Re: [PATCH v2 2/2] perf trace: Refactor augmented_raw_syscalls using bpf_for

[Viktor Malik]

On 7/4/26 01:50, Namhyung Kim wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 03, 2026 at 12:32:15PM +0200, Viktor Malik wrote:
>> The loop for processing syscall args in augment_raw_syscalls has a
>> history of breaking with Clang updates, see e.g. commit 013eb043f37b
>> ("perf trace: Fix BPF loading failure (-E2BIG)") from Clang 15 to 16.
>>
>> Now, a similar thing happened between Clang 21 and 22. While the issue
>> is mitigated on the main line by a recent verifier update, it remains
>> broken on the 6.12 and 6.18 stable branches:
>>
>>     [linux-6.18.y]# sudo perf trace true
>>     libbpf: prog 'sys_enter': BPF program load failed: -E2BIG
>>     libbpf: prog 'sys_enter': -- BEGIN PROG LOAD LOG --
>>     [...]
>>     BPF program is too large. Processed 1000001 insn
>>     processed 1000001 insns (limit 1000000) max_states_per_insn 40 total_states 37941 peak_states 232 mark_read 0
>>     -- END PROG LOAD LOG --
>>     libbpf: prog 'sys_enter': failed to load: -E2BIG
>>     libbpf: failed to load object 'augmented_raw_syscalls_bpf'
>>     libbpf: failed to load BPF skeleton 'augmented_raw_syscalls_bpf': -E2BIG
>>     Error: failed to get syscall or beauty map fd
>>     [...]
>>
>> The reason is that the loop is quite complex and the BPF verifier often
>> struggles to prove that it terminates.
>>
>> Fix the issue by replacing the standard for loop by the bpf_for macro,
>> which uses numeric BPF iterator. This should prevent future breakages of
>> this kind since the verifier has much easier job proving that the loop
>> terminates.
>>
>> Small adjustments were necessary for the loop to make it work.  The main
>> problem is that the verifier has sometimes problems with bpf_for loops
>> that use a carry-over state, such as the `payload_offset` and `output`
>> vars here, since the verifier tries to track their values too precisely
>> and cannot prove loop convergence. To resolve the issue, we (1)
>> explicitly recompute `payload_offset` in every iteration and (2) use a
>> trick with adding a global zero to `output` to help verifier forget its
>> precise state and use a range instead.
>>
>> In exchange, this also allows to drop a few artificial checks to help
>> the verifier, including the changes introduced by 013eb043f37b.
>>
>> Finally, to keep backwards compatibility with older kernel versions
>> which do not have bpf_for (i.e. numeric iterators), fall back to
>> standard for loop in such a case.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Viktor Malik <vmalik@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> Suggested-by: Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> Fixes: a68fd6a6cdd3 ("perf trace: Collect augmented data using BPF")
>> Fixes: 013eb043f37b ("perf trace: Fix BPF loading failure (-E2BIG)")
>> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> ---
>>  .../bpf_skel/augmented_raw_syscalls.bpf.c     | 54 +++++++++++++------
>>  1 file changed, 39 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/tools/perf/util/bpf_skel/augmented_raw_syscalls.bpf.c b/tools/perf/util/bpf_skel/augmented_raw_syscalls.bpf.c
>> index cbdd5ce19a2f..60babc06f381 100644
>> --- a/tools/perf/util/bpf_skel/augmented_raw_syscalls.bpf.c
>> +++ b/tools/perf/util/bpf_skel/augmented_raw_syscalls.bpf.c
>> @@ -429,6 +429,8 @@ static bool pid_filter__has(struct pids_filtered *pids, pid_t pid)
>>  	return bpf_map_lookup_elem(pids, &pid) != NULL;
>>  }
>>  
>> +u64 ZERO = 0;
>> +
>>  /*
>>   * Determine what type of argument and how many bytes to read from user space, using the
>>   * value in the beauty_map. This is the relation of parameter type and its corresponding
>> @@ -439,12 +441,13 @@ static bool pid_filter__has(struct pids_filtered *pids, pid_t pid)
>>   * buffer: -1 * (index of paired len) -> value of paired len (maximum: TRACE_AUG_MAX_BUF)
>>   */
>>  static inline int augment_arg(struct syscall_enter_args *args, int i,
>> -			      unsigned int *beauty_map, void *payload_offset)
>> +			      unsigned int *beauty_map,
>> +			      struct beauty_payload_enter *payload, u64 offset)
>>  {
>>  	int index, value_size = sizeof(struct augmented_arg) - offsetof(struct augmented_arg, value);
>>  	s64 aug_size, size;
>>  	bool augmented;
>> -	void *arg;
>> +	void *arg, *payload_offset;
>>  
>>  	arg = (void *)args->args[i];
>>  	augmented = false;
>> @@ -454,6 +457,12 @@ static inline int augment_arg(struct syscall_enter_args *args, int i,
>>  	if (size == 0 || arg == NULL)
>>  		return 0;
>>  
>> +	/* bounds check for the verifier */
>> +	if (offset > sizeof(payload->aug_args) - sizeof(payload->aug_args[0]))
>> +		return -1;
>> +	barrier_var(offset);
>> +	payload_offset = (void *)&payload->aug_args + offset;
>> +
>>  	if (size == 1) { /* string */
>>  		aug_size = bpf_probe_read_user_str(((struct augmented_arg *)payload_offset)->value, value_size, arg);
>>  		/* minimum of 0 to pass the verifier */
>> @@ -464,11 +473,13 @@ static inline int augment_arg(struct syscall_enter_args *args, int i,
>>  	} else if (size > 0 && size <= value_size) { /* struct */
>>  		if (!bpf_probe_read_user(((struct augmented_arg *)payload_offset)->value, size, arg))
>>  			augmented = true;
>> -	} else if ((int)size < 0 && size >= -6) { /* buffer */
>> +	} else if (size < 0 && size >= -6) { /* buffer */
>>  		index = -(size + 1);
>>  		barrier_var(index); // Prevent clang (noticed with v18) from removing the &= 7 trick.
>>  		index &= 7;	    // Satisfy the bounds checking with the verifier in some kernels.
>> -		aug_size = args->args[index] > TRACE_AUG_MAX_BUF ? TRACE_AUG_MAX_BUF : args->args[index];
>> +		aug_size = args->args[index];
>> +		if (aug_size > TRACE_AUG_MAX_BUF)
>> +			aug_size = TRACE_AUG_MAX_BUF;
>>  
>>  		if (aug_size > 0) {
>>  			if (!bpf_probe_read_user(((struct augmented_arg *)payload_offset)->value, aug_size, arg))
>> @@ -497,11 +508,10 @@ static inline int augment_arg(struct syscall_enter_args *args, int i,
>>  static int augment_sys_enter(void *ctx, struct syscall_enter_args *args)
>>  {
>>  	bool do_output = false;
>> -	int zero = 0, written;
>> +	int i, zero = 0, written;
>>  	u64 output = 0; /* has to be u64, otherwise it won't pass the verifier */
>>  	unsigned int nr, *beauty_map;
>>  	struct beauty_payload_enter *payload;
>> -	void *payload_offset;
>>  
>>  	/* fall back to do predefined tail call */
>>  	if (args == NULL)
>> @@ -513,7 +523,6 @@ static int augment_sys_enter(void *ctx, struct syscall_enter_args *args)
>>  
>>  	/* set up payload for output */
>>  	payload        = bpf_map_lookup_elem(&beauty_payload_enter_map, &zero);
>> -	payload_offset = (void *)&payload->aug_args;
>>  
>>  	if (beauty_map == NULL || payload == NULL)
>>  		return 1;
>> @@ -521,14 +530,29 @@ static int augment_sys_enter(void *ctx, struct syscall_enter_args *args)
>>  	/* copy the sys_enter header, which has the syscall_nr */
>>  	__builtin_memcpy(&payload->args, args, sizeof(struct syscall_enter_args));
>>  
>> -	for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
>> -		written = augment_arg(args, i, beauty_map, payload_offset);
>> -		if (written < 0)
>> -			return 1;
>> -		if (written > 0) {
>> -			output += written;
>> -			payload_offset += written;
>> -			do_output = true;
>> +	if (bpf_ksym_exists(bpf_iter_num_new)) {
>> +		bpf_for(i, 0, 6) {
>> +			written = augment_arg(args, i, beauty_map, payload, output);
>> +			if (written < 0)
>> +				return 1;
>> +			if (written > 0) {
>> +				output += written;
>> +				/* guide the verifier to forget range of `output`, which
>> +				 * helps to prove convergence of the loop
>> +				 */
>> +				output += ZERO;
>> +				do_output = true;
>> +			}
>> +		}
>> +	} else {
>> +		for (i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
>> +			written = augment_arg(args, i, beauty_map, payload, output);
>> +			if (written < 0)
>> +				return 1;
>> +			if (written > 0) {
>> +				output += written;
> 
> Woundn't it also need '+= ZERO' here?

IMHO no, the verification of standard loops doesn't suffer from the same
problem as the verification of bpf_for.

Viktor

> 
> Thanks,
> Namhyung
> 
> 
>> +				do_output = true;
>> +			}
>>  		}
>>  	}
>>  
>> -- 
>> 2.54.0
>>
>