[PATCH v2] bpf: fix NULL pointer dereference in print_reg_state()

From: Brahmajit Das

Date: Tue Sep 23 2025 - 13:47:59 EST


Syzkaller reported a general protection fault due to a NULL pointer
dereference in print_reg_state() when accessing reg->map_ptr without
checking if it is NULL.

The existing code assumes reg->map_ptr is always valid before
dereferencing reg->map_ptr->name, reg->map_ptr->key_size, and
reg->map_ptr->value_size.

Fix this by adding explicit NULL checks before accessing reg->map_ptr
and its members. This prevents crashes when reg->map_ptr is NULL,
improving the robustness of the BPF verifier's verbose logging.

Reported-by: syzbot+d36d5ae81e1b0a53ef58@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Brahmajit Das <listout@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/bpf/log.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/log.c b/kernel/bpf/log.c
index f50533169cc3..5ffb8d778b92 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/log.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/log.c
@@ -704,7 +704,7 @@ static void print_reg_state(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
verbose_a("ref_obj_id=%d", reg->ref_obj_id);
if (type_is_non_owning_ref(reg->type))
verbose_a("%s", "non_own_ref");
- if (type_is_map_ptr(t)) {
+ if (type_is_map_ptr(t) && reg->map_ptr) {
if (reg->map_ptr->name[0])
verbose_a("map=%s", reg->map_ptr->name);
verbose_a("ks=%d,vs=%d",
--
2.51.0