[PATCH v6 04/26] perf trace: Bounds check augmented arguments before reading them

From: Ian Rogers

Date: Mon Sep 28 2026 - 14:34:21 EST


syscall_arg__scnprintf_buf() and syscall_arg__scnprintf_augmented_string()
trust the augmented arg's size, so a bad one reads out of bounds:

#3 0x4c0fa0 in syscall_arg__scnprintf_buf builtin-trace.c:1955
#4 0x4c2f3d in syscall_arg_fmt__scnprintf_val builtin-trace.c:2632
#5 0x4c33ae in syscall__scnprintf_args builtin-trace.c:2722
#6 0x4c43d3 in trace__sys_enter builtin-trace.c:3094
#7 0x4c7865 in trace__handle_event builtin-trace.c:4013

Move the check in btf_struct_scnprintf() to a helper,
syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(), and use it in both. When the check
fails, syscall_arg__scnprintf_filename() now falls back to vfs_getname or
the pointer.

Reported-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@xxxxxxxxxx>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-perf-users/arJ-gpzqOHk-gF8T@x2/
Assisted-by: Antigravity:gemini-3.1-pro
Signed-off-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/perf/builtin-trace.c | 23 ++++++++++++++---------
tools/perf/trace/beauty/beauty.h | 17 +++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 31 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
index c39de91140a0..85db74965280 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-trace.c
@@ -1139,14 +1139,11 @@ static size_t btf_struct_scnprintf(const struct btf_type *type, struct btf *btf,
LIBBPF_OPTS(btf_dump_opts, dump_opts);
LIBBPF_OPTS(btf_dump_type_data_opts, dump_data_opts);

- if (arg == NULL || arg->augmented.args == NULL || arg->augmented.size < (int)sizeof(*augmented_arg) ||
+ if (!syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(arg, type->size) ||
arg->fmt == NULL || !arg->fmt->from_user)
return 0;

augmented_arg = arg->augmented.args;
- if (augmented_arg->size <= 0 || augmented_arg->size > arg->augmented.size - (int)sizeof(*augmented_arg) ||
- (size_t)augmented_arg->size < type->size)
- return 0;

dump_data_opts.compact = true;
dump_data_opts.skip_names = !arg->trace->show_arg_names;
@@ -1904,12 +1901,18 @@ static void thread__set_filename_pos(struct thread *thread, const char *bf,
static size_t syscall_arg__scnprintf_augmented_string(struct syscall_arg *arg, char *bf, size_t size)
{
struct augmented_arg *augmented_arg = arg->augmented.args;
- size_t printed = scnprintf(bf, size, "\"%.*s\"", augmented_arg->size, augmented_arg->value);
+ size_t printed;
+ int consumed;
+
+ if (!syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(arg, 0))
+ return 0;
+
+ printed = scnprintf(bf, size, "\"%.*s\"", augmented_arg->size, augmented_arg->value);
/*
* So that the next arg with a payload can consume its augmented arg, i.e. for rename* syscalls
* we would have two strings, each prefixed by its size.
*/
- int consumed = sizeof(*augmented_arg) + augmented_arg->size;
+ consumed = sizeof(*augmented_arg) + augmented_arg->size;

arg->augmented.args = ((void *)arg->augmented.args) + consumed;
arg->augmented.size -= consumed;
@@ -1922,7 +1925,7 @@ static size_t syscall_arg__scnprintf_filename(char *bf, size_t size,
{
unsigned long ptr = arg->val;

- if (arg->augmented.args)
+ if (syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(arg, 0))
return syscall_arg__scnprintf_augmented_string(arg, bf, size);

if (!arg->trace->vfs_getname)
@@ -1938,13 +1941,15 @@ static size_t syscall_arg__scnprintf_filename(char *bf, size_t size,
static size_t syscall_arg__scnprintf_buf(char *bf, size_t size, struct syscall_arg *arg)
{
struct augmented_arg *augmented_arg = arg->augmented.args;
- unsigned char *orig = (unsigned char *)augmented_arg->value;
size_t printed = 0;
+ unsigned char *orig;
int consumed;

- if (augmented_arg == NULL)
+ if (!syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(arg, 0))
return 0;

+ orig = (unsigned char *)augmented_arg->value;
+
for (int j = 0; j < augmented_arg->size; ++j) {
bool control_char = orig[j] <= MAX_CONTROL_CHAR || orig[j] >= MAX_ASCII;
/* print control characters (0~31 and 127), and non-ascii characters in \(digits) */
diff --git a/tools/perf/trace/beauty/beauty.h b/tools/perf/trace/beauty/beauty.h
index 0f4801c61a5b..1cd307328bb2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/trace/beauty/beauty.h
+++ b/tools/perf/trace/beauty/beauty.h
@@ -124,6 +124,23 @@ struct syscall_arg {

unsigned long syscall_arg__val(struct syscall_arg *arg, u8 idx);

+/* Is there a whole augmented arg left with at least @need bytes of payload? */
+static inline bool syscall_arg__augmented_args_valid(struct syscall_arg *arg, size_t need)
+{
+ const struct augmented_arg *augmented_arg;
+
+ if (arg == NULL || arg->augmented.args == NULL ||
+ arg->augmented.size < (int)sizeof(*augmented_arg))
+ return false;
+
+ augmented_arg = arg->augmented.args;
+ if (augmented_arg->size < 0 ||
+ augmented_arg->size > arg->augmented.size - (int)sizeof(*augmented_arg))
+ return false;
+
+ return (size_t)augmented_arg->size >= need;
+}
+
size_t syscall_arg__scnprintf_strarray_flags(char *bf, size_t size, struct syscall_arg *arg);
#define SCA_STRARRAY_FLAGS syscall_arg__scnprintf_strarray_flags

--
2.56.0.rc1.315.gc6ed9934b7-goog