[PATCH bpf-next v2 08/13] selftests/bpf: cover the low-32 link for sign-extending movs

From: Vineet Gupta

Date: Thu Sep 10 2026 - 12:58:00 EST


Five programs, mirroring the zero-extending set:

- sext_mov_wide_src: narrowing the source reaches the destination, and
the value that arrives is sign-extended rather than zero-extended
- sext_self_mov_keeps_link: r0 = (s32)r0 on an already-linked register
stays in its set, the shape a sign-extended int return takes
- sext_self_mov_no_link: the same mov on an unlinked register mints no id
- sext_no_sync_when_base_has_delta: a delta on the base stops propagation
- sext_no_sync_from_subreg_base: narrowing the link does not run
backwards into the rest of the set
- sext_kinds_reach_different_values: the same low half reaches -1 through
a sign extension and 0xffffffff through a zero extension

Each guards a div by zero that is only unreachable if the propagation
happened, so losing the link is a verification failure rather than a test
that quietly stops checking anything.

The sign-extending mov is cpuv4, so the block needs a feature gate.
CAN_USE_MOVSX follows CAN_USE_GOTOL: the arch list, then clang 18 or
__BPF_FEATURE_MOVSX, so bpf-gcc gets the coverage too.

Signed-off-by: Vineet Gupta <vineet.gupta@xxxxxxxxx>
---
v2: was RFC 6/6.
- fixed the backwards guard sashiko reported
- CAN_USE_MOVSX so bpf-gcc builds these too
- renamed as in 4/13

tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/bpf_misc.h | 8 +
.../bpf/progs/verifier_linked_scalars.c | 165 ++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 173 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/bpf_misc.h b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/bpf_misc.h
index eb88d9ce6c34..45bfa02a5338 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/bpf_misc.h
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/bpf_misc.h
@@ -269,6 +269,14 @@
#define CAN_USE_BPF_ST
#endif

+#if (defined(__TARGET_ARCH_arm64) || defined(__TARGET_ARCH_x86) || \
+ (defined(__TARGET_ARCH_riscv) && __riscv_xlen == 64) || \
+ defined(__TARGET_ARCH_arm) || defined(__TARGET_ARCH_s390) || \
+ defined(__TARGET_ARCH_loongarch)) && \
+ (__clang_major__ >= 18 || defined(__BPF_FEATURE_MOVSX))
+#define CAN_USE_MOVSX
+#endif
+
#if __clang_major__ >= 18 && defined(ENABLE_ATOMICS_TESTS) && \
(defined(__TARGET_ARCH_arm64) || \
defined(__TARGET_ARCH_x86) || \
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_linked_scalars.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_linked_scalars.c
index 65cb0efd268f..9d060d8b0c1f 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_linked_scalars.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_linked_scalars.c
@@ -966,4 +966,169 @@ __naked void zext_mov_breaks_add_const_src(void)
: __clobber_all);
}

+#ifdef CAN_USE_MOVSX
+
+/*
+ * A 32-bit sign extension keeps the low 32 bits, so narrowing the source
+ * reaches the destination the same way it does for a zero extension. The high
+ * half follows the sign, so the value seen here is negative.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__success
+__naked void sext_mov_wide_src(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r7 = (s32)r6; /* forms the link */ \
+ if w6 != -1 goto 1f; /* narrows r6, propagates to r7 */ \
+ if r7 == -1 goto 1f; /* sign-extended, not 0xffffffff */ \
+ r0 /= 0; \
+1: \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+/*
+ * r0 = (s32)r0 is how a sign-extended int return lands. src and dst are the
+ * same register, but r0 is already linked, so there is a set for it to stay
+ * in and the narrowing still propagates.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__success
+__naked void sext_self_mov_keeps_link(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r7 = r6; /* r6, r7 linked */ \
+ r7 = (s32)r7; /* self-mov, keeps the id */ \
+ if w6 != -1 goto 1f; /* narrows r6, propagates to r7 */ \
+ if r7 == -1 goto 1f; \
+ r0 /= 0; \
+1: \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+/*
+ * The same self-mov on an unlinked register has nothing to link to, so it
+ * must not mint an id that would leave r6 describing itself.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__success __log_level(2)
+/* an id would print as R6=scalar(id=N.lo32sx,smin=... */
+__msg("(bf) r6 = (s32)r6 {{.*}} R6=scalar(smin=")
+__naked void sext_self_mov_no_link(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r6 ^= 0; /* drop the id */ \
+ r6 = (s32)r6; /* forms no link */ \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+/*
+ * A delta on the branch register is not modelled together with a low-32
+ * link, so the propagation is skipped rather than guessed at.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__failure __msg("div by zero")
+__naked void sext_no_sync_when_base_has_delta(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r7 = (s32)r6; /* forms the link */ \
+ r8 = r6; \
+ r8 += 3; /* delta on the branch reg */ \
+ if r8 != 3 goto 1f; /* must not propagate to r7 */ \
+ if r7 == 0 goto 1f; \
+ r0 /= 0; \
+1: \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+/*
+ * ... and with the link as the branch register the propagation must not run
+ * backwards: a ->subreg register knows nothing about the base's high half, so
+ * narrowing it must leave the rest of the set alone. Were the guard missing,
+ * r8 would be rebuilt as r7 + 3 == 2, treating r7 as if it were the base.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__failure __msg("div by zero")
+__naked void sext_no_sync_from_subreg_base(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r7 = (s32)r6; /* forms the link */ \
+ r8 = r6; \
+ r8 += 3; /* delta on r8 */ \
+ if r7 != -1 goto 1f; /* must not propagate to r8 */ \
+ if r8 == 2 goto 1f; /* taken only if r8 wrongly narrowed */ \
+ r0 /= 0; \
+1: \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+/*
+ * The two kinds rebuild the high half differently: the same low half reaches
+ * -1 through a sign extension and 0xffffffff through a zero extension, so only
+ * one path clears the guard. As above this checks the outcome -- the differing
+ * ranges keep the states apart on their own.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__failure __msg("div by zero")
+__flag(BPF_F_TEST_STATE_FREQ)
+__naked void sext_kinds_reach_different_values(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r6 &= 1; \
+ if r6 >= 1 goto 2f; \
+ /* explored first: r7 is a sign-extended link of r8 */ \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r8 = r0; \
+ r7 = (s32)r8; \
+ goto 1f; \
+2: \
+ /* runtime path: r7 is a zero-extended link of r8 */ \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r8 = r0; \
+ w7 = w8; \
+1: \
+ if w8 != -1 goto 3f; \
+ if r7 == -1 goto 3f; /* only the sign-extended path */ \
+ r0 /= 0; \
+3: \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
+#endif /* CAN_USE_MOVSX */
+
char _license[] SEC("license") = "GPL";
--
2.53.0-Meta