[PATCH v4 1/2] Compiler Attributes: Add __counted_by_ptr macro

[Bill Wendling]

Introduce __counted_by_ptr(), which works like __counted_by(), but for
pointer struct members.

struct foo {
	int a, b, c;
	char *buffer __counted_by_ptr(bytes);
	short nr_bars;
	struct bar *bars __counted_by_ptr(nr_bars);
	size_t bytes;
};

Because "counted_by" can only be applied to pointer members in very
recent compiler versions, its application ends up needing to be distinct
from flexibe array "counted_by" annotations, hence a separate macro.

This is a reworking of Kees' previous patch [1].

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20251020220118.1226740-1-kees@xxxxxxxxxx/ [1]
Co-developed-by: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Bill Wendling <morbo@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
v4 - Default to Clang's version 22, which has support for "void *".
   - Add the missing S-o-b notation.
v3 - Replace the previous code with a modified version of Kees'
     previous patch [1].
   - The question about the naming of the macro was considered, but we
     decided to keep the original naming (__counted_by_ptr), because it
     mirrors the current macros like "__counted_by_{le,be}".
v2 - Add support for GCC.
---
Cc: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Gustavo A. R. Silva" <gustavoars@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Nick Desaulniers <nick.desaulniers+lkml@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Justin Stitt <justinstitt@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Heiko Carstens <hca@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Marc Herbert <Marc.Herbert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Uros Bizjak <ubizjak@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Tejun Heo <tj@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Jeff Xu <jeffxu@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Michal Koutný" <mkoutny@xxxxxxxx>
Cc: Shakeel Butt <shakeel.butt@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Thomas Weißschuh" <thomas.weissschuh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: John Stultz <jstultz@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Christian Brauner <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Brian Gerst <brgerst@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Masahiro Yamada <masahiroy@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: linux-hardening@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: llvm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
---
 Makefile                       |  6 ++++++
 include/linux/compiler_types.h | 18 +++++++++++++++++-
 include/uapi/linux/stddef.h    |  4 ++++
 init/Kconfig                   |  7 +++++++
 4 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9d38125263fb..6b029f694bc2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -952,6 +952,12 @@ KBUILD_CFLAGS	+= $(CC_AUTO_VAR_INIT_ZERO_ENABLER)
 endif
 endif
 
+ifdef CONFIG_CC_IS_CLANG
+ifdef CONFIG_CC_HAS_COUNTED_BY_PTR
+KBUILD_CFLAGS	+= -fexperimental-late-parse-attributes
+endif
+endif
+
 # Explicitly clear padding bits during variable initialization
 KBUILD_CFLAGS += $(call cc-option,-fzero-init-padding-bits=all)
 
diff --git a/include/linux/compiler_types.h b/include/linux/compiler_types.h
index d3318a3c2577..d095beb904ea 100644
--- a/include/linux/compiler_types.h
+++ b/include/linux/compiler_types.h
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ struct ftrace_likely_data {
  * Optional: only supported since clang >= 18
  *
  *   gcc: https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=108896
- * clang: https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/76348
+ * clang: https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AttributeReference.html#counted-by-counted-by-or-null-sized-by-sized-by-or-null
  *
  * __bdos on clang < 19.1.2 can erroneously return 0:
  * https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/110497
@@ -383,6 +383,22 @@ struct ftrace_likely_data {
 # define __counted_by(member)
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Runtime track number of objects pointed to by a pointer member for use by
+ * CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE and CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS.
+ *
+ * Optional: only supported since gcc >= 16
+ * Optional: only supported since clang >= 22
+ *
+ *   gcc: https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc-patches/2025-April/681727.html
+ * clang: https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AttributeReference.html#counted-by-counted-by-or-null-sized-by-sized-by-or-null
+ */
+#ifdef CONFIG_CC_HAS_COUNTED_BY_PTR
+#define __counted_by_ptr(member)	__attribute__((__counted_by__(member)))
+#else
+#define __counted_by_ptr(member)
+#endif
+
 /*
  * Optional: only supported since gcc >= 15
  * Optional: not supported by Clang
diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/stddef.h b/include/uapi/linux/stddef.h
index 9a28f7d9a334..111b097ec00b 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/stddef.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/stddef.h
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@
 #define __counted_by_be(m)
 #endif
 
+#ifndef __counted_by_ptr
+#define __counted_by_ptr(m)
+#endif
+
 #ifdef __KERNEL__
 #define __kernel_nonstring	__nonstring
 #else
diff --git a/init/Kconfig b/init/Kconfig
index fa79feb8fe57..96b7cd481eaa 100644
--- a/init/Kconfig
+++ b/init/Kconfig
@@ -143,6 +143,13 @@ config CC_HAS_COUNTED_BY
 	# https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=108896
 	default y if CC_IS_GCC && GCC_VERSION >= 150100
 
+config CC_HAS_COUNTED_BY_PTR
+	bool
+	# supported since clang 22
+	default y if CC_IS_CLANG && CLANG_VERSION >= 220000
+	# supported since gcc 16.0.0
+	default y if CC_IS_GCC && GCC_VERSION >= 160000
+
 config CC_HAS_MULTIDIMENSIONAL_NONSTRING
 	def_bool $(success,echo 'char tag[][4] __attribute__((__nonstring__)) = { };' | $(CC) $(CLANG_FLAGS) -x c - -c -o /dev/null -Werror)
 
-- 
2.52.0.457.g6b5491de43-goog