Re: [PATCH 1/2] userns: Add __counted_by_ptr attribute to struct uid_gid_map
From: Oleg Nesterov
Date: Sun Aug 23 2026 - 10:53:32 EST
On 08/23, Bill Wendling wrote:
>
> The compiler attribute __counted_by_ptr associates a pointer field of a
> struct with a sibling field within the same struct that specifies the
> element count of the allocated memory. This enables KASAN and fortified
> bounds-checking to detect out-of-bounds accesses to the pointer field at
> runtime.
>
> We can add the __counted_by_ptr attribute to the 'forward' and 'reverse'
> pointer fields of 'struct uid_gid_map', which are counted by
> 'nr_extents'. Since 'nr_extents' is defined in a sibling anonymous
> struct inside an anonymous union, the nearest common non-anonymous
> struct level is 'struct uid_gid_map' itself, which is supported by the
> compiler.
>
> However, doing so has runtime implications. In the original
> implementation of insert_extent(), elements are written to
> map->forward[map->nr_extents] before map->nr_extents is incremented:
>
> if (map->nr_extents < UID_GID_MAP_MAX_BASE_EXTENTS)
> dest = &map->extent[map->nr_extents];
> else
> dest = &map->forward[map->nr_extents];
>
> *dest = *extent;
> map->nr_extents++;
>
> At the time of writing to 'map->forward[map->nr_extents]',
> map->nr_extents is still 5, but we are accessing index 5 (which is the
> 6th element). Under __counted_by_ptr(nr_extents), the compiler and
> KASAN expect the accessed index to be strictly less than
> map->nr_extents. Therefore, accessing index 5 when the count is 5
> triggers an out-of-bounds panic/trap at runtime.
>
> To resolve this, insert_extent() is refactored to increment
> map->nr_extents first, and then use map->nr_extents - 1 as the index:
>
> map->nr_extents++;
> if (map->nr_extents <= UID_GID_MAP_MAX_BASE_EXTENTS)
> dest = &map->extent[map->nr_extents - 1];
> else
> dest = &map->forward[map->nr_extents - 1];
>
> *dest = *extent;
I leave this to you and other reviewers (add Alexey), you can safely
ignore my nit.
To me
if (map->nr_extents < UID_GID_MAP_MAX_BASE_EXTENTS)
dest = &map->extent;
else
dest = &map->forward;
map->nr_extents++;
dest[map->nr_extents - 1] = *extent;
looks a bit more clear, but this is minor/subjective.
Either way, I think this needs a short comment to explain why do we
need to increment ->nr_extents first, then subtract 1. IOW, to explain
why (say)
dest[map->nr_extents++] = *extent;
would be wrong.
Oleg.
> Assisted-by: Gemini Next
> Signed-off-by: Bill Wendling <morbo@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
> Cc: Kees Cook <kees@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Gustavo A. R. Silva" <gustavoars@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Christian Brauner <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Aleksa Sarai <cyphar@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
> Cc: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Nicolas Schier <nsc@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Gary Guo <gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Thomas Weißschuh" <thomas.weissschuh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Douglas Anderson <dianders@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Anand Moon <linux.amoon@xxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: codemender-patching+linux@xxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: linux-hardening@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ---
> include/linux/user_namespace.h | 4 ++--
> kernel/user_namespace.c | 8 ++++----
> 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/user_namespace.h b/include/linux/user_namespace.h
> index e38d9e60569f..2962256eddf7 100644
> --- a/include/linux/user_namespace.h
> +++ b/include/linux/user_namespace.h
> @@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ struct uid_gid_map { /* 64 bytes -- 1 cache line */
> u32 nr_extents;
> };
> struct {
> - struct uid_gid_extent *forward;
> - struct uid_gid_extent *reverse;
> + struct uid_gid_extent *forward __counted_by_ptr(nr_extents);
> + struct uid_gid_extent *reverse __counted_by_ptr(nr_extents);
> };
> };
> };
> diff --git a/kernel/user_namespace.c b/kernel/user_namespace.c
> index 0bed462e9b2a..7e5371d8f515 100644
> --- a/kernel/user_namespace.c
> +++ b/kernel/user_namespace.c
> @@ -809,13 +809,13 @@ static int insert_extent(struct uid_gid_map *map, struct uid_gid_extent *extent)
> map->reverse = NULL;
> }
>
> - if (map->nr_extents < UID_GID_MAP_MAX_BASE_EXTENTS)
> - dest = &map->extent[map->nr_extents];
> + map->nr_extents++;
> + if (map->nr_extents <= UID_GID_MAP_MAX_BASE_EXTENTS)
> + dest = &map->extent[map->nr_extents - 1];
> else
> - dest = &map->forward[map->nr_extents];
> + dest = &map->forward[map->nr_extents - 1];
>
> *dest = *extent;
> - map->nr_extents++;
> return 0;
> }
>
> --
> 2.55.0.860.g4b6b3295ed-goog
>