[PATCH 09/11] coredump: frame the coredump when COREDUMP_HEADER is negotiated
From: Christian Brauner
Date: Tue Aug 11 2026 - 11:35:13 EST
When the coredump server raises COREDUMP_HEADER every write to the
socket is prefixed with a struct coredump_frame_header in front of it
describing what follows. A header and the bytes it describes go out in
one iovec.
Both emitters write through one helper that either writes the whole
iov_iter or fails. So a single place advances the file position.
cprm->pos stays the offset in the coredump and keeps ignoring the
framing overhead. dump_skip_to() and dump_align() compute from
it. cprm->written counts what was handed to the file and so picks the
headers up. The two are the same number when the coredump isn't framed.
A hole is flushed through __dump_emit() like before. So zeroes still are
sent on the socket as actual data frames. Making holes cheap is
COREDUMP_SPARSE's job.
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/coredump.c | 114 ++++++++++++++++-----
include/linux/coredump.h | 5 +
.../selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c | 2 +-
3 files changed, 94 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/coredump.c b/fs/coredump.c
index 6de18bc49925..364c89c5f82a 100644
--- a/fs/coredump.c
+++ b/fs/coredump.c
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@
#include <net/sock.h>
#include <uapi/linux/pidfd.h>
#include <uapi/linux/un.h>
-#include <uapi/linux/coredump.h>
#include <linux/uaccess.h>
#include <asm/mmu_context.h>
@@ -753,6 +752,7 @@ static inline bool coredump_sock_send(struct file *file, struct coredump_req *re
static_assert(sizeof(struct coredump_req) == COREDUMP_REQ_SIZE_VER0);
static_assert(sizeof(struct coredump_ack) == COREDUMP_ACK_SIZE_VER0);
+static_assert(sizeof(struct coredump_frame_header) == COREDUMP_FRAME_HEADER_SIZE_VER0);
static_assert(sizeof(enum coredump_mark) == sizeof(__u32));
static inline bool coredump_sock_mark(struct file *file, enum coredump_mark mark)
@@ -798,7 +798,8 @@ static bool coredump_sock_request(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *
struct coredump_req req = {
.size = sizeof(struct coredump_req),
.mask = COREDUMP_KERNEL | COREDUMP_USERSPACE |
- COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT,
+ COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT |
+ COREDUMP_HEADER,
.size_ack = sizeof(struct coredump_ack),
};
struct coredump_ack ack = {};
@@ -847,11 +848,24 @@ static bool coredump_sock_request(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *
return false;
}
+ /* Framing only applies to a coredump the kernel writes. */
+ if ((ack.mask & COREDUMP_HEADER) && !(ack.mask & COREDUMP_KERNEL)) {
+ coredump_sock_mark(cprm->file, COREDUMP_MARK_CONFLICTING);
+ return false;
+ }
+
if (ack.spare) {
coredump_sock_mark(cprm->file, COREDUMP_MARK_UNSUPPORTED);
return false;
}
+ /* Frame header scratch; a bvec can't point at the stack. */
+ if (ack.mask & COREDUMP_HEADER) {
+ cprm->frame = kmalloc_obj(*cprm->frame);
+ if (!cprm->frame)
+ return false;
+ }
+
cprm->mask = ack.mask;
return coredump_sock_mark(cprm->file, COREDUMP_MARK_REQACK);
}
@@ -1053,9 +1067,10 @@ static bool coredump_write(struct core_name *cn,
cn->core_dumped = binfmt->core_dump(cprm);
/*
* Ensures that file size is big enough to contain the current
- * file postion. This prevents gdb from complaining about
+ * file position. This prevents gdb from complaining about
* a truncated file if the last "write" to the file was
- * dump_skip.
+ * dump_skip. A framed coredump relies on it too: the flush
+ * emits the frames that cover a trailing hole.
*/
if (cprm->to_skip) {
cprm->to_skip--;
@@ -1075,6 +1090,7 @@ static void coredump_cleanup(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *cprm)
atomic_dec(&core_pipe_count);
}
kfree(cn->corename);
+ kfree(cprm->frame);
coredump_finish(cn->core_dumped);
}
@@ -1208,24 +1224,72 @@ void vfs_coredump(const kernel_siginfo_t *siginfo)
* do on a core-file: use only these functions to write out all the
* necessary info.
*/
-static int __dump_emit(struct coredump_params *cprm, const void *addr, int nr)
+static bool dump_framed(const struct coredump_params *cprm)
+{
+ return cprm->mask & COREDUMP_HEADER;
+}
+
+/* Describe the next @len bytes of the coredump. Returns the header size. */
+static size_t dump_frame_init(struct coredump_params *cprm,
+ enum coredump_frame_type type, u64 len)
+{
+ if (!dump_framed(cprm))
+ return 0;
+
+ *cprm->frame = (struct coredump_frame_header) {
+ .size = sizeof(*cprm->frame),
+ .type = type,
+ .offset = cprm->pos,
+ .len = len,
+ };
+
+ return sizeof(*cprm->frame);
+}
+
+/* Write @iter whole or fail. @len is what it advances the coredump by. */
+static bool dump_write_iter(struct coredump_params *cprm, struct iov_iter *iter,
+ size_t len)
{
struct file *file = cprm->file;
+ size_t count = iov_iter_count(iter);
loff_t pos = file->f_pos;
ssize_t n;
+ n = __kernel_write_iter(file, iter, &pos);
+ if (n < 0 || (size_t)n != count)
+ return false;
+ file->f_pos = pos;
+ cprm->written += count;
+ cprm->pos += len;
+
+ return true;
+}
+
+static int __dump_emit(struct coredump_params *cprm, const void *addr, int nr)
+{
+ struct kvec kvec[2];
+ struct iov_iter iter;
+ unsigned int nseg = 0;
+ size_t hdr;
+
if (cprm->written + nr > cprm->limit)
return 0;
if (dump_interrupted())
return 0;
- n = __kernel_write(file, addr, nr, &pos);
- if (n != nr)
- return 0;
- file->f_pos = pos;
- cprm->written += n;
- cprm->pos += n;
- return 1;
+ hdr = dump_frame_init(cprm, COREDUMP_FRAME_DATA, nr);
+ if (hdr) {
+ kvec[nseg].iov_base = cprm->frame;
+ kvec[nseg].iov_len = hdr;
+ nseg++;
+ }
+ kvec[nseg].iov_base = (void *)addr;
+ kvec[nseg].iov_len = nr;
+ nseg++;
+
+ iov_iter_kvec(&iter, ITER_SOURCE, kvec, nseg, hdr + nr);
+
+ return dump_write_iter(cprm, &iter, nr);
}
static int __dump_skip(struct coredump_params *cprm, size_t nr)
@@ -1283,11 +1347,10 @@ EXPORT_SYMBOL(dump_skip);
#ifdef CONFIG_ELF_CORE
static int dump_emit_page(struct coredump_params *cprm, struct page *page)
{
- struct bio_vec bvec;
+ struct bio_vec bvec[2];
struct iov_iter iter;
- struct file *file = cprm->file;
- loff_t pos;
- ssize_t n;
+ unsigned int nseg = 0;
+ size_t hdr;
if (!page)
return 0;
@@ -1298,17 +1361,16 @@ static int dump_emit_page(struct coredump_params *cprm, struct page *page)
return 0;
if (dump_interrupted())
return 0;
- pos = file->f_pos;
- bvec_set_page(&bvec, page, PAGE_SIZE, 0);
- iov_iter_bvec(&iter, ITER_SOURCE, &bvec, 1, PAGE_SIZE);
- n = __kernel_write_iter(cprm->file, &iter, &pos);
- if (n != PAGE_SIZE)
- return 0;
- file->f_pos = pos;
- cprm->written += PAGE_SIZE;
- cprm->pos += PAGE_SIZE;
- return 1;
+ /* Hand the frame to the same write as the page it describes. */
+ hdr = dump_frame_init(cprm, COREDUMP_FRAME_DATA, PAGE_SIZE);
+ if (hdr)
+ bvec_set_virt(&bvec[nseg++], cprm->frame, hdr);
+ bvec_set_page(&bvec[nseg++], page, PAGE_SIZE, 0);
+
+ iov_iter_bvec(&iter, ITER_SOURCE, bvec, nseg, hdr + PAGE_SIZE);
+
+ return dump_write_iter(cprm, &iter, PAGE_SIZE);
}
/*
diff --git a/include/linux/coredump.h b/include/linux/coredump.h
index dc7a05b1bb0a..06ccd3046a06 100644
--- a/include/linux/coredump.h
+++ b/include/linux/coredump.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
#include <linux/mm.h>
#include <linux/fs.h>
#include <linux/sched/coredump.h>
+#include <uapi/linux/coredump.h>
#include <asm/siginfo.h>
#ifdef CONFIG_COREDUMP
@@ -28,7 +29,11 @@ struct coredump_params {
int cpu;
/* COREDUMP_* options negotiated with the coredump server. */
u64 mask;
+ /* Frame header scratch, NULL unless the coredump is framed. */
+ struct coredump_frame_header *frame;
+ /* Bytes handed to the file, frame headers included. */
loff_t written;
+ /* Offset in the coredump, frame headers excluded. */
loff_t pos;
loff_t to_skip;
int vma_count;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c b/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
index d32d96436779..bfe10bc51618 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ bool send_coredump_ack(int fd, const struct coredump_req *req,
/* Every option the kernel is expected to advertise in coredump_req->mask. */
#define COREDUMP_REQ_MASK_ALL \
(COREDUMP_KERNEL | COREDUMP_USERSPACE | \
- COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT)
+ COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT | COREDUMP_HEADER)
bool check_coredump_req(const struct coredump_req *req)
{
--
2.53.0