Re: [PATCH] vsprintf: Add test for restricted kernel pointers

From: Petr Mladek

Date: Fri Jan 16 2026 - 12:07:02 EST


On Wed 2026-01-14 08:27:34, Thomas Weißschuh wrote:
> Fill out the tests for restricted kernel pointers, using the %pK format.
> This test can only be executed when built into the kernel, as modules
> do not have access to the kptr_restrict knob.

I think that we could export "kptr_restrict" like we did
with no_hash_pointers. AFAIK, it has been exported just because
of the test module as well.

> Please note that changes to the kptr_restrict sysctl from the kernel
> commandline are only applied *after* the boot-time KUnit tests run.

This is another motivation to export the symbol. Otherwise, it is
really hard to test the non-default variants.

BTW: I have recently heard about EXPORT_SYMBOL_NS(). It would allow
to export the symbol only for some specific modules.

I am not sure how exactly it works. I wonder if there already
exists a namespace for KUnit tests.

It would be nice to use it, even for "no_hash_pointers"...


> --- a/lib/tests/printf_kunit.c
> +++ b/lib/tests/printf_kunit.c
> @@ -316,7 +316,31 @@ symbol_ptr(struct kunit *kunittest)
> static void
> kernel_ptr(struct kunit *kunittest)
> {
> - /* We can't test this without access to kptr_restrict. */
> +#ifdef MODULE
> + kunit_skip(kunittest, "cannot access kptr_restrict from test module");
> + return;
> +#endif
> +
> + switch (kptr_restrict) {
> + case 0:
> + if (no_hash_pointers) {
> + test(PTR_STR, "%pK", PTR);
> + } else {
> + char buf[PLAIN_BUF_SIZE];
> +
> + plain_hash_to_buffer(kunittest, PTR, buf, PLAIN_BUF_SIZE);
> + /* %pK behaves the same as hashing */
> + test(buf, "%pK", PTR);
> + }
> + break;
> + case 1:
> + test(PTR_STR, "%pK", PTR);

Hmm, the behavior of %pK depends on capabilities of the caller.
The above code would work when the test is built in.
But we might need to check the capabilities when using test module.
If I get it correctly, the module loaded requires CAP_SYS_MODULE
while %pK behavior depends on CAP_SYSLOG...

> + break;
> + case 2:
> + default:
> + test(ZEROS "00000000", "%pK", PTR);
> + break;
> + }
> }
>
> static void

Anyway, thanks for working on this.

Best Regards,
Petr