From: Will Rosenberg <whrosenb@asu.edu>
Cc: Will Rosenberg <whrosenb@asu.edu>,
Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@kernel.org>,
Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>,
Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@arm.com>,
Alexander Shishkin <alexander.shishkin@linux.intel.com>,
Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>, Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>,
Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>,
James Clark <james.clark@linaro.org>,
linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org (open list:PERFORMANCE EVENTS
SUBSYSTEM),
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org (open list:PERFORMANCE EVENTS
SUBSYSTEM)
Subject: [PATCH] perf: Fix refcount warning on event->mmap_count increment
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2025 14:03:55 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20251229210355.65732-1-whrosenb@asu.edu> (raw)
When calling refcount_inc(&event->mmap_count) inside perf_mmap_rb(), the
following warning is triggered:
refcount_t: addition on 0; use-after-free.
WARNING: lib/refcount.c:25
PoC:
struct perf_event_attr attr = {0};
int fd = syscall(__NR_perf_event_open, &attr, 0, -1, -1, 0);
mmap(NULL, 0x3000, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
int victim = syscall(__NR_perf_event_open, &attr, 0, -1, fd,
PERF_FLAG_FD_OUTPUT);
mmap(NULL, 0x3000, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, victim, 0);
This occurs when creating a group member event with the flag
PERF_FLAG_FD_OUTPUT. The group leader should be mmap-ed and then mmap-ing
the event triggers the warning.
Since the event has copied the output_event in perf_event_set_output(),
event->rb is set. As a result, perf_mmap_rb() calls
refcount_inc(&event->mmap_count) when event->mmap_count = 0.
Account for the case when event->mmap_count = 0. This patch goes against
the design philosophy of the refcount library by re-enabling an empty
refcount, but the patch remains inline with the current treatment of
mmap_count.
Signed-off-by: Will Rosenberg <whrosenb@asu.edu>
---
Notes:
I also have a related concern about code that handles the mmap_count.
In perf_mmap_close(), if refcount_dec_and_mutex_lock() decrements
event->mmap_count to zero, then event->rb is set to NULL. This
effectively undos our output_event copy. However, is this desired
behavior? Should event->rb remain unchanged since it may still be
mmap-ed by other events and can still be used?
kernel/events/core.c | 3 ++-
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index 376fb07d869b..49709b627b1f 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -7279,7 +7279,8 @@ static int perf_mmap_rb(struct vm_area_struct *vma, struct perf_event *event,
* multiple times.
*/
perf_mmap_account(vma, user_extra, extra);
- refcount_inc(&event->mmap_count);
+ if (!refcount_inc_not_zero(&event->mmap_count))
+ refcount_set(&event->mmap_count, 1);
return 0;
}
base-commit: 538254cd98afb31b09c4cc58219217d8127c79be
--
2.34.1
next reply other threads:[~2025-12-29 21:04 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-12-29 21:03 Will Rosenberg [this message]
2026-01-05 8:47 ` Lai, Yi
2026-01-05 16:51 ` [PATCH v2] " Will Rosenberg
2026-01-06 9:34 ` Peter Zijlstra
2026-01-06 20:35 ` [PATCH v3] " Will Rosenberg
2026-01-19 18:49 ` [PATCH v3 RESEND] " Will Rosenberg
2026-01-20 12:23 ` Peter Zijlstra
2026-01-21 15:50 ` [tip: perf/urgent] " tip-bot2 for Will Rosenberg
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