[PATCH RFC 01/11] rust: print: use CStr for __LOG_PREFIX

From: Thomas Weißschuh

Date: Sun Oct 11 2026 - 08:55:08 EST


The users of __LOG_PREFIX require that it is 0-terminated.
Currently this requirement is only encoded in safety comments.

Switch to CStr which can guarantee this invariant through the type
system.

As __LOG_PREFIX and Module::NAME are now identical, reuse the former to
implement the latter.

Signed-off-by: Thomas Weißschuh <linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
rust/kernel/lib.rs | 4 ++--
rust/kernel/print.rs | 11 ++++-------
rust/macros/module.rs | 4 ++--
scripts/rustdoc_test_gen.rs | 4 ++--
4 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/rust/kernel/lib.rs b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
index 7225abc64084..7d48f931877d 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/lib.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
pub use uapi;

/// Prefix to appear before log messages printed from within the `kernel` crate.
-const __LOG_PREFIX: &[u8] = b"rust_kernel\0";
+const __LOG_PREFIX: &str::CStr = c"rust_kernel";

/// Dummy module type for `#[vtable]` `impl` blocks within the `kernel` crate (e.g. KUnit tests).
// The `allow` is needed since it may be unused (e.g. KUnit tests may be disabled).
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
struct LocalModule;

impl ModuleMetadata for LocalModule {
- const NAME: &'static str::CStr = c"rust_kernel";
+ const NAME: &'static str::CStr = __LOG_PREFIX;

const THIS_MODULE: ThisModule = {
// SAFETY: `try_module_get`/`module_put` handle null module pointers gracefully.
diff --git a/rust/kernel/print.rs b/rust/kernel/print.rs
index 0d62beeedca5..9ce52b9fa69f 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/print.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/print.rs
@@ -96,15 +96,14 @@ pub mod format_strings {
///
/// # Safety
///
-/// The format string must be one of the ones in [`format_strings`], and
-/// the module name must be null-terminated.
+/// The format string must be one of the ones in [`format_strings`].
///
/// [`_printk`]: srctree/include/linux/printk.h
#[doc(hidden)]
#[cfg_attr(not(CONFIG_PRINTK), allow(unused_variables))]
pub unsafe fn call_printk(
format_string: &[u8; format_strings::LENGTH],
- module_name: &[u8],
+ module_name: &CStr,
args: fmt::Arguments<'_>,
) {
// `_printk` does not seem to fail in any path.
@@ -113,7 +112,7 @@ pub unsafe fn call_printk(
unsafe {
bindings::_printk(
format_string.as_ptr(),
- module_name.as_ptr(),
+ module_name.as_char_ptr(),
core::ptr::from_ref(&args).cast::<c_void>(),
);
}
@@ -157,9 +156,7 @@ macro_rules! print_macro (
match $crate::prelude::fmt!($($arg)+) {
// SAFETY: This hidden macro should only be called by the documented
// printing macros which ensure the format string is one of the fixed
- // ones. All `__LOG_PREFIX`s are null-terminated as they are generated
- // by the `module!` proc macro or fixed values defined in a kernel
- // crate.
+ // ones.
args => unsafe {
$crate::print::call_printk(
&$format_string,
diff --git a/rust/macros/module.rs b/rust/macros/module.rs
index 0a7b9e24c960..6228fe23c310 100644
--- a/rust/macros/module.rs
+++ b/rust/macros/module.rs
@@ -496,14 +496,14 @@ pub(crate) fn module(info: ModuleInfo) -> Result<TokenStream> {
/// The module name.
///
/// Used by the printing macros, e.g. [`info!`].
- const __LOG_PREFIX: &[u8] = #name_cstr.to_bytes_with_nul();
+ const __LOG_PREFIX: &::kernel::str::CStr = #name_cstr;

/// The `LocalModule` type is the type of the module created by `module!`,
/// `module_pci_driver!`, `module_platform_driver!`, etc.
type LocalModule = #type_;

impl ::kernel::ModuleMetadata for #type_ {
- const NAME: &'static ::kernel::str::CStr = #name_cstr;
+ const NAME: &'static ::kernel::str::CStr = __LOG_PREFIX;

#[cfg(MODULE)]
const THIS_MODULE: ::kernel::ThisModule = {
diff --git a/scripts/rustdoc_test_gen.rs b/scripts/rustdoc_test_gen.rs
index 754c5aafcce4..488de817b425 100644
--- a/scripts/rustdoc_test_gen.rs
+++ b/scripts/rustdoc_test_gen.rs
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ macro_rules! line {{
BufWriter::new(File::create("rust/doctests_kernel_generated.rs").unwrap()),
r#"//! `kernel` crate documentation tests.

-const __LOG_PREFIX: &[u8] = b"rust_doctests_kernel\0";
+const __LOG_PREFIX: &kernel::str::CStr = c"rust_doctests_kernel";

/// Dummy module type for doctest context.
struct LocalModule;
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ macro_rules! line {{
use core::ptr::null_mut;

impl ModuleMetadata for LocalModule {{
- const NAME: &'static CStr = c"rust_doctests_kernel";
+ const NAME: &'static CStr = __LOG_PREFIX;
const THIS_MODULE: ThisModule = {{
// SAFETY: `try_module_get`/`module_put` handle null module pointers gracefully.
unsafe {{ ThisModule::from_ptr(null_mut()) }}

--
2.56.0