, i.e. it
+ * already references at least one export from that module.
+ */
+static bool has_module_dep(struct elfs *e, const char *dep_mod)
+{
+ struct symbol *sym;
+
+ for_each_sym(e->orig, sym) {
+ struct export *exp;
+
+ if (!is_undef_sym(sym) || is_weak_sym(sym))
+ continue;
+
+ exp = find_export(sym);
+ if (exp && !strcmp(exp->mod, dep_mod))
+ return true;
+ }
+
+ return false;
+}
+
+/*
* Convert a regular relocation to a klp relocation (sort of).
*/
static int clone_reloc_klp(struct elfs *e, struct reloc *patched_reloc,
@@ -1314,8 +1336,17 @@ static int clone_reloc_klp(struct elfs *e, struct reloc *patched_reloc,
unsigned long sympos;
if (!patched_sym->twin) {
- ERROR("unexpected klp reloc for new symbol %s", patched_sym->name);
- return -1;
+ if (!export) {
+ ERROR("unexpected klp reloc for new symbol %s", patched_sym->name);
+ return -1;
+ }
+
+ if (strcmp(export->mod, "vmlinux") &&
+ !has_module_dep(e, export->mod)) {
+ ERROR("%s: new reference to %s (exported by %s) would create an undeclared module dependency",
+ patched_sym->name, export->sym, export->mod);
+ return -1;
+ }
}
/*