[PATCH bpf v3 0/4] bpf: Fix refcount_acquire handling for borrowed kptrs
Ning Ding <[email protected]> Mon, 3 Aug 2026 04:22:07 -0700
| Newsgroups | org.kernel.vger.bpf |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Fix two verifier bugs involving bpf_refcount_acquire() and map kptrs.
First, the verifier can mistake an RCU-loaded map kptr for an owned
reference and assume bpf_refcount_acquire() cannot return NULL. The kfunc
can return NULL after the last reference is dropped, so passing an
unchecked result to bpf_obj_drop() can crash the kernel.
Second, type_is_ptr_alloc_obj() accepts PTR_UNTRUSTED pointers. This lets a
pointer that is no longer protected by RCU reach bpf_refcount_acquire(). If
the object was freed and its address reused, the verifier may acquire a
reference through stale memory.
Patches 1 and 2 fix and test the return-value nullability. Patches 3 and 4
reject untrusted allocated-object pointers while keeping safe
BPF_PROBE_MEM reads accepted.
The series is based on bpf commit e5fd3f514e27
("bpf: tcp: Fix use-after-free in bpf_iter_tcp_established_batch()").
Testing used fresh virtme-ng KVM boots with KASAN enabled:
pre-fix graph write: accepted, as expected
post-fix focused cases: 8/8 passed
full refcount groups: 47/47 passed
related list/rbtree groups: 167/167 passed
skipped or failed cases: none
KASAN/Oops/panic markers: none
---
v3:
- Make type_is_ptr_alloc_obj() reject PTR_UNTRUSTED, as suggested by
Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi.
- Add a separate helper for the BPF_PROBE_MEM read path.
- Add read, refcount-acquire, and direct-write verifier tests.
- Add Cc: [email protected] to both fixes, as requested by Greg
Kroah-Hartman.
- Split each fix from its selftests.
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/r/[email protected]
Ning Ding (4):
bpf: Keep refcount_acquire nullable for borrowed RCU kptrs
selftests/bpf: Test refcount_acquire return nullability
bpf: Reject untrusted allocated-object pointers
selftests/bpf: Test untrusted allocated-object pointers
include/linux/bpf_verifier.h | 11 +-
kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 10 +-
.../selftests/bpf/progs/refcounted_kptr.c | 161 ++++++++++++++++++
.../bpf/progs/refcounted_kptr_fail.c | 74 ++++++++
4 files changed, 253 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
base-commit: e5fd3f514e27db1f05fbd72ba615d74941e23c51
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2.43.0