[PATCH v13 01/12] kprobes: Protect kprobe_blacklist with RCU
From: Masami Hiramatsu (Google)
Date: Sat Aug 22 2026 - 05:23:00 EST
From: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@xxxxxxxxxx>
__within_kprobe_blacklist() traverses kprobe_blacklist without holding
kprobe_mutex. When a module is unloaded, kprobe_remove_area_blacklist()
removes blacklist entries and immediately frees them with kfree().
A concurrent call to within_kprobe_blacklist() can therefore dereference
freed memory.
Furthermore, within_kprobe_blacklist() can be called in atomic or
non-preemptible contexts where the sleeping kprobe_mutex cannot be taken.
Protect kprobe_blacklist with RCU. Use guard(rcu)() and
list_for_each_entry_rcu() for traversal, list_add_tail_rcu() for
insertions, list_del_rcu() for deletions, and kfree_rcu() to reclaim
entries safely after a grace period.
Assisted-by: Antigravity:gemini-3.7-flash
Signed-off-by: Masami Hiramatsu (Google) <mhiramat@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
Changes in v13:
- Newly added.
---
include/linux/kprobes.h | 1 +
kernel/kprobes.c | 14 ++++++++++----
2 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/include/linux/kprobes.h b/include/linux/kprobes.h
index 8c4f3bb24429..e6de7ae55bda 100644
--- a/include/linux/kprobes.h
+++ b/include/linux/kprobes.h
@@ -181,6 +181,7 @@ struct kprobe_blacklist_entry {
struct list_head list;
unsigned long start_addr;
unsigned long end_addr;
+ struct rcu_head rcu;
};
#ifdef CONFIG_KPROBES
diff --git a/kernel/kprobes.c b/kernel/kprobes.c
index bfc89083daa9..6337da5cab9e 100644
--- a/kernel/kprobes.c
+++ b/kernel/kprobes.c
@@ -1447,8 +1447,14 @@ static bool __within_kprobe_blacklist(unsigned long addr)
/*
* If 'kprobe_blacklist' is defined, check the address and
* reject any probe registration in the prohibited area.
+ * Note: this can return true during transition period where
+ * (start_addr, end_addr) in the black list is shrinking
+ * but old entry has not been removed yet. This is acceptable
+ * because the worst case is that we reject more probes than
+ * we should.
*/
- list_for_each_entry(ent, &kprobe_blacklist, list) {
+ guard(rcu)();
+ list_for_each_entry_rcu(ent, &kprobe_blacklist, list) {
if (addr >= ent->start_addr && addr < ent->end_addr)
return true;
}
@@ -2509,7 +2515,7 @@ int kprobe_add_ksym_blacklist(unsigned long entry)
ent->start_addr = entry;
ent->end_addr = entry + size;
INIT_LIST_HEAD(&ent->list);
- list_add_tail(&ent->list, &kprobe_blacklist);
+ list_add_tail_rcu(&ent->list, &kprobe_blacklist);
return (int)size;
}
@@ -2603,8 +2609,8 @@ static void kprobe_remove_area_blacklist(unsigned long start, unsigned long end)
list_for_each_entry_safe(ent, n, &kprobe_blacklist, list) {
if (ent->start_addr < start || ent->start_addr >= end)
continue;
- list_del(&ent->list);
- kfree(ent);
+ list_del_rcu(&ent->list);
+ kfree_rcu(ent, rcu);
}
}