[PATCH v3 1/1] arm64: Implement stack trace termination record

madvenka at linux.microsoft.com madvenka at linux.microsoft.com
Tue Apr 20 19:44:47 BST 2021


From: "Madhavan T. Venkataraman" <madvenka at linux.microsoft.com>

Reliable stacktracing requires that we identify when a stacktrace is
terminated early. We can do this by ensuring all tasks have a final
frame record at a known location on their task stack, and checking
that this is the final frame record in the chain.

Kernel Tasks
============

All tasks except the idle task have a pt_regs structure right after the
task stack. This is called the task pt_regs. The pt_regs structure has a
special stackframe field. Make this stackframe field the final frame in the
task stack. This needs to be done in copy_thread() which initializes a new
task's pt_regs and initial CPU context.

For the idle task, there is no task pt_regs. For our purpose, we need one.
So, create a pt_regs just like other kernel tasks and make
pt_regs->stackframe the final frame in the idle task stack. This needs to be
done at two places:

	- On the primary CPU, the boot task runs. It calls start_kernel()
	  and eventually becomes the idle task for the primary CPU. Just
	  before start_kernel() is called, set up the final frame.

	- On each secondary CPU, a startup task runs that calls
	  secondary_startup_kernel() and eventually becomes the idle task
	  on the secondary CPU. Just before secondary_start_kernel() is
	  called, set up the final frame.

User Tasks
==========

User tasks are initially set up like kernel tasks when they are created.
Then, they return to userland after fork via ret_from_fork(). After that,
they enter the kernel only on an EL0 exception. (In arm64, system calls are
also EL0 exceptions). The EL0 exception handler stores state in the task
pt_regs and calls different functions based on the type of exception. The
stack trace for an EL0 exception must end at the task pt_regs. So, make
task pt_regs->stackframe as the final frame in the EL0 exception stack.

In summary, task pt_regs->stackframe is where a successful stack trace ends.

Stack trace termination
=======================

In the unwinder, terminate the stack trace successfully when
task_pt_regs(task)->stackframe is reached. For stack traces in the kernel,
this will correctly terminate the stack trace at the right place.

However, debuggers may terminate the stack trace when FP == 0. In the
pt_regs->stackframe, the PC is 0 as well. So, stack traces taken in the
debugger may print an extra record 0x0 at the end. While this is not
pretty, this does not do any harm. This is a small price to pay for
having reliable stack trace termination in the kernel. That said, gdb
does not show the extra record probably because it uses DWARF and not
frame pointers for stack traces.

Reviewed-by: Mark Brown <broonie at kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Madhavan T. Venkataraman <madvenka at linux.microsoft.com>
---
 arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S      |  8 +++++---
 arch/arm64/kernel/head.S       | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++------
 arch/arm64/kernel/process.c    |  5 +++++
 arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c | 10 +++++-----
 4 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S
index 6acfc5e6b5e0..e677b9a2b8f8 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/entry.S
@@ -263,16 +263,18 @@ alternative_else_nop_endif
 	stp	lr, x21, [sp, #S_LR]
 
 	/*
-	 * For exceptions from EL0, terminate the callchain here.
+	 * For exceptions from EL0, terminate the callchain here at
+	 * task_pt_regs(current)->stackframe.
+	 *
 	 * For exceptions from EL1, create a synthetic frame record so the
 	 * interrupted code shows up in the backtrace.
 	 */
 	.if \el == 0
-	mov	x29, xzr
+	stp	xzr, xzr, [sp, #S_STACKFRAME]
 	.else
 	stp	x29, x22, [sp, #S_STACKFRAME]
-	add	x29, sp, #S_STACKFRAME
 	.endif
+	add	x29, sp, #S_STACKFRAME
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_SW_TTBR0_PAN
 alternative_if_not ARM64_HAS_PAN
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S b/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
index 840bda1869e9..743c019a42c7 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/head.S
@@ -393,6 +393,23 @@ SYM_FUNC_START_LOCAL(__create_page_tables)
 	ret	x28
 SYM_FUNC_END(__create_page_tables)
 
+	/*
+	 * The boot task becomes the idle task for the primary CPU. The
+	 * CPU startup task on each secondary CPU becomes the idle task
+	 * for the secondary CPU.
+	 *
+	 * The idle task does not require pt_regs. But create a dummy
+	 * pt_regs so that task_pt_regs(idle_task)->stackframe can be
+	 * set up to be the final frame on the idle task stack just like
+	 * all the other kernel tasks. This helps the unwinder to
+	 * terminate the stack trace at a well-known stack offset.
+	 */
+	.macro setup_final_frame
+	sub	sp, sp, #PT_REGS_SIZE
+	stp	xzr, xzr, [sp, #S_STACKFRAME]
+	add	x29, sp, #S_STACKFRAME
+	.endm
+
 /*
  * The following fragment of code is executed with the MMU enabled.
  *
@@ -447,9 +464,9 @@ SYM_FUNC_START_LOCAL(__primary_switched)
 #endif
 	bl	switch_to_vhe			// Prefer VHE if possible
 	add	sp, sp, #16
-	mov	x29, #0
-	mov	x30, #0
-	b	start_kernel
+	setup_final_frame
+	bl	start_kernel
+	nop
 SYM_FUNC_END(__primary_switched)
 
 	.pushsection ".rodata", "a"
@@ -606,14 +623,14 @@ SYM_FUNC_START_LOCAL(__secondary_switched)
 	cbz	x2, __secondary_too_slow
 	msr	sp_el0, x2
 	scs_load x2, x3
-	mov	x29, #0
-	mov	x30, #0
+	setup_final_frame
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ARM64_PTR_AUTH
 	ptrauth_keys_init_cpu x2, x3, x4, x5
 #endif
 
-	b	secondary_start_kernel
+	bl	secondary_start_kernel
+	nop
 SYM_FUNC_END(__secondary_switched)
 
 SYM_FUNC_START_LOCAL(__secondary_too_slow)
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/process.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/process.c
index 6e60aa3b5ea9..999711c55274 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/process.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/process.c
@@ -439,6 +439,11 @@ int copy_thread(unsigned long clone_flags, unsigned long stack_start,
 	}
 	p->thread.cpu_context.pc = (unsigned long)ret_from_fork;
 	p->thread.cpu_context.sp = (unsigned long)childregs;
+	/*
+	 * For the benefit of the unwinder, set up childregs->stackframe
+	 * as the final frame for the new task.
+	 */
+	p->thread.cpu_context.fp = (unsigned long)childregs->stackframe;
 
 	ptrace_hw_copy_thread(p);
 
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c b/arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c
index d55bdfb7789c..774d9af2f0b6 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kernel/stacktrace.c
@@ -44,16 +44,16 @@ int notrace unwind_frame(struct task_struct *tsk, struct stackframe *frame)
 	unsigned long fp = frame->fp;
 	struct stack_info info;
 
-	/* Terminal record; nothing to unwind */
-	if (!fp)
+	if (!tsk)
+		tsk = current;
+
+	/* Final frame; nothing to unwind */
+	if (fp == (unsigned long)task_pt_regs(tsk)->stackframe)
 		return -ENOENT;
 
 	if (fp & 0xf)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	if (!tsk)
-		tsk = current;
-
 	if (!on_accessible_stack(tsk, fp, &info))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-- 
2.25.1




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