[PATCH] tracing: Fix crash in print_graph_function_event()

From: Hao Ge

Date: Sun Sep 20 2026 - 00:20:55 EST


tracing_set_tracer() assigns the flags of the newly selected tracer
with:

tr->current_trace_flags = t->flags ? : t->tracer->flags;

If the new tracer defines neither static flags nor default flags, like
hwlat, irqsoff or wakeup, add_tracer() has no per instance flags copy
for it, and both operands are NULL, so tr->current_trace_flags ends up
being NULL as well.

The ring buffer is not cleared when switching tracers: it is reset
inside tracer_init(), after current_trace_flags was already assigned.
If the buffer still holds function_graph entries of the previous
tracer, printing one of them dereferences the NULL pointer. This was
hit by cat trace during an ftrace stress test:

BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
#PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode
RIP: 0010:print_graph_function_event+0xe/0x20
Call Trace:
s_show+0x4d/0x110
seq_read_iter+0x2d4/0x490
seq_read+0x130/0x170
vfs_read+0xb5/0x370
ksys_read+0x6d/0xe0
do_syscall_64+0xbc/0x450

The snapshot buffer is not reset at all, so this can be reproduced
without a race:

echo function_graph > /sys/kernel/tracing/current_tracer
echo 1 > /sys/kernel/tracing/snapshot
echo hwlat > /sys/kernel/tracing/current_tracer
cat /sys/kernel/tracing/snapshot

Rather than teaching every user of tr->current_trace_flags about this
corner case, make sure every tracer has a set of flags:
register_tracer() assigns the empty no_tracer_flags to tracers that
define none. The existing users already handle opts == NULL, so these
tracers keep behaving as before.

Fixes: e29aa918a928 ("tracing: Have function graph tracer define options per instance")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Hao Ge <hao.ge@xxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/trace/trace.c | 13 +++++++++----
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace.c b/kernel/trace/trace.c
index e4a490d3d08c..1bd757b65be4 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace.c
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ struct tracers {
struct tracer_flags *flags;
};

+/*
+ * Tracers that do not define their own flags use these empty flags,
+ * as tr->current_trace_flags must never be NULL.
+ */
+static struct tracer_flags no_tracer_flags;
+
/*
* To prevent the comm cache from being overwritten when no
* tracing is active, only save the comm when a trace event
@@ -1485,9 +1491,11 @@ int __init register_tracer(struct tracer *type)
}
}

- /* store the tracer for __set_tracer_option */
+ /* All tracers must have flags, use the empty flags if none are defined */
if (type->flags)
type->flags->trace = type;
+ else if (!type->default_flags)
+ type->default_flags = &no_tracer_flags;

ret = do_run_tracer_selftest(type);
if (ret < 0)
@@ -8096,9 +8104,6 @@ static int add_tracer(struct trace_array *tr, struct tracer *tracer)

flags = tracer->flags;
if (!flags) {
- if (!tracer->default_flags)
- return 0;
-
/*
* If the tracer defines default flags, it means the flags are
* per trace instance.
--
2.25.1