[PATCH v4 09/14] objtool/klp: Convert local label references
George Guo <[email protected]> Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:41:22 +0800
| Newsgroups | org.kernel.vger.live-patching,dev.linux.lists.llvm,dev.linux.lists.loongarch,org.kernel.vger.linux-kernel |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
From: George Guo <[email protected]> Some toolchains reference an object through a local assembler label (.L*) rather than a section symbol plus offset. The assembler keeps the label because a "section + constant offset" reference would go stale under linker relaxation, while a symbol reference can be recomputed afterwards. Such labels are assembler-local, absent from kallsyms, and are never cloned into the livepatch object. Two toolchains hit this: - GCC/GAS on LoongArch references special section entries (__ex_table, __bug_table, __jump_table, .altinstructions) through local text labels instead of a section symbol. - Clang emits a switch jump table through a local label (.LJTI*) in a SHF_MERGE|SHF_STRINGS .rodata section, where the table shares the section with the livepatch's klp_func name strings. convert_reloc_secsym_to_sym() only handled the section symbol form and returned early for a label reference, so the label was never converted and the reference resolved incorrectly, with no error at build or load time: - GCC: should_keep_special_sym() cannot correlate the entry with an included function and silently drops it, so the livepatch module is missing the patched function's __ex_table / __bug_table / __jump_table entries. - Clang: the jump table is not cloned, and its base label resolves into the name strings that occupy the same offset; the switch's indirect jump then lands on a wild address and the patched function oopses at runtime. Redirect a local label reference off the label, mirroring the section symbol case: - In a text section, to the containing function symbol. A label with no containing function symbol (e.g. hand-written asm in a plain .text section) can't be correlated; skip it rather than failing, since such entries belong to unchanged code and are dropped anyway. - In a non-text section (e.g. the .rodata jump table), to the section symbol plus the full offset. Reported-by: Joe Lawrence <[email protected]> Suggested-by: Joe Lawrence <[email protected]> Co-developed-by: Kexin Liu <[email protected]> Signed-off-by: Kexin Liu <[email protected]> Signed-off-by: George Guo <[email protected]> --- tools/objtool/klp-diff.c | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 48 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c index b9624bd9439b..3e573b73fe6b 100644 --- a/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c +++ b/tools/objtool/klp-diff.c @@ -1423,8 +1423,55 @@ static int convert_reloc_secsym_to_sym(struct elf *elf, struct reloc *reloc) if (!strcmp(reloc->sec->name, ".rela__patchable_function_entries")) return convert_pfe_reloc(elf, reloc); - if (!is_sec_sym(sym)) + if (!is_sec_sym(sym)) { + /* + * Most toolchains reference special-section entries via the + * section symbol plus an offset. GCC/GAS on LoongArch instead + * references a local text label (.L*): LoongArch linker + * relaxation is the reason GAS keeps the label rather than + * reducing it to a section symbol reference. Such a label is + * never cloned into the livepatch object, so the entry would be + * silently dropped. Redirect the relocation to the containing + * function, mirroring the section-symbol case below. + */ + if (is_local_label(sym)) { + unsigned long offset = sym->offset + reloc_addend(reloc); + + if (is_text_sec(sec)) { + sym = find_symbol_containing_inclusive(sec, offset); + if (!sym) { + /* + * A local label with no containing function + * symbol (e.g. hand-written asm in a plain .text + * section). It can't be correlated to a function, + * so skip it rather than failing the build; such + * entries belong to unchanged code and are dropped + * anyway. + */ + return 1; + } + + reloc->sym = sym; + set_reloc_sym(elf, reloc, sym->idx); + set_reloc_addend(elf, reloc, offset - sym->offset); + } else { + /* + * A local label in a non-text section, e.g. Clang's + * .LJTI* switch jump table in .rodata. It isn't + * cloned into the livepatch either, so redirect the + * reloc to the section symbol plus the full offset, + * mirroring the section-symbol case below. + */ + if (!sec->sym && !elf_create_section_symbol(elf, sec)) + return -1; + reloc->sym = sec->sym; + set_reloc_sym(elf, reloc, sec->sym->idx); + set_reloc_addend(elf, reloc, offset); + } + } + return 0; + } sym = find_symbol_containing_inclusive(sec, arch_adjusted_addend(reloc)); if (!sym) { -- 2.53.0