[PATCH bpf-next v3] bpf: reject overlarge global subprog argument sizes

From: Taegu Ha

Date: Thu May 28 2026 - 02:22:27 EST


Global subprogram argument checking derives generic pointer sizes from BTF
and passes the resolved size to check_mem_reg() as a u32. The access-size
validation path then uses a signed int, and stack pointers negate the value
before calling check_helper_mem_access().

This creates a wrap when BTF describes a pointee size larger than S32_MAX.
For example, a global subprogram argument of type:

int (*p)[0x3fffffff]

has a BTF-resolved pointee size of 0xfffffffc bytes. At a call site the
caller can pass a pointer to a 4-byte stack slot at fp-4. The current
PTR_TO_STACK path computes:

size = -(int)mem_size

so 0xfffffffc becomes -4 as a signed int and the negation validates only
a 4-byte stack range. That range is covered by the caller's stack slot,
so the call is accepted.

The callee is then verified independently with R1 as PTR_TO_MEM and
mem_size 0xfffffffc. A small instruction such as:

r0 = *(u32 *)(r1 + 4)

is accepted as being inside that BTF-described memory region. At run time,
however, the actual argument value is still fp-4, so r1 + 4 addresses fp+0,
outside the 4-byte object that the caller provided.

Reject sizes that cannot be represented by the verifier's signed
access-size API before the stack-specific negation. Add a verifier
regression test for the oversized BTF argument.

Fixes: 2cb27158adb3 ("bpf: poison dead stack slots")
Signed-off-by: Taegu Ha <hataegu0826@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v3:
- Fix bpf-next build by using reg_arg_name(env, argno) in
check_mem_reg(); v2 referenced a stale regno parameter name.
- Keep the existing known-NULL fast path before the overlarge-size guard.
- Send as a single bpf-next patch without a cover letter.

v2:
- Expanded the commit message with the BTF-derived size wrap details.
- Kept the verifier fix to a mem_size > S32_MAX guard.

kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 6 ++++++
.../bpf/progs/verifier_global_subprogs.c | 17 +++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 23 insertions(+)

diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index c8d980fdd709..3a270bc485c2 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -6927,6 +6927,12 @@ static int check_mem_reg(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_reg_state *reg
if (bpf_register_is_null(reg))
return 0;

+ if (mem_size > S32_MAX) {
+ verbose(env, "%s memory size %u is too large\n",
+ reg_arg_name(env, argno), mem_size);
+ return -EACCES;
+ }
+
/* Assuming that the register contains a value check if the memory
* access is safe. Temporarily save and restore the register's state as
* the conversion shouldn't be visible to a caller.
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_global_subprogs.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_global_subprogs.c
index dc09d0e2d8ad..75a2e3f48d0f 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_global_subprogs.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_global_subprogs.c
@@ -152,6 +152,23 @@ int anon_user_mem_valid(void *ctx)
return subprog_user_anon_mem(&t);
}

+__noinline __weak int subprog_user_anon_mem_huge(int (*p)[0x3fffffff])
+{
+ return p ? (*p)[1] : 0;
+}
+
+SEC("?tracepoint")
+__failure __log_level(2)
+__msg("R1 memory size 4294967292 is too large")
+int anon_user_mem_huge_size_invalid(void *ctx)
+{
+ int (*p)[0x3fffffff];
+ int tiny = 42;
+
+ p = (void *)&tiny;
+ return subprog_user_anon_mem_huge(p) + tiny;
+}
+
__noinline __weak int subprog_nonnull_ptr_good(int *p1 __arg_nonnull, int *p2 __arg_nonnull)
{
return (*p1) * (*p2); /* good, no need for NULL checks */
--
2.43.0