[PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf

Lorenz Bauer posted 3 patches 9 months, 1 week ago
There is a newer version of this series
[PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf
Posted by Lorenz Bauer 9 months, 1 week ago
User space needs access to kernel BTF for many modern features of BPF.
Right now each process needs to read the BTF blob either in pieces or
as a whole. Allow mmaping the sysfs file so that processes can directly
access the memory allocated for it in the kernel.

Signed-off-by: Lorenz Bauer <lmb@isovalent.com>
---
 include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h |  3 ++-
 kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c            | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
index 58a635a6d5bdf0c53c267c2a3d21a5ed8678ce73..1750390735fac7637cc4d2fa05f96cb2a36aa448 100644
--- a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
+++ b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
@@ -667,10 +667,11 @@ defined(CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG) || defined(CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG)
  */
 #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF
 #define BTF								\
+	. = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);						\
 	.BTF : AT(ADDR(.BTF) - LOAD_OFFSET) {				\
 		BOUNDED_SECTION_BY(.BTF, _BTF)				\
 	}								\
-	. = ALIGN(4);							\
+	. = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);						\
 	.BTF_ids : AT(ADDR(.BTF_ids) - LOAD_OFFSET) {			\
 		*(.BTF_ids)						\
 	}
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
index 81d6cf90584a7157929c50f62a5c6862e7a3d081..f4b59b1c2e5b11ffffa80662ad39334c730019ee 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
@@ -7,18 +7,50 @@
 #include <linux/kobject.h>
 #include <linux/init.h>
 #include <linux/sysfs.h>
+#include <linux/mm.h>
+#include <linux/io.h>
 
 /* See scripts/link-vmlinux.sh, gen_btf() func for details */
 extern char __start_BTF[];
 extern char __stop_BTF[];
 
+struct kobject *btf_kobj;
+
+static int btf_vmlinux_mmap(struct file *filp, struct kobject *kobj,
+			    const struct bin_attribute *attr,
+			    struct vm_area_struct *vma)
+{
+	phys_addr_t start = virt_to_phys(__start_BTF);
+	size_t btf_size = __stop_BTF - __start_BTF;
+	size_t vm_size = vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start;
+	unsigned long pfn = start >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+	unsigned long pages = PAGE_ALIGN(btf_size) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+
+	if (kobj != btf_kobj)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	if (vma->vm_pgoff)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	if (vma->vm_flags & (VM_WRITE|VM_EXEC|VM_MAYSHARE))
+		return -EACCES;
+
+	if (pfn + pages < pfn)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	if (vm_size >> PAGE_SHIFT > pages)
+		return -EINVAL;
+
+	vm_flags_mod(vma, VM_DONTDUMP, VM_MAYEXEC|VM_MAYWRITE);
+	return remap_pfn_range(vma, vma->vm_start, pfn, vm_size, vma->vm_page_prot);
+}
+
 static struct bin_attribute bin_attr_btf_vmlinux __ro_after_init = {
 	.attr = { .name = "vmlinux", .mode = 0444, },
 	.read_new = sysfs_bin_attr_simple_read,
+	.mmap = btf_vmlinux_mmap,
 };
 
-struct kobject *btf_kobj;
-
 static int __init btf_vmlinux_init(void)
 {
 	bin_attr_btf_vmlinux.private = __start_BTF;

-- 
2.49.0
Re: [PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf
Posted by Alexei Starovoitov 9 months, 1 week ago
On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 3:20 AM Lorenz Bauer <lmb@isovalent.com> wrote:
>
> User space needs access to kernel BTF for many modern features of BPF.
> Right now each process needs to read the BTF blob either in pieces or
> as a whole. Allow mmaping the sysfs file so that processes can directly
> access the memory allocated for it in the kernel.
>
> Signed-off-by: Lorenz Bauer <lmb@isovalent.com>
> ---
>  include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h |  3 ++-
>  kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c            | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
>  2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> index 58a635a6d5bdf0c53c267c2a3d21a5ed8678ce73..1750390735fac7637cc4d2fa05f96cb2a36aa448 100644
> --- a/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> +++ b/include/asm-generic/vmlinux.lds.h
> @@ -667,10 +667,11 @@ defined(CONFIG_AUTOFDO_CLANG) || defined(CONFIG_PROPELLER_CLANG)
>   */
>  #ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_INFO_BTF
>  #define BTF                                                            \
> +       . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);                                           \
>         .BTF : AT(ADDR(.BTF) - LOAD_OFFSET) {                           \
>                 BOUNDED_SECTION_BY(.BTF, _BTF)                          \
>         }                                                               \
> -       . = ALIGN(4);                                                   \
> +       . = ALIGN(PAGE_SIZE);                                           \
>         .BTF_ids : AT(ADDR(.BTF_ids) - LOAD_OFFSET) {                   \
>                 *(.BTF_ids)                                             \
>         }
> diff --git a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
> index 81d6cf90584a7157929c50f62a5c6862e7a3d081..f4b59b1c2e5b11ffffa80662ad39334c730019ee 100644
> --- a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
> +++ b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
> @@ -7,18 +7,50 @@
>  #include <linux/kobject.h>
>  #include <linux/init.h>
>  #include <linux/sysfs.h>
> +#include <linux/mm.h>
> +#include <linux/io.h>
>
>  /* See scripts/link-vmlinux.sh, gen_btf() func for details */
>  extern char __start_BTF[];
>  extern char __stop_BTF[];
>
> +struct kobject *btf_kobj;
> +
> +static int btf_vmlinux_mmap(struct file *filp, struct kobject *kobj,
> +                           const struct bin_attribute *attr,
> +                           struct vm_area_struct *vma)
> +{
> +       phys_addr_t start = virt_to_phys(__start_BTF);
> +       size_t btf_size = __stop_BTF - __start_BTF;
> +       size_t vm_size = vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start;
> +       unsigned long pfn = start >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> +       unsigned long pages = PAGE_ALIGN(btf_size) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
> +
> +       if (kobj != btf_kobj)
> +               return -EINVAL;
> +
> +       if (vma->vm_pgoff)
> +               return -EINVAL;
> +
> +       if (vma->vm_flags & (VM_WRITE|VM_EXEC|VM_MAYSHARE))
> +               return -EACCES;
> +
> +       if (pfn + pages < pfn)
> +               return -EINVAL;
> +
> +       if (vm_size >> PAGE_SHIFT > pages)
> +               return -EINVAL;
> +
> +       vm_flags_mod(vma, VM_DONTDUMP, VM_MAYEXEC|VM_MAYWRITE);
> +       return remap_pfn_range(vma, vma->vm_start, pfn, vm_size, vma->vm_page_prot);

remap_pfn_range() should be avoided.
See big comment in kernel/events/core.c in map_range().

The following seems to work:
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
index f4b59b1c2e5b..7d0fd28070d8 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/sysfs_btf.c
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ static int btf_vmlinux_mmap(struct file *filp,
struct kobject *kobj,
                            const struct bin_attribute *attr,
                            struct vm_area_struct *vma)
 {
-       phys_addr_t start = virt_to_phys(__start_BTF);
+       unsigned long addr = (unsigned long)__start_BTF;
        size_t btf_size = __stop_BTF - __start_BTF;
        size_t vm_size = vma->vm_end - vma->vm_start;
-       unsigned long pfn = start >> PAGE_SHIFT;
        unsigned long pages = PAGE_ALIGN(btf_size) >> PAGE_SHIFT;
+       int i, err = 0;

-       if (kobj != btf_kobj)
+       if (kobj != btf_kobj || !pages)
                return -EINVAL;

        if (vma->vm_pgoff)
@@ -35,14 +35,17 @@ static int btf_vmlinux_mmap(struct file *filp,
struct kobject *kobj,
        if (vma->vm_flags & (VM_WRITE|VM_EXEC|VM_MAYSHARE))
                return -EACCES;

-       if (pfn + pages < pfn)
-               return -EINVAL;
-
        if (vm_size >> PAGE_SHIFT > pages)
                return -EINVAL;

        vm_flags_mod(vma, VM_DONTDUMP, VM_MAYEXEC|VM_MAYWRITE);
-       return remap_pfn_range(vma, vma->vm_start, pfn, vm_size,
vma->vm_page_prot);
+
+       for (i = 0; i < pages && !err; i++, addr += PAGE_SIZE)
+               err = vm_insert_page(vma, vma->vm_start + i * PAGE_SIZE,
+                                    virt_to_page(addr));
+       if (err)
+               zap_page_range_single(vma, vma->vm_start, pages *
PAGE_SIZE, NULL);
+       return err;
 }


Great that you added:
        /* Check padding is zeroed */
        for (int i = 0; i < trailing; i++) {
                if (((__u8 *)raw_data)[btf_size + i] != 0) {
                        PRINT_FAIL("tail of BTF is not zero at page
offset %d\n", i);
                        goto cleanup;
                }
        }

but this part is puzzling:
        trailing = page_size - (btf_size % page_size) % page_size;
Re: [PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf
Posted by Lorenz Bauer 9 months, 1 week ago
On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 6:15 PM Alexei Starovoitov
<alexei.starovoitov@gmail.com> wrote:
> remap_pfn_range() should be avoided.
> See big comment in kernel/events/core.c in map_range().
>
> The following seems to work:

Thanks, this helped a lot.

> but this part is puzzling:
>         trailing = page_size - (btf_size % page_size) % page_size;

The intention is to calculate how many bytes of trailing zeroes to
expect while accounting for the case where btf_size % page_size == 0.
I could replace this with a check

    end = btf_size + (page_size - 1) / page_size * page_size;
    for (i = btf_size; i < end; i++) ...

Better?

In the meantime I've looked at allowing mmap of kmods. I'm not sure
it's worth the effort:

1. Allocations of btf->data in btf_parse_module() would have to use
vmalloc_user() so that allocations are page aligned and zeroed
appropriately. This will be a bit more expensive on systems with large
pages and / or many small kmod BTFs. We could only allow mmap of BTF
>= PAGE_SIZE, at additional complexity.

2. We need to hold a refcount on struct btf for each mmapped kernel
module, so that btf->data doesn't get freed. Taking the refcount can
happen in the sysfs mmap handler, but dropping it is tricky. kernfs /
sysfs doesn't allow using vm_ops->close (see kernfs_fop_mmap). It
seems possible to use struct kernfs_ops->release(), but I don't
understand at all how that deals with multiple mmaps of the same file
in a single process. Also makes me wonder what happens when a process
mmaps the kmod BTF, the module is unloaded and then the process
attempts to access the mmap. My cursory understanding is that this
would raise a fault, which isn't great at all.

If nobody objects / has solutions I'll send a v3 of my original patch
with reviews addressed but without being able to mmap kmods.

Thanks
Lorenz
Re: [PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf
Posted by Alexei Starovoitov 9 months, 1 week ago
On Mon, May 5, 2025 at 7:37 AM Lorenz Bauer <lmb@isovalent.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 6:15 PM Alexei Starovoitov
> <alexei.starovoitov@gmail.com> wrote:
> > remap_pfn_range() should be avoided.
> > See big comment in kernel/events/core.c in map_range().
> >
> > The following seems to work:
>
> Thanks, this helped a lot.
>
> > but this part is puzzling:
> >         trailing = page_size - (btf_size % page_size) % page_size;
>
> The intention is to calculate how many bytes of trailing zeroes to
> expect while accounting for the case where btf_size % page_size == 0.

Well, if it was:
  trailing = page_size - (btf_size % page_size);
then it would be clear.

Extra '% page_size' makes it odd.

> I could replace this with a check
>
>     end = btf_size + (page_size - 1) / page_size * page_size;

it's equivalent to end = btf_size;
'(page_size - 1) / page_size' is always zero.

>     for (i = btf_size; i < end; i++) ...
>
> Better?
>
> In the meantime I've looked at allowing mmap of kmods. I'm not sure
> it's worth the effort:
>
> 1. Allocations of btf->data in btf_parse_module() would have to use
> vmalloc_user() so that allocations are page aligned and zeroed
> appropriately. This will be a bit more expensive on systems with large
> pages and / or many small kmod BTFs.

since we kvmemdup(BTF seciton) now anyway, making it vmalloc-ed
isn't a big deal.

> We could only allow mmap of BTF
> >= PAGE_SIZE, at additional complexity.

I wouldn't go this route. Too much special casing for user space.
Unless you mean that 'if (btf_size < PAGE_SIZE) dont_vmalloc'
will be the kernel internal decision that is invisible to user space
and libbpf-like libraries would try to mmap first anyway and
always fallback to reading ?

> 2. We need to hold a refcount on struct btf for each mmapped kernel
> module, so that btf->data doesn't get freed. Taking the refcount can
> happen in the sysfs mmap handler, but dropping it is tricky. kernfs /
> sysfs doesn't allow using vm_ops->close (see kernfs_fop_mmap). It
> seems possible to use struct kernfs_ops->release(), but I don't
> understand at all how that deals with multiple mmaps of the same file
> in a single process. Also makes me wonder what happens when a process
> mmaps the kmod BTF, the module is unloaded and then the process
> attempts to access the mmap. My cursory understanding is that this
> would raise a fault, which isn't great at all.

that gets tricky indeed.

>
> If nobody objects / has solutions I'll send a v3 of my original patch
> with reviews addressed but without being able to mmap kmods.

Makes sense to me.
We can always follow up.
Re: [PATCH bpf-next v2 1/3] btf: allow mmap of vmlinux btf
Posted by Lorenz Bauer 9 months, 1 week ago
On Fri, May 2, 2025 at 11:20 AM Lorenz Bauer <lmb@isovalent.com> wrote:
>
> User space needs access to kernel BTF for many modern features of BPF.
> Right now each process needs to read the BTF blob either in pieces or
> as a whole. Allow mmaping the sysfs file so that processes can directly
> access the memory allocated for it in the kernel.

I just realised that there is also code which exposes module BTF via
sysfs, which my code currently doesn't handle. I'll send a v3.