[PATCH bpf 2/2] selftests/bpf: Add reg-invariants test for speculative pointer arithmetic
From: Jiayuan Chen
Date: Wed Aug 19 2026 - 08:59:58 EST
An unprivileged socket filter does variable pointer arithmetic on a
PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE whose offset collapses to a constant. The Spectre-v1
speculative path used to snapshot the pointer with a const offset and an
unbounded r32, which tripped reg_bounds_sanity_check() on the following
register move.
Mark the test __success_unpriv (the speculative path only runs
unprivileged) and flag it BPF_F_TEST_REG_INVARIANTS so the invariant
violation becomes a hard load failure. The unprivileged run fails without
the verifier fix and passes with it:
verifier_bounds/spec_ptr_alu_const_offset @unpriv:FAIL # without fix
verifier_bounds/spec_ptr_alu_const_offset @unpriv:OK # with fix
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxx>
---
.../selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_bounds.c | 41 +++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 41 insertions(+)
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_bounds.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_bounds.c
index 1a273e416fed..df8d5309657e 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_bounds.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/verifier_bounds.c
@@ -2267,6 +2267,47 @@ __naked void deduce64_from_32_wrapping_32bit(void)
: __clobber_all);
}
+/*
+ * Unprivileged variable pointer arithmetic on a PTR_TO_MAP_VALUE whose
+ * offset collapses to a constant. The Spectre-v1 speculative path snapshots
+ * the pointer while its r32 has just been blanked but its offset not yet
+ * synced; the following register move used to trip reg_bounds_sanity_check()
+ * ("const subreg tnum out of sync with range bounds"). With
+ * BPF_F_TEST_REG_INVARIANTS that violation turns into a load failure, so the
+ * unprivileged program must still load.
+ */
+SEC("socket")
+__success __success_unpriv
+__flag(BPF_F_TEST_REG_INVARIANTS)
+__naked void spec_ptr_alu_const_offset(void)
+{
+ asm volatile (" \
+ call %[bpf_ktime_get_ns]; \
+ *(u64*)(r10 - 16) = r0; \
+ r1 = 0; \
+ *(u64*)(r10 - 8) = r1; \
+ r2 = r10; \
+ r2 += -8; \
+ r1 = %[map_hash_8b] ll; \
+ call %[bpf_map_lookup_elem]; \
+ if r0 == 0 goto l0_%=; \
+ r1 = *(u64*)(r10 - 16); \
+ r2 = 0x40000000; \
+ if r1 > r2 goto l0_%=; \
+ if r1 s> 1 goto l0_%=; /* r1 in [0, 1] */ \
+ r0 += r1; /* ptr += bounded scalar */ \
+ r9 = r0; /* used to trip the warning */ \
+ *(u8*)(r0 + 0) = r1; \
+l0_%=: r0 = 0; \
+ exit; \
+ "
+ :
+ : __imm(bpf_ktime_get_ns),
+ __imm(bpf_map_lookup_elem),
+ __imm_addr(map_hash_8b)
+ : __clobber_all);
+}
+
/* Check that range_within() compares cnum ranges, not min/max projections. */
SEC("socket")
__failure __msg("div by zero")
--
2.43.0