[PATCH v2 6/9] seq_buf: Add seq_buf_init_append()

From: Kees Cook

Date: Fri Sep 18 2026 - 20:27:47 EST


From: Bill Wendling <morbo@xxxxxxxxxx>

Several strlcat() call sites being converted to seq_buf need behavior
seq_buf doesn't currently provide. The normal seq_buf_init() always
sets the new buffer size to 0 via seq_buf_clear(). Code migrating from
strlcat(buf, ...), which appends to whatever buf already contains,
can't use seq_buf_init() without discarding that existing content. Add
seq_buf_init_append(), which preserves the existing contents and positions
the seq_buf to append after it. Add KUnit tests for behavior coverage.

Tests passed under qemu on ARCH=x86_64 with GCC 16.2.0 and CONFIG_KASAN=y,
and on big-endian ARCH=s390 with GCC s390x-linux-gnu 16.1.0.

Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Bill Wendling <morbo@xxxxxxxxxx>
Co-developed-by: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
Cc: "Matthew Wilcox (Oracle)" <willy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andy Shevchenko <andriy.shevchenko@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: David Gow <david@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Petr Mladek <pmladek@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: Shuvam Pandey <shuvampandey1@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
include/linux/seq_buf.h | 20 +++++++++++++++
lib/tests/seq_buf_kunit.c | 53 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 73 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/seq_buf.h b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
index 7f025c7a68be..89d847d40626 100644
--- a/include/linux/seq_buf.h
+++ b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
@@ -46,6 +46,26 @@ seq_buf_init(struct seq_buf *s, char *buf, unsigned int size)
seq_buf_clear(s);
}

+/**
+ * seq_buf_init_append - initialize a seq_buf over a buffer that may
+ * already hold NUL-terminated content
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ * @buf: pointer to the (possibly non-empty) buffer
+ * @size: total size of @buf
+ *
+ * Unlike seq_buf_init(), which always starts @buf at len=0, this
+ * preserves whatever NUL-terminated content @buf already holds and
+ * positions @s to append after it. Useful for converting code that used
+ * to append to an existing buffer with strlcat()/scnprintf() and friends.
+ */
+static inline void
+seq_buf_init_append(struct seq_buf *s, char *buf, unsigned int size)
+{
+ s->buffer = buf;
+ s->size = size;
+ s->len = strnlen(buf, size);
+}
+
/*
* seq_buf have a buffer that might overflow. When this happens
* len is set to be greater than size.
diff --git a/lib/tests/seq_buf_kunit.c b/lib/tests/seq_buf_kunit.c
index 0259c8506b89..f3058771d96c 100644
--- a/lib/tests/seq_buf_kunit.c
+++ b/lib/tests/seq_buf_kunit.c
@@ -29,6 +29,58 @@ static void seq_buf_init_test(struct kunit *test)
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_strlen(&s), 0);
}

+static void seq_buf_init_append_test(struct kunit *test)
+{
+ char buf[32] = "hello";
+ struct seq_buf s;
+
+ /* Initial string contents match. */
+ seq_buf_init_append(&s, buf, sizeof(buf));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.size, 32);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.len, 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_FALSE(test, seq_buf_has_overflowed(&s));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_buffer_left(&s), 32 - 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_used(&s), 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_STREQ(test, seq_buf_str(&s), "hello");
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_strlen(&s), 5);
+
+ /* Appending with space works. */
+ seq_buf_puts(&s, " world");
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_FALSE(test, seq_buf_has_overflowed(&s));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_used(&s), 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_STREQ(test, seq_buf_str(&s), "hello world");
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_strlen(&s), 11);
+
+ /* No truncation when space for NUL is present. */
+ seq_buf_init_append(&s, buf, 12);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.size, 12);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.len, 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_FALSE(test, seq_buf_has_overflowed(&s));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_used(&s), 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_STREQ(test, seq_buf_str(&s), "hello world");
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_strlen(&s), 11);
+
+ /* Check for required truncation when full. */
+ seq_buf_init_append(&s, buf, 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.size, 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.len, 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_FALSE(test, seq_buf_has_overflowed(&s));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_buffer_left(&s), 0);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_used(&s), 11);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_STREQ(test, seq_buf_str(&s), "hello worl");
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_strlen(&s), 10);
+
+ /*
+ * The size bounds the scan: the string reaches past it, so an
+ * unbounded strlen() would report 10 here and leave @s overflowed.
+ */
+ seq_buf_init_append(&s, buf, 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.size, 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, s.len, 5);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_FALSE(test, seq_buf_has_overflowed(&s));
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, seq_buf_buffer_left(&s), 0);
+ KUNIT_EXPECT_STREQ(test, seq_buf_str(&s), "hell");
+}

static void seq_buf_declare_test(struct kunit *test)
{
@@ -621,6 +673,7 @@ static void seq_buf_strlen_embedded_nul_test(struct kunit *test)

static struct kunit_case seq_buf_test_cases[] = {
KUNIT_CASE(seq_buf_init_test),
+ KUNIT_CASE(seq_buf_init_append_test),
KUNIT_CASE(seq_buf_declare_test),
KUNIT_CASE(seq_buf_clear_test),
KUNIT_CASE(seq_buf_puts_test),
--
2.34.1