Re: [PATCH] overflow: Support sub-union members in struct_size()
"Gustavo A. R. Silva" <[email protected]> Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:57:54 -0600
| Newsgroups | org.kernel.vger.linux-hardening,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
On 7/28/26 05:49, Bence Csokas wrote:
> Original definition of struct_size() assumed that the total size of an
> object with a flex-array member can be calculated simply by adding the
> flex-array size to what sizeof() returns. This is however not the case
> if the struct has a union inside it, and `member` refers to a field
> inside that sub-union:
>
> struct my_inner {
> int a;
> char b[];
> };
>
> struct my_outer {
> char c;
> union {
> struct my_inner inner;
> long l;
> };
> };
>
> /* This will give the wrong result */
> struct_size_t(struct my_outer, inner.b, n_elems);
>
> Replacing sizeof() by the offsetof() of the member fixes this.
>
> Existing users specifying non-union members should not be affected.
This actually affects users of flexible structs that have tail padding[1].
-Gustavo
[1] https://godbolt.org/z/KPq59EYej
>
> Cc: Mark Rutland <[email protected]>
>
> Signed-off-by: Bence Csokas <[email protected]>
> ---
> include/linux/overflow.h | 4 ++--
> include/linux/stddef.h | 8 ++++++++
> 2 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/overflow.h b/include/linux/overflow.h
> index a8cb6319b4fb..a11c1135f617 100644
> --- a/include/linux/overflow.h
> +++ b/include/linux/overflow.h
> @@ -433,8 +433,8 @@ static __always_inline size_t __must_check size_sub(size_t minuend, size_t subtr
> */
> #define struct_size(p, member, count) \
> __builtin_choose_expr(__is_constexpr(count), \
> - sizeof(*(p)) + flex_array_size(p, member, count), \
> - size_add(sizeof(*(p)), flex_array_size(p, member, count)))
> + offsetofp((p), member) + flex_array_size(p, member, count), \
> + size_add(offsetofp((p), member), flex_array_size(p, member, count)))
>
> /**
> * struct_size_t() - Calculate size of structure with trailing flexible array
> diff --git a/include/linux/stddef.h b/include/linux/stddef.h
> index e1851c50c89b..b8f0dbd2de55 100644
> --- a/include/linux/stddef.h
> +++ b/include/linux/stddef.h
> @@ -32,6 +32,14 @@ enum {
> #define offsetofend(TYPE, MEMBER) \
> (offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER) + sizeof_field(TYPE, MEMBER))
>
> +/**
> + * offsetofp() - Get the offset of a struct field from a pointer to the struct
> + *
> + * @P: Pointer to the structure
> + * @MEMBER: The member within the structure to get the end offset of
> + */
> +#define offsetofp(P, MEMBER) offsetof(typeof(*(P)), MEMBER)
> +
> /**
> * struct_group() - Wrap a set of declarations in a mirrored struct
> *
>
> base-commit: 62cc90241548d5570ee68e01aaba6506964e9811