[RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()

Tiezhu Yang posted 2 patches 1 month, 1 week ago
There is a newer version of this series
[RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Tiezhu Yang 1 month, 1 week ago
When compiling with LLVM and CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is set, there exists
the following objtool warning:

  vmlinux.o: warning: objtool: __efistub_efi_boot_kernel()
  falls through to next function __efistub_exit_boot_func()

This is because efi_boot_kernel() doesn't end with a return instruction
or an unconditional jump, then objtool has determined that the function
can fall through into the next function.

Actually, efi_boot_kernel()'s last instruction is "jirl $ra, $a3, 0", it
is a call to a noreturn function pointer real_kernel_entry() which points
to the symbol kernel_entry() in arch/loongarch/kernel/head.S.

drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c:

typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
					  unsigned long systab);

efi_status_t efi_boot_kernel(void *handle, efi_loaded_image_t *image,
			     unsigned long kernel_addr, char *cmdline_ptr)
{
	kernel_entry_t real_kernel_entry;
	...
	real_kernel_entry = (void *)kernel_entry_address(kernel_addr, image);

	real_kernel_entry(true, (unsigned long)cmdline_ptr,
			  (unsigned long)efi_system_table);
}

According to the description of tools/objtool/Documentation/objtool.txt,
in order to silence this warning, at the beginning just add the noreturn
real_kernel_entry() to objtool's hard-coded global_noreturns array, but
there is no effect, because it is not a valid symbol.

There exists an alternative way to silence this warning, the first thing
is to remove the attribute __noreturn for real_kernel_entry(), otherwise
the compiler can not generate instructions after that, and then just add
"while (1);" at the end of efi_boot_kernel(), so that efi_boot_kernel()
ends with an unconditional jump instruction "b".

Note that at the end of efi_boot_kernel(), using unreachable() has no
effect because it can still generate fall-through code, using BUG() is
not proper because it will generate the following ld.lld warning:

  vmlinux.o:(.init__bug_table) is being placed in '.init__bug_table'

Signed-off-by: Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn>
---
 drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c | 5 ++++-
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
index 3782d0a187d1..e309fd78fca7 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
+++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #include "efistub.h"
 #include "loongarch-stub.h"
 
-typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
+typedef void (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
 					  unsigned long systab);
 
 efi_status_t check_platform_features(void)
@@ -81,4 +81,7 @@ efi_status_t efi_boot_kernel(void *handle, efi_loaded_image_t *image,
 
 	real_kernel_entry(true, (unsigned long)cmdline_ptr,
 			  (unsigned long)efi_system_table);
+
+	/* We should never get here */
+	while (1);
 }
-- 
2.42.0
Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Huacai Chen 1 month, 1 week ago
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
>
> When compiling with LLVM and CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is set, there exists
> the following objtool warning:
>
>   vmlinux.o: warning: objtool: __efistub_efi_boot_kernel()
>   falls through to next function __efistub_exit_boot_func()
>
> This is because efi_boot_kernel() doesn't end with a return instruction
> or an unconditional jump, then objtool has determined that the function
> can fall through into the next function.
>
> Actually, efi_boot_kernel()'s last instruction is "jirl $ra, $a3, 0", it
> is a call to a noreturn function pointer real_kernel_entry() which points
> to the symbol kernel_entry() in arch/loongarch/kernel/head.S.
>
> drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c:
>
> typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
>                                           unsigned long systab);
>
> efi_status_t efi_boot_kernel(void *handle, efi_loaded_image_t *image,
>                              unsigned long kernel_addr, char *cmdline_ptr)
> {
>         kernel_entry_t real_kernel_entry;
>         ...
>         real_kernel_entry = (void *)kernel_entry_address(kernel_addr, image);
>
>         real_kernel_entry(true, (unsigned long)cmdline_ptr,
>                           (unsigned long)efi_system_table);
> }
>
> According to the description of tools/objtool/Documentation/objtool.txt,
> in order to silence this warning, at the beginning just add the noreturn
> real_kernel_entry() to objtool's hard-coded global_noreturns array, but
> there is no effect, because it is not a valid symbol.
>
> There exists an alternative way to silence this warning, the first thing
> is to remove the attribute __noreturn for real_kernel_entry(), otherwise
> the compiler can not generate instructions after that, and then just add
> "while (1);" at the end of efi_boot_kernel(), so that efi_boot_kernel()
> ends with an unconditional jump instruction "b".
>
> Note that at the end of efi_boot_kernel(), using unreachable() has no
> effect because it can still generate fall-through code, using BUG() is
> not proper because it will generate the following ld.lld warning:
>
>   vmlinux.o:(.init__bug_table) is being placed in '.init__bug_table'
>
> Signed-off-by: Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn>
> ---
>  drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c | 5 ++++-
>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
> index 3782d0a187d1..e309fd78fca7 100644
> --- a/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
> +++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/loongarch.c
> @@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
>  #include "efistub.h"
>  #include "loongarch-stub.h"
>
> -typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
> +typedef void (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
>                                           unsigned long systab);
From my point of view this is incorrect, this function is indeed a
noreturn function, and this modification makes LoongArch different to
other architectures.

Maybe it is better to let objtool ignore the whole
drivers/firmware/efi/libstub directory. Because efistub is discarded
at runtime so it is useless for stack unwinder.

Huacai

>
>  efi_status_t check_platform_features(void)
> @@ -81,4 +81,7 @@ efi_status_t efi_boot_kernel(void *handle, efi_loaded_image_t *image,
>
>         real_kernel_entry(true, (unsigned long)cmdline_ptr,
>                           (unsigned long)efi_system_table);
> +
> +       /* We should never get here */
> +       while (1);
>  }
> --
> 2.42.0
>
Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Tiezhu Yang 1 month, 1 week ago
On 2025/8/26 下午4:32, Huacai Chen wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
>>
>> When compiling with LLVM and CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is set, there exists
>> the following objtool warning:
>>
>>    vmlinux.o: warning: objtool: __efistub_efi_boot_kernel()
>>    falls through to next function __efistub_exit_boot_func()

...

>> -typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
>> +typedef void (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
>>                                            unsigned long systab);
>  From my point of view this is incorrect, this function is indeed a
> noreturn function, and this modification makes LoongArch different to
> other architectures.
> 
> Maybe it is better to let objtool ignore the whole
> drivers/firmware/efi/libstub directory. Because efistub is discarded
> at runtime so it is useless for stack unwinder.

I tested the following change but there is no effect, the objtool
warning still exists, this is because OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD
does not work for link time validation of vmlinux.o according to
tools/objtool/Documentation/objtool.txt.

diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile b/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
index 8efbcf699e4f..f1fff48eea76 100644
--- a/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
+++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
  #
  KASAN_SANITIZE_runtime-wrappers.o      := n

+OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD              := y
+
  obj-$(CONFIG_ACPI_BGRT)                += efi-bgrt.o
  obj-$(CONFIG_EFI)                      += efi.o vars.o reboot.o 
memattr.o tpm.o
  obj-$(CONFIG_EFI)                      += memmap.o

Thanks,
Tiezhu

Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Huacai Chen 1 month, 1 week ago
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
>
> On 2025/8/26 下午4:32, Huacai Chen wrote:
> > On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
> >>
> >> When compiling with LLVM and CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is set, there exists
> >> the following objtool warning:
> >>
> >>    vmlinux.o: warning: objtool: __efistub_efi_boot_kernel()
> >>    falls through to next function __efistub_exit_boot_func()
>
> ...
>
> >> -typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
> >> +typedef void (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
> >>                                            unsigned long systab);
> >  From my point of view this is incorrect, this function is indeed a
> > noreturn function, and this modification makes LoongArch different to
> > other architectures.
> >
> > Maybe it is better to let objtool ignore the whole
> > drivers/firmware/efi/libstub directory. Because efistub is discarded
> > at runtime so it is useless for stack unwinder.
>
> I tested the following change but there is no effect, the objtool
> warning still exists, this is because OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD
> does not work for link time validation of vmlinux.o according to
> tools/objtool/Documentation/objtool.txt.
Then I think objtool needs to be improved to handle this case, this
problem is not arch specific.

Huacai

>
> diff --git a/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile b/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
> index 8efbcf699e4f..f1fff48eea76 100644
> --- a/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
> +++ b/drivers/firmware/efi/Makefile
> @@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
>   #
>   KASAN_SANITIZE_runtime-wrappers.o      := n
>
> +OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD              := y
> +
>   obj-$(CONFIG_ACPI_BGRT)                += efi-bgrt.o
>   obj-$(CONFIG_EFI)                      += efi.o vars.o reboot.o
> memattr.o tpm.o
>   obj-$(CONFIG_EFI)                      += memmap.o
>
> Thanks,
> Tiezhu
>
>
Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Josh Poimboeuf 1 month, 1 week ago
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 09:03:34PM +0800, Huacai Chen wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 8:33 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
> >
> > On 2025/8/26 下午4:32, Huacai Chen wrote:
> > > On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 2:46 PM Tiezhu Yang <yangtiezhu@loongson.cn> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> When compiling with LLVM and CONFIG_LTO_CLANG is set, there exists
> > >> the following objtool warning:
> > >>
> > >>    vmlinux.o: warning: objtool: __efistub_efi_boot_kernel()
> > >>    falls through to next function __efistub_exit_boot_func()
> >
> > ...
> >
> > >> -typedef void __noreturn (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
> > >> +typedef void (*kernel_entry_t)(bool efi, unsigned long cmdline,
> > >>                                            unsigned long systab);
> > >  From my point of view this is incorrect, this function is indeed a
> > > noreturn function, and this modification makes LoongArch different to
> > > other architectures.
> > >
> > > Maybe it is better to let objtool ignore the whole
> > > drivers/firmware/efi/libstub directory. Because efistub is discarded
> > > at runtime so it is useless for stack unwinder.
> >
> > I tested the following change but there is no effect, the objtool
> > warning still exists, this is because OBJECT_FILES_NON_STANDARD
> > does not work for link time validation of vmlinux.o according to
> > tools/objtool/Documentation/objtool.txt.
> Then I think objtool needs to be improved to handle this case, this
> problem is not arch specific.

Yeah, objtool should really be ignoring this code altogether.  On x86,
that's not a problem because the EFI stub code isn't linked into
vmlinux.o.  It gets linked in separately:

  $ git grep vmlinux-libs
  arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:vmlinux-libs-$(CONFIG_EFI_STUB) += $(objtree)/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/lib.a
  arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:vmlinux-libs-$(CONFIG_X86_64) += $(objtree)/arch/x86/boot/startup/lib.a
  arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:$(obj)/vmlinux: $(vmlinux-objs-y) $(vmlinux-libs-y) FORCE

IMO, the proper fix is to change the loongarch build to do the same.
vmlinux.o is intended to be proper kernel code.

-- 
Josh
Re: [RFC PATCH 1/2] objtool/LoongArch: Fix fall through warning about efi_boot_kernel()
Posted by Tiezhu Yang 1 month ago
On 2025/8/27 上午7:39, Josh Poimboeuf wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 09:03:34PM +0800, Huacai Chen wrote:

...

>> Then I think objtool needs to be improved to handle this case, this
>> problem is not arch specific.
> 
> Yeah, objtool should really be ignoring this code altogether.  On x86,
> that's not a problem because the EFI stub code isn't linked into
> vmlinux.o.  It gets linked in separately:
> 
>    $ git grep vmlinux-libs
>    arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:vmlinux-libs-$(CONFIG_EFI_STUB) += $(objtree)/drivers/firmware/efi/libstub/lib.a
>    arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:vmlinux-libs-$(CONFIG_X86_64) += $(objtree)/arch/x86/boot/startup/lib.a
>    arch/x86/boot/compressed/Makefile:$(obj)/vmlinux: $(vmlinux-objs-y) $(vmlinux-libs-y) FORCE
> 
> IMO, the proper fix is to change the loongarch build to do the same.
> vmlinux.o is intended to be proper kernel code.

Thank you very much, that is to say, these EFISTUB functions can be
ignored by objtool, I will do it.

Thanks,
Tiezhu