[PATCH v4] perf: Fix off-by-one stack buffer overflow in kallsyms__parse()
From: Rui Qi
Date: Thu May 28 2026 - 02:24:35 EST
In kallsyms__parse(), the loop reading symbol names iterates with
i < sizeof(symbol_name), which allows i to reach sizeof(symbol_name)
upon loop exit. The subsequent symbol_name[i] = '\0' then writes one
byte past the end of the stack-allocated symbol_name[] array.
Fix this by changing the loop bound to KSYM_NAME_LEN, so
the null terminator always lands within the array. The overflow is
triggerable by a kallsyms entry with a symbol name of KSYM_NAME_LEN+1
or more characters (e.g., long Rust mangled names or a malicious
/proc/kallsyms).
Fixes: 53df2b934412 ("libsymbols kallsyms: Parse using io api")
Signed-off-by: Rui Qi <qirui.001@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
Changes in v4:
- Use KSYM_NAME_LEN for the loop bound as well, as suggested by Namhyung.
Changes in v3:
- Use KSYM_NAME_LEN instead of sizeof(symbol_name) - 1 for the
overflow check, as suggested by Namhyung.
Changes in v2:
- Added read_to_eol(&io) when a symbol name exceeds the buffer size,
preventing remaining characters from being parsed as the next symbol entry.
- Added Fixes tag.
---
tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c | 5 ++++-
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c b/tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c
index e335ac2b9e19..d64bd9cc82a9 100644
--- a/tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c
+++ b/tools/lib/symbol/kallsyms.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ int kallsyms__parse(const char *filename, void *arg,
read_to_eol(&io);
continue;
}
- for (i = 0; i < sizeof(symbol_name); i++) {
+ for (i = 0; i < KSYM_NAME_LEN; i++) {
ch = io__get_char(&io);
if (ch < 0 || ch == '\n')
break;
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ int kallsyms__parse(const char *filename, void *arg,
}
symbol_name[i] = '\0';
+ if (i == KSYM_NAME_LEN)
+ read_to_eol(&io);
+
err = process_symbol(arg, symbol_name, symbol_type, start);
if (err)
break;
--
2.20.1