On Tue, Sep 9, 2025 at 8:39 AM Jiri Olsa <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> Currently uprobe (BPF_PROG_TYPE_KPROBE) program can't write to the
> context registers data. While this makes sense for kprobe attachments,
> for uprobe attachment it might make sense to be able to change user
> space registers to alter application execution.
>
> Since uprobe and kprobe programs share the same type (BPF_PROG_TYPE_KPROBE),
> we can't deny write access to context during the program load. We need
> to check on it during program attachment to see if it's going to be
> kprobe or uprobe.
>
> Storing the program's write attempt to context and checking on it
> during the attachment.
>
> Signed-off-by: Jiri Olsa <[email protected]>
> ---
> include/linux/bpf.h | 1 +
> kernel/events/core.c | 4 ++++
> kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c | 7 +++++--
> 3 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h
> index cc700925b802..404a30cde84e 100644
> --- a/include/linux/bpf.h
> +++ b/include/linux/bpf.h
> @@ -1619,6 +1619,7 @@ struct bpf_prog_aux {
> bool priv_stack_requested;
> bool changes_pkt_data;
> bool might_sleep;
> + bool kprobe_write_ctx;
> u64 prog_array_member_cnt; /* counts how many times as member of
> prog_array */
> struct mutex ext_mutex; /* mutex for is_extended and
> prog_array_member_cnt */
> struct bpf_arena *arena;
> diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
> index 28de3baff792..c3f37b266fc4 100644
> --- a/kernel/events/core.c
> +++ b/kernel/events/core.c
> @@ -11238,6 +11238,10 @@ static int __perf_event_set_bpf_prog(struct
> perf_event *event,
> if (prog->kprobe_override && !is_kprobe)
> return -EINVAL;
>
> + /* Writing to context allowed only for uprobes. */
> + if (prog->aux->kprobe_write_ctx && !is_uprobe)
> + return -EINVAL;
> +
> if (is_tracepoint || is_syscall_tp) {
> int off = trace_event_get_offsets(event->tp_event);
>
> diff --git a/kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c b/kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c
> index 3ae52978cae6..dfb19e773afa 100644
> --- a/kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c
> +++ b/kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c
> @@ -1521,8 +1521,6 @@ static bool kprobe_prog_is_valid_access(int off, int
> size, enum bpf_access_type
> {
> if (off < 0 || off >= sizeof(struct pt_regs))
> return false;
> - if (type != BPF_READ)
> - return false;
> if (off % size != 0)
> return false;
> /*
> @@ -1532,6 +1530,7 @@ static bool kprobe_prog_is_valid_access(int off, int
> size, enum bpf_access_type
> if (off + size > sizeof(struct pt_regs))
> return false;
>
> + prog->aux->kprobe_write_ctx |= type == BPF_WRITE;
nit: minor preference for
if (type == BPF_WRITE)
prog->aux->kprobe_write_ctx = true;
> return true;
> }
>
> @@ -2913,6 +2912,10 @@ int bpf_kprobe_multi_link_attach(const union bpf_attr
> *attr, struct bpf_prog *pr
> if (!is_kprobe_multi(prog))
> return -EINVAL;
>
> + /* Writing to context is not allowed for kprobes. */
> + if (prog->aux->kprobe_write_ctx)
> + return -EINVAL;
> +
> flags = attr->link_create.kprobe_multi.flags;
> if (flags & ~BPF_F_KPROBE_MULTI_RETURN)
> return -EINVAL;
> --
> 2.51.0
>
