[PATCH bpf-next v1 7/7] selftests/bpf: write the mixed arena/scalar ALU tests in asm

From: Vineet Gupta

Date: Tue Oct 27 2026 - 20:08:02 EST


They fail to build with BPF_GCC:

progs/verifier_arena.c:566:5: error: optimization may eliminate reads and/or writes to register variables [-Werror=volatile-register-var]

for

volatile register __u64 reg asm("r3");

GCC means it: with the warning silenced it drops both scalar accesses,
leaving nothing that uses r3 as a scalar:

call 7
if w0 == 0 goto .L136
r9 = arena ll;r3 = 0;r3 = addr_space_cast(r3, 0, 1);
.L136:
r0 = 0
exit

`reg = 1ULL << 32' and `reg += 1' are both gone. The tests need one
instruction reached with r3 live as a scalar on one path and as an
arena pointer on the other; what is left gives the verifier no reason
to reject anything, so the __failure expectation would not hold. A
local register variable is not guaranteed to survive a helper call
either, which GCC is also entitled to act on.

Nothing here needs a compiler to allocate registers, so write the
whole body in asm like mixed_arena_stack_atomic below, which tests the
same shape. Both compilers then emit the same sequence, with the
branch landing on the shared ALU op:

call 7
r6=r0
r3=1
r3<<=32
if w6==0 goto 4 <- lands on r3+=1
r9=0 ll
r3=0
r3 = addr_space_cast(r3, 0, 1)
r3+=1 <- scalar on one path, arena pointer on the other
r0=0
exit

Take __load_if_JITed() from the sibling while here. A program binding
an arena map is rejected in check_map_prog_compatibility() with "JIT is
required to use arena" during map resolution, before do_check() can
reach the shared instruction, so without a JIT these would fail on the
wrong message rather than skip.

Not exercised by a stock bpf-gcc, which compiles both tests out with the
rest of the arena block; the build failure above needs a compiler that
has arena support. Under clang the rewrite is not a no-op either: the
pre-image spilled r3 to the stack and did the shared ALU op on r1
reloaded from it, so the test was not exercising one register live as
both a scalar and an arena pointer.

Signed-off-by: Vineet Gupta <vineet.gupta@xxxxxxxxx>
---
.../selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_arena.c | 85 ++++++++++---------
1 file changed, 45 insertions(+), 40 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_arena.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_arena.c
index 21b66d51c61e..b84d8f1e0b39 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_arena.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_arena.c
@@ -539,53 +539,58 @@ int arena_ptr_add_arena_ptr(void *ctx)
return 0;
}

+/*
+ * The r9 load is never read; it is there so libbpf records the arena map
+ * as used, which is what lets the verifier accept addr_space_cast at all.
+ */
SEC("syscall")
__failure __msg("same insn cannot be used with and without arena pointer")
-int mixed_arena_scalar_alu64_scalar_first(void *ctx)
-{
- volatile register __u64 reg asm("r3");
- __u32 pick_arena = bpf_get_prandom_u32();
-
- reg = 1ULL << 32;
-
- if (pick_arena) {
- asm volatile (
- "r9 = %[arena] ll;"
- "%[reg] = 0;"
- "%[reg] = addr_space_cast(%[reg], 0x0, 0x1);"
- : [reg] "=r"(reg)
- : __imm_addr(arena)
- : "r9"
- );
- }
-
- reg += 1;
-
- return 0;
+__load_if_JITed()
+__naked void mixed_arena_scalar_alu64_scalar_first(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r3 = 1; \
+ r3 <<= 32; \
+ if w6 == 0 goto 1f; \
+ r9 = %[arena] ll; \
+ r3 = 0; \
+ r3 = addr_space_cast(r3, 0, 1); \
+1: r3 += 1; \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm_addr(arena),
+ __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
}

+/*
+ * The r9 load is never read; it is there so libbpf records the arena map
+ * as used, which is what lets the verifier accept addr_space_cast at all.
+ */
SEC("syscall")
__failure __msg("same insn cannot be used with and without arena pointer")
-int mixed_arena_scalar_alu64_arena_first(void *ctx)
+__load_if_JITed()
+__naked void mixed_arena_scalar_alu64_arena_first(void)
{
- volatile register __u64 reg asm("r3");
- __u32 pick_scalar = bpf_get_prandom_u32();
-
- asm volatile (
- "r9 = %[arena] ll;"
- "%[reg] = 0;"
- "%[reg] = addr_space_cast(%[reg], 0x0, 0x1);"
- : [reg] "=r"(reg)
- : __imm_addr(arena)
- : "r9"
- );
-
- if (pick_scalar)
- reg = 1ULL << 32;
-
- reg += 1;
-
- return 0;
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_get_prandom_u32]; \
+ r6 = r0; \
+ r9 = %[arena] ll; \
+ r3 = 0; \
+ r3 = addr_space_cast(r3, 0, 1); \
+ if w6 == 0 goto 1f; \
+ r3 = 1; \
+ r3 <<= 32; \
+1: r3 += 1; \
+ r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+" :
+ : __imm_addr(arena),
+ __imm(bpf_get_prandom_u32)
+ : __clobber_all);
}

SEC("syscall")
--
2.53.0-Meta