[PATCH v2 17/22] coredump: describe the holes when COREDUMP_SPARSE is negotiated
From: Christian Brauner
Date: Wed Aug 19 2026 - 19:18:02 EST
Make use of COREDUMP_SPARSE. Refuse it without COREDUMP_RECORDS.
Actual holes are sent as a record with length indicating how much zero
data there was.
coredump_write() flushes a trailing hole if the coredump is done.
Instead of writing the actual byte for pipes and sockets, collapse it.
This stops wasting a header with coredump records for a single byte. So
we now only write it when the coredump can be seeked. TL;DR a trailing
hole is a zero record like any other and the records still cover the
whole coredump.
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/coredump.c | 41 +++++++++++++++++-----
.../selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c | 3 +-
2 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
diff --git a/fs/coredump.c b/fs/coredump.c
index b1679930094c..7b568d25887c 100644
--- a/fs/coredump.c
+++ b/fs/coredump.c
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
static bool dump_vma_snapshot(struct coredump_params *cprm);
static void free_vma_snapshot(struct coredump_params *cprm);
static void dump_end_record(struct coredump_params *cprm);
+static bool dump_flush_skip(struct coredump_params *cprm);
#define CORE_FILE_NOTE_SIZE_DEFAULT (4*1024*1024)
/* Define a reasonable max cap */
@@ -806,7 +807,7 @@ static bool coredump_sock_request(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *
.size = sizeof(struct coredump_req),
.mask = COREDUMP_KERNEL | COREDUMP_USERSPACE |
COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT |
- COREDUMP_RECORDS,
+ COREDUMP_RECORDS | COREDUMP_SPARSE,
.size_ack = sizeof(struct coredump_ack),
};
struct coredump_ack ack = {};
@@ -866,6 +867,12 @@ static bool coredump_sock_request(struct core_name *cn, struct coredump_params *
return false;
}
+ /* Zero records only exist inside a record stream. */
+ if ((ack.mask & COREDUMP_SPARSE) && !(ack.mask & COREDUMP_RECORDS)) {
+ coredump_sock_mark(cprm->file, COREDUMP_MARK_CONFLICTING);
+ return false;
+ }
+
/* Record header scratch; a bvec can't point at the stack. */
if (ack.mask & COREDUMP_RECORDS) {
cprm->record_hdr = kmalloc_obj(*cprm->record_hdr);
@@ -1076,15 +1083,21 @@ static bool coredump_write(struct coredump_params *cprm,
if (!binfmt->core_dump(cprm))
cprm->state |= COREDUMP_STATE_TRUNCATED;
/*
- * Ensures that file size is big enough to contain the current
- * file position. This prevents gdb from complaining about
- * a truncated file if the last "write" to the file was
- * dump_skip. A record stream relies on it too: the flush
- * emits the records that cover a trailing hole.
+ * A trailing hole still has to land in the coredump. Seeking over
+ * it doesn't grow the file, so the last byte of it is written
+ * instead and gdb doesn't see a truncated file. Everything else
+ * puts the hole on the wire as it flushes it.
*/
if (cprm->to_skip) {
- cprm->to_skip--;
- if (!dump_emit(cprm, "", 1))
+ bool flushed;
+
+ if (cprm->file->f_mode & FMODE_LSEEK) {
+ cprm->to_skip--;
+ flushed = dump_emit(cprm, "", 1);
+ } else {
+ flushed = dump_flush_skip(cprm);
+ }
+ if (!flushed)
cprm->state |= COREDUMP_STATE_TRUNCATED;
}
dump_end_record(cprm);
@@ -1241,6 +1254,11 @@ static bool dump_records(const struct coredump_params *cprm)
return cprm->mask & COREDUMP_RECORDS;
}
+static bool dump_sparse(const struct coredump_params *cprm)
+{
+ return cprm->mask & COREDUMP_SPARSE;
+}
+
/* Describe the next @len bytes of the coredump. Returns the header size. */
static size_t dump_record_init(struct coredump_params *cprm,
enum coredump_record_type type, u64 flags,
@@ -1357,6 +1375,13 @@ static bool __dump_skip(struct coredump_params *cprm, size_t nr)
static char zeroes[PAGE_SIZE];
struct file *file = cprm->file;
+ if (dump_sparse(cprm)) {
+ /* Hand the server the length of the hole instead of the hole itself. */
+ if (dump_interrupted())
+ return false;
+ return dump_emit_record(cprm, COREDUMP_RECORD_ZERO, 0, nr);
+ }
+
if (file->f_mode & FMODE_LSEEK) {
if (dump_interrupted() || vfs_llseek(file, nr, SEEK_CUR) < 0)
return false;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c b/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
index 1c8658f35735..a5b9cde47239 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/coredump/coredump_test_helpers.c
@@ -275,7 +275,8 @@ bool send_coredump_ack(int fd, const struct coredump_req *req,
/* Every option the kernel is expected to advertise in coredump_req->mask. */
#define TEST_REQ_MASK_ALL \
(COREDUMP_KERNEL | COREDUMP_USERSPACE | \
- COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT | COREDUMP_RECORDS)
+ COREDUMP_REJECT | COREDUMP_WAIT | \
+ COREDUMP_RECORDS | COREDUMP_SPARSE)
bool check_coredump_req(const struct coredump_req *req)
{
--
2.53.0