[PATCH v3 1/2] perf trace: Correct default cpumask formatting to hexadecimal

From: Aaron Tomlin

Date: Sat Jul 18 2026 - 20:15:47 EST


Currently, dynamic non-array fields such as 'cpumask_t' are mishandled in
'perf trace', causing the raw length and offset descriptors to be interpreted
and displayed as a literal integer (e.g., "cpumask: 524320" instead of the
actual mask data).

Correct the parsing of dynamic fields that do not have the
TEP_FIELD_IS_ARRAY flag set by introducing helper functions
format_field__get_raw_data() and format_field__get_cpumask().
Using these helpers, resolve the pointer to the raw bits within the
payload and format the cpumask as a zero-padded hexadecimal string by default.

Fixes: c5e006cdbd27 ("perf trace: Support tracepoint dynamic char arrays")
Signed-off-by: Aaron Tomlin <atomlin@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/perf/builtin-trace.c | 70 +++++++++++++++++++++++++----
tools/perf/util/evsel.c | 90 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
tools/perf/util/evsel.h | 6 +++
3 files changed, 157 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index ba0f8749fc7d..f8b8431f9543 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -3207,6 +3207,21 @@ static void bpf_output__fprintf(struct trace *trace,
++trace->nr_events_printed;
}

+static unsigned char bitmap_byte(const unsigned long *mask, int byte_idx)
+{
+ unsigned char b_val = 0;
+ int bit_in_byte;
+
+ for (bit_in_byte = 0; bit_in_byte < 8; bit_in_byte++) {
+ int b_idx = byte_idx * 8 + bit_in_byte;
+ int host_w_idx = b_idx / BITS_PER_LONG;
+ int host_bit_in_word = b_idx % BITS_PER_LONG;
+ if (mask[host_w_idx] & (1UL << host_bit_in_word))
+ b_val |= (1 << bit_in_byte);
+ }
+ return b_val;
+}
+
static size_t trace__fprintf_tp_fields(struct trace *trace, struct perf_sample *sample,
struct thread *thread, void *augmented_args, int augmented_args_size)
{
@@ -3238,17 +3253,54 @@ static size_t trace__fprintf_tp_fields(struct trace *trace, struct perf_sample *
syscall_arg.len = 0;
syscall_arg.fmt = arg;
if (field->flags & TEP_FIELD_IS_ARRAY) {
- int offset = field->offset;
-
- if (field->flags & TEP_FIELD_IS_DYNAMIC) {
- offset = format_field__intval(field, sample, evsel->needs_swap);
- syscall_arg.len = offset >> 16;
- offset &= 0xffff;
- if (tep_field_is_relative(field->flags))
- offset += field->offset + field->size;
+ void *ptr = format_field__get_raw_data(field, sample,
+ evsel->needs_swap,
+ &syscall_arg.len);
+
+ if (!ptr) {
+ pr_err("Problem processing %s field, skipping...\n", field->name);
+ continue;
+ }
+ val = (uintptr_t)ptr;
+ } else if ((field->flags & TEP_FIELD_IS_DYNAMIC) &&
+ strstr(field->type, "cpumask")) {
+ unsigned long *mask = format_field__get_cpumask(field, sample,
+ evsel->needs_swap,
+ &syscall_arg.len);
+
+ if (!mask) {
+ pr_err("Problem processing %s field, skipping...\n", field->name);
+ continue;
}

- val = (uintptr_t)(sample->raw_data + offset);
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%s", printed ? ", " : "");
+ if (trace->show_arg_names)
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%s: ", field->name);
+
+ if (syscall_arg.len == 0) {
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "0");
+ } else {
+ int i;
+ bool skip_zero = true;
+
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "0x");
+ /* Print bytes from most significant to least significant */
+ for (i = syscall_arg.len - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+ unsigned char b_val = bitmap_byte(mask, i);
+
+ if (skip_zero && b_val == 0 && i > 0)
+ continue;
+
+ if (skip_zero) {
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%x", b_val);
+ skip_zero = false;
+ } else {
+ printed += scnprintf(bf + printed, size - printed, "%02x", b_val);
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ free(mask);
+ continue;
} else
val = format_field__intval(field, sample, evsel->needs_swap);
/*
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index ea9fa04429f0..912d77044141 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -16,9 +16,11 @@
#include <errno.h>
#include <inttypes.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>

#include <dirent.h>
#include <linux/bitops.h>
+#include <linux/bitmap.h>
#include <linux/compiler.h>
#include <linux/ctype.h>
#include <linux/err.h>
@@ -3933,6 +3935,94 @@ void *perf_sample__rawptr(struct perf_sample *sample, const char *name)
return sample->raw_data + offset;
}

+void *format_field__get_raw_data(struct tep_format_field *field, struct
+ perf_sample *sample, bool needs_swap,
+ u16 *len_out)
+{
+ int offset = field->offset;
+ int size = field->size;
+
+ if (field->flags & TEP_FIELD_IS_DYNAMIC) {
+ unsigned int dynamic_data;
+
+ if (out_of_bounds(field, field->offset, field->size, sample->raw_size))
+ return NULL;
+
+ dynamic_data = format_field__intval(field, sample, needs_swap);
+
+ offset = dynamic_data & 0xffff;
+ size = (dynamic_data >> 16) & 0xffff;
+
+ if (tep_field_is_relative(field->flags))
+ offset += field->offset + field->size;
+ }
+
+ if (out_of_bounds(field, offset, size, sample->raw_size))
+ return NULL;
+
+ *len_out = size;
+ return sample->raw_data + offset;
+}
+
+unsigned long *format_field__get_cpumask(struct tep_format_field *field,
+ struct perf_sample *sample,
+ bool needs_swap, u16 *len_out)
+{
+ u16 len;
+ void *ptr = format_field__get_raw_data(field, sample, needs_swap, &len);
+ unsigned long *mask;
+ struct perf_env *env;
+ bool target_is_64;
+ int target_word_size;
+ int nr_words;
+ int bit_idx;
+ int nbits;
+
+ if (!ptr)
+ return NULL;
+
+ nbits = len * 8;
+ mask = bitmap_zalloc(nbits ?: 1);
+ if (!mask)
+ return NULL;
+
+ env = evsel__env(sample->evsel);
+ target_is_64 = env ? perf_env__kernel_is_64_bit(env) : (sizeof(void *) == 8);
+ target_word_size = target_is_64 ? 8 : 4;
+ nr_words = len / target_word_size;
+
+ for (bit_idx = 0; bit_idx < nbits; bit_idx++) {
+ int w_idx = bit_idx / (target_word_size * 8);
+ int bit_in_word = bit_idx % (target_word_size * 8);
+ bool set = false;
+
+ if (w_idx < nr_words) {
+ if (target_is_64) {
+ u64 word;
+ memcpy(&word, (unsigned char *)ptr + w_idx * 8, 8);
+ if (needs_swap)
+ word = bswap_64(word);
+ set = (word & (1ULL << bit_in_word)) != 0;
+ } else {
+ u32 word32;
+ memcpy(&word32, (unsigned char *)ptr + w_idx * 4, 4);
+ if (needs_swap)
+ word32 = bswap_32(word32);
+ set = (word32 & (1U << bit_in_word)) != 0;
+ }
+ }
+
+ if (set) {
+ int host_w_idx = bit_idx / BITS_PER_LONG;
+ int host_bit_in_word = bit_idx % BITS_PER_LONG;
+ mask[host_w_idx] |= (1UL << host_bit_in_word);
+ }
+ }
+
+ *len_out = len;
+ return mask;
+}
+
u64 format_field__intval(struct tep_format_field *field, struct perf_sample *sample,
bool needs_swap)
{
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
index 163fc2b6a7ea..02129a022ea3 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
@@ -400,6 +400,12 @@ static inline char *perf_sample__strval(struct perf_sample *sample, const char *

struct tep_format_field;

+void *format_field__get_raw_data(struct tep_format_field *field,
+ struct perf_sample *sample,
+ bool needs_swap, u16 *len_out);
+unsigned long *format_field__get_cpumask(struct tep_format_field *field,
+ struct perf_sample *sample,
+ bool needs_swap, u16 *len_out);
u64 format_field__intval(struct tep_format_field *field, struct perf_sample *sample, bool needs_swap);

#ifdef HAVE_LIBTRACEEVENT
--
2.54.0