Re:Re: [PATCH v3] bpftool: Add CET-aware symbol matching for x86_64 architectures

[chenyuan <chenyuan_fl@163.com>]

Thank you for your feedback! Does ARM64 require similar address adjustment detection? In my ARM64
 environment with BTI enabled, bpftool correctly retrieves and prints function symbols. Could my verification
 method be flawed?
Here’s a detailed explanation:

ARM64 BTI vs. x86 CET: Fundamental Differences

    x86 CET (Control-flow Enforcement Technology):
        Requires endbr32/endbr64 at function entries. Overwriting these instructions breaks CET protection .
        Kernel logic (e.g., bpf_trace.c) adjusts symbol addresses by -4 to skip the endbr prefix .
    ARM64 BTI (Branch Target Identification):
        Uses BTI instructions as "landing pads" for indirect jumps. Kprobes can safely overwrite BTI instructions without triggering faults because:
            Executing BTI, SG, or PACBTI clears EPSR.B (the enforcement flag), allowing subsequent non-BTI instructions .
            Non-landing-pad instructions (e.g., probes) only fault if executed before EPSR.B is cleared – which doesn’t occur when probes replace BTI .

https://community.arm.com/arm-community-blogs/b/architectures-and-processors-blog/posts/armv8-1-m-pointer-authentication-and-branch-target-identification-extension









At 2025-07-01 10:31:41, "Yonghong Song" <yonghong.song@linux.dev> wrote:
>
>
>On 6/26/25 12:49 AM, Yuan Chen wrote:
>> From: Yuan Chen <chenyuan@kylinos.cn>
>>
>> Adjust symbol matching logic to account for Control-flow Enforcement
>> Technology (CET) on x86_64 systems. CET prefixes functions with a 4-byte
>> 'endbr' instruction, shifting the actual entry point to symbol + 4.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Yuan Chen <chenyuan@kylinos.cn>
>> ---
>>   tools/bpf/bpftool/link.c | 30 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
>>   1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/tools/bpf/bpftool/link.c b/tools/bpf/bpftool/link.c
>> index 03513ffffb79..dfd192b4c5ad 100644
>> --- a/tools/bpf/bpftool/link.c
>> +++ b/tools/bpf/bpftool/link.c
>> @@ -307,8 +307,21 @@ show_kprobe_multi_json(struct bpf_link_info *info, json_writer_t *wtr)
>>   		goto error;
>>   
>>   	for (i = 0; i < dd.sym_count; i++) {
>> -		if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address != data[j].addr)
>> +		if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address != data[j].addr) {
>> +#if defined(__x86_64__) || defined(__amd64__)
>> +			/*
>> +			 * On x86_64 architectures with CET (Control-flow Enforcement Technology),
>> +			 * function entry points have a 4-byte 'endbr' instruction prefix.
>> +			 * This causes the actual function address = symbol address + 4.
>> +			 * Here we check if this symbol matches the target address minus 4,
>> +			 * indicating we've found a CET-enabled function entry point.
>> +			 */
>> +			if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address == data[j].addr - 4)
>> +				goto found;
>> +#endif
>
>In kernel/trace/bpf_trace.c, I see
>
>static inline unsigned long get_entry_ip(unsigned long fentry_ip)
>{
>#ifdef CONFIG_X86_KERNEL_IBT
>         if (is_endbr((void *)(fentry_ip - ENDBR_INSN_SIZE)))
>                 fentry_ip -= ENDBR_INSN_SIZE;
>#endif
>         return fentry_ip;
>}
>
>Could you explain why arm64 also need to do checking
>     if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address == data[j].addr - 4)
>like x86_64?
>
>>   			continue;
>> +		}
>> +found:
>>   		jsonw_start_object(json_wtr);
>>   		jsonw_uint_field(json_wtr, "addr", dd.sym_mapping[i].address);
>>   		jsonw_string_field(json_wtr, "func", dd.sym_mapping[i].name);
>> @@ -744,8 +757,21 @@ static void show_kprobe_multi_plain(struct bpf_link_info *info)
>>   
>>   	printf("\n\t%-16s %-16s %s", "addr", "cookie", "func [module]");
>>   	for (i = 0; i < dd.sym_count; i++) {
>> -		if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address != data[j].addr)
>> +		if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address != data[j].addr) {
>> +#if defined(__x86_64__) || defined(__amd64__)
>> +			/*
>> +			 * On x86_64 architectures with CET (Control-flow Enforcement Technology),
>> +			 * function entry points have a 4-byte 'endbr' instruction prefix.
>> +			 * This causes the actual function address = symbol address + 4.
>> +			 * Here we check if this symbol matches the target address minus 4,
>> +			 * indicating we've found a CET-enabled function entry point.
>> +			 */
>> +			if (dd.sym_mapping[i].address == data[j].addr - 4)
>> +				goto found;
>> +#endif
>>   			continue;
>> +		}
>> +found:
>>   		printf("\n\t%016lx %-16llx %s",
>>   		       dd.sym_mapping[i].address, data[j].cookie, dd.sym_mapping[i].name);
>>   		if (dd.sym_mapping[i].module[0] != '\0')