Use-after-free / memory safety in tracepoint BPF link deallocation (SRCU vs RCU)

MEDIUM
torvalds/linux
Commit: c76fef7dcd93
Affected: v7.0-rc6 and earlier
2026-04-04 11:17 UTC

Description

The commit fixes a memory-safety use-after-free scenario in BPF link deallocation for tracepoints. Previously, non-sleepable tracepoint BPF links used an RCU-based grace period wait (call_rcu) during deallocation, which could allow a tracepoint program to continue accessing memory after the link was freed. The patch introduces a non-faultable tracepoint path that uses an SRCU-based grace period wait (call_srcu) for deallocation, while faultable tracepoints continue using RCU Tasks Trace. This eliminates the incorrect reliance on RCU-based GP for non-faultable tracepoints and avoids potential use-after-free in tracepoint BPF links. In short, this is a memory-safety fix related to synchronization during link/program teardown in tracepoints.

Commit Details

Author: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi

Date: 2026-03-31 21:10 UTC

Message:

bpf: Fix grace period wait for tracepoint bpf_link Recently, tracepoints were switched from using disabled preemption (which acts as RCU read section) to SRCU-fast when they are not faultable. This means that to do a proper grace period wait for programs running in such tracepoints, we must use SRCU's grace period wait. This is only for non-faultable tracepoints, faultable ones continue using RCU Tasks Trace. However, bpf_link_free() currently does call_rcu() for all cases when the link is non-sleepable (hence, for tracepoints, non-faultable). Fix this by doing a call_srcu() grace period wait. As far RCU Tasks Trace gp -> RCU gp chaining is concerned, it is deemed unnecessary for tracepoint programs. The link and program are either accessed under RCU Tasks Trace protection, or SRCU-fast protection now. The earlier logic of chaining both RCU Tasks Trace and RCU gp waits was to generalize the logic, even if it conceded an extra RCU gp wait, however that is unnecessary for tracepoints even before this change. In practice no cost was paid since rcu_trace_implies_rcu_gp() was always true. Hence we need not chaining any RCU gp after the SRCU gp. For instance, in the non-faultable raw tracepoint, the RCU read section of the program in __bpf_trace_run() is enclosed in the SRCU gp, likewise for faultable raw tracepoint, the program is under the RCU Tasks Trace protection. Hence, the outermost scope can be waited upon to ensure correctness. Also, sleepable programs cannot be attached to non-faultable tracepoints, so whenever program or link is sleepable, only RCU Tasks Trace protection is being used for the link and prog. Fixes: a46023d5616e ("tracing: Guard __DECLARE_TRACE() use of __DO_TRACE_CALL() with SRCU-fast") Reviewed-by: Sun Jian <sun.jian.kdev@gmail.com> Reviewed-by: Puranjay Mohan <puranjay@kernel.org> Acked-by: Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org> Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com> Acked-by: Steven Rostedt (Google) <rostedt@goodmis.org> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260331211021.1632902-2-memxor@gmail.com Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>

Triage Assessment

Vulnerability Type: Memory safety (use-after-free)

Confidence: MEDIUM

Reasoning:

The change adjusts the grace period wait mechanism for non-faultable tracepoint BPF links from RCU-based to SRCU-based, ensuring proper synchronization and preventing premature deallocation. This mitigates a potential use-after-free / memory-safety issue in tracepoint handling, which could be exploited via race conditions. Though primarily a correctness/performance fix, it has security relevance via memory safety.

Verification Assessment

Vulnerability Type: Use-after-free / memory safety in tracepoint BPF link deallocation (SRCU vs RCU)

Confidence: MEDIUM

Affected Versions: v7.0-rc6 and earlier

Code Diff

diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h index 05b34a6355b035..35b1e25bd10437 100644 --- a/include/linux/bpf.h +++ b/include/linux/bpf.h @@ -1854,6 +1854,10 @@ struct bpf_link_ops { * target hook is sleepable, we'll go through tasks trace RCU GP and * then "classic" RCU GP; this need for chaining tasks trace and * classic RCU GPs is designated by setting bpf_link->sleepable flag + * + * For non-sleepable tracepoint links we go through SRCU gp instead, + * since RCU is not used in that case. Sleepable tracepoints still + * follow the scheme above. */ void (*dealloc_deferred)(struct bpf_link *link); int (*detach)(struct bpf_link *link); diff --git a/include/linux/tracepoint.h b/include/linux/tracepoint.h index 22ca1c8b54f32b..1d7f29f5e90147 100644 --- a/include/linux/tracepoint.h +++ b/include/linux/tracepoint.h @@ -122,6 +122,22 @@ static inline bool tracepoint_is_faultable(struct tracepoint *tp) { return tp->ext && tp->ext->faultable; } +/* + * Run RCU callback with the appropriate grace period wait for non-faultable + * tracepoints, e.g., those used in atomic context. + */ +static inline void call_tracepoint_unregister_atomic(struct rcu_head *rcu, rcu_callback_t func) +{ + call_srcu(&tracepoint_srcu, rcu, func); +} +/* + * Run RCU callback with the appropriate grace period wait for faultable + * tracepoints, e.g., those used in syscall context. + */ +static inline void call_tracepoint_unregister_syscall(struct rcu_head *rcu, rcu_callback_t func) +{ + call_rcu_tasks_trace(rcu, func); +} #else static inline void tracepoint_synchronize_unregister(void) { } @@ -129,6 +145,10 @@ static inline bool tracepoint_is_faultable(struct tracepoint *tp) { return false; } +static inline void call_tracepoint_unregister_atomic(struct rcu_head *rcu, rcu_callback_t func) +{ } +static inline void call_tracepoint_unregister_syscall(struct rcu_head *rcu, rcu_callback_t func) +{ } #endif #ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_SYSCALL_TRACEPOINTS diff --git a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c index 274039e36465df..700938782bed2f 100644 --- a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c +++ b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c @@ -3261,6 +3261,18 @@ static void bpf_link_defer_dealloc_rcu_gp(struct rcu_head *rcu) bpf_link_dealloc(link); } +static bool bpf_link_is_tracepoint(struct bpf_link *link) +{ + /* + * Only these combinations support a tracepoint bpf_link. + * BPF_LINK_TYPE_TRACING raw_tp progs are hardcoded to use + * bpf_raw_tp_link_lops and thus dealloc_deferred(), see + * bpf_raw_tp_link_attach(). + */ + return link->type == BPF_LINK_TYPE_RAW_TRACEPOINT || + (link->type == BPF_LINK_TYPE_TRACING && link->attach_type == BPF_TRACE_RAW_TP); +} + static void bpf_link_defer_dealloc_mult_rcu_gp(struct rcu_head *rcu) { if (rcu_trace_implies_rcu_gp()) @@ -3279,16 +3291,25 @@ static void bpf_link_free(struct bpf_link *link) if (link->prog) ops->release(link); if (ops->dealloc_deferred) { - /* Schedule BPF link deallocation, which will only then + /* + * Schedule BPF link deallocation, which will only then * trigger putting BPF program refcount. * If underlying BPF program is sleepable or BPF link's target * attach hookpoint is sleepable or otherwise requires RCU GPs * to ensure link and its underlying BPF program is not * reachable anymore, we need to first wait for RCU tasks - * trace sync, and then go through "classic" RCU grace period + * trace sync, and then go through "classic" RCU grace period. + * + * For tracepoint BPF links, we need to go through SRCU grace + * period wait instead when non-faultable tracepoint is used. We + * don't need to chain SRCU grace period waits, however, for the + * faultable case, since it exclusively uses RCU Tasks Trace. */ if (link->sleepable || (link->prog && link->prog->sleepable)) call_rcu_tasks_trace(&link->rcu, bpf_link_defer_dealloc_mult_rcu_gp); + /* We need to do a SRCU grace period wait for non-faultable tracepoint BPF links. */ + else if (bpf_link_is_tracepoint(link)) + call_tracepoint_unregister_atomic(&link->rcu, bpf_link_defer_dealloc_rcu_gp); else call_rcu(&link->rcu, bpf_link_defer_dealloc_rcu_gp); } else if (ops->dealloc) {
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