[PATCH v3 15/23] ARM: linker script: create separate PT_LOAD segments for text, rodata, and data

Sascha Hauer s.hauer at pengutronix.de
Thu Jan 8 07:50:12 PST 2026


Fix the linker scripts to generate three distinct PT_LOAD segments with
correct permissions instead of combining .rodata with .data.

Before this fix, the linker auto-generated only two PT_LOAD segments:
1. Text segment (PF_R|PF_X)
2. Data segment (PF_R|PF_W) - containing .rodata, .data, .bss, etc.

This caused .rodata to be mapped with write permissions when
pbl_mmu_setup_from_elf() set up MMU permissions based on ELF segments,
defeating the W^X protection that commit d9ccb0cf14 intended to provide.

With explicit PHDRS directives, we now generate three segments:
1. text segment (PF_R|PF_X): .text and related code sections
2. rodata segment (PF_R): .rodata and unwind tables
3. data segment (PF_R|PF_W): .data, .bss, and related sections

This ensures pbl_mmu_setup_from_elf() correctly maps .rodata as
read-only (MAP_CACHED_RO) instead of read-write (MAP_CACHED).

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply at anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Sascha Hauer <s.hauer at pengutronix.de>
---
 arch/arm/lib32/barebox.lds.S | 34 ++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 arch/arm/lib64/barebox.lds.S | 29 +++++++++++++++++++----------
 2 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/arm/lib32/barebox.lds.S b/arch/arm/lib32/barebox.lds.S
index c704dd6d70f3ab157ceb67dfb14760e03f2a5d62..2fb43b4619ff29d8d21dd579d3a3002b7134ff71 100644
--- a/arch/arm/lib32/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/arm/lib32/barebox.lds.S
@@ -7,14 +7,23 @@
 OUTPUT_FORMAT(BAREBOX_OUTPUT_FORMAT)
 OUTPUT_ARCH(BAREBOX_OUTPUT_ARCH)
 ENTRY(start)
+
+PHDRS
+{
+	text PT_LOAD FLAGS(5);     /* PF_R | PF_X */
+	rodata PT_LOAD FLAGS(4);   /* PF_R */
+	data PT_LOAD FLAGS(6);     /* PF_R | PF_W */
+	dynamic PT_DYNAMIC FLAGS(4); /* PF_R */
+}
+
 SECTIONS
 {
 	. = 0x0;
-	.image_start : { *(.__image_start) }
+	.image_start : { *(.__image_start) } :text
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
 
-	._text : { *(._text) }
+	._text : { *(._text) } :text
 	.text      :
 	{
 		_stext = .;
@@ -27,7 +36,7 @@ SECTIONS
 		KEEP(*(.text_exceptions*))
 		__exceptions_stop = .;
 		*(.text*)
-	}
+	} :text
 	BAREBOX_BARE_INIT_SIZE
 
 	. = ALIGN(4096);
@@ -35,7 +44,7 @@ SECTIONS
 	.rodata : {
 		*(.rodata*)
 		RO_DATA_SECTION
-	}
+	} :rodata
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ARM_UNWIND
 	/*
@@ -46,20 +55,21 @@ SECTIONS
 		__start_unwind_idx = .;
 		*(.ARM.exidx*)
 		__stop_unwind_idx = .;
-	}
+	} :rodata
 	.ARM.unwind_tab : {
 		__start_unwind_tab = .;
 		*(.ARM.extab*)
 		__stop_unwind_tab = .;
-	}
+	} :rodata
 #endif
 	. = ALIGN(4096);
 	__end_rodata = .;
 	_etext = .;
 	_sdata = .;
 
-	. = ALIGN(4);
-	.data : { *(.data*) }
+	.data : { *(.data*) } :data
+
+	.dynamic : { *(.dynamic) } :data :dynamic
 
 	. = .;
 
@@ -69,12 +79,12 @@ SECTIONS
 
 	BAREBOX_EFI_RUNTIME
 
-	.image_end : { *(.__image_end) }
+	.image_end : { *(.__image_end) } :data
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
-	.__bss_start :  { *(.__bss_start) }
-	.bss : { *(.bss*) }
-	.__bss_stop :  { *(.__bss_stop) }
+	.__bss_start :  { *(.__bss_start) } :data
+	.bss : { *(.bss*) } :data
+	.__bss_stop :  { *(.__bss_stop) } :data
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_ARM_SECURE_MONITOR
 	. = ALIGN(16);
diff --git a/arch/arm/lib64/barebox.lds.S b/arch/arm/lib64/barebox.lds.S
index 5ee5fbc3741e1f7644c00f9b37c0903c27704a3e..71f677a917851270e09c6d439fe5cbe4b6b41034 100644
--- a/arch/arm/lib64/barebox.lds.S
+++ b/arch/arm/lib64/barebox.lds.S
@@ -6,14 +6,23 @@
 OUTPUT_FORMAT(BAREBOX_OUTPUT_FORMAT)
 OUTPUT_ARCH(BAREBOX_OUTPUT_ARCH)
 ENTRY(start)
+
+PHDRS
+{
+	text PT_LOAD FLAGS(5);     /* PF_R | PF_X */
+	rodata PT_LOAD FLAGS(4);   /* PF_R */
+	data PT_LOAD FLAGS(6);     /* PF_R | PF_W */
+	dynamic PT_DYNAMIC FLAGS(4); /* PF_R */
+}
+
 SECTIONS
 {
 	. = 0x0;
 
-	.image_start : { *(.__image_start) }
+	.image_start : { *(.__image_start) } :text
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
-	._text : { *(._text) }
+	._text : { *(._text) } :text
 	.text      :
 	{
 		_stext = .;
@@ -22,7 +31,7 @@ SECTIONS
 		*(.text_bare_init*)
 		__bare_init_end = .;
 		*(.text*)
-	}
+	} :text
 	BAREBOX_BARE_INIT_SIZE
 
 	. = ALIGN(4096);
@@ -30,7 +39,7 @@ SECTIONS
 	.rodata : {
 		*(.rodata*)
 		RO_DATA_SECTION
-	}
+	} :rodata
 
 	. = ALIGN(4096);
 
@@ -38,20 +47,20 @@ SECTIONS
 	_etext = .;
 	_sdata = .;
 
-	.data : { *(.data*) }
+	.data : { *(.data*) } :data
 
-	BAREBOX_RELOCATION_TABLE
+	.dynamic : { *(.dynamic) } :data :dynamic
 
 	_edata = .;
 
 	BAREBOX_EFI_RUNTIME
 
-	.image_end : { *(.__image_end) }
+	.image_end : { *(.__image_end) } :data
 
 	. = ALIGN(4);
-	.__bss_start :  { *(.__bss_start) }
-	.bss : { *(.bss*) }
-	.__bss_stop :  { *(.__bss_stop) }
+	.__bss_start :  { *(.__bss_start) } :data
+	.bss : { *(.bss*) } :data
+	.__bss_stop :  { *(.__bss_stop) } :data
 	_end = .;
 	_barebox_image_size = __bss_start;
 }

-- 
2.47.3




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