[PATCH] perf header: Validate build_id filename length to prevent buffer overflow

[PATCH] perf header: Validate build_id filename length to prevent buffer overflow

[SeungJu Cheon]

The build_id parsing functions calculate a filename length from the
event header size and read directly into a stack buffer of PATH_MAX
bytes without bounds checking. A malformed perf.data file with a
crafted header.size can cause the length to be negative or exceed
PATH_MAX, resulting in a stack buffer overflow.

Add bounds checking for the filename length in both
perf_header__read_build_ids() and the ABI quirk variant.

Signed-off-by: SeungJu Cheon <suunj1331@gmail.com>
---
 tools/perf/util/header.c | 6 ++++++
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/header.c b/tools/perf/util/header.c
index f5cad377c99e..208ccaa62399 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/header.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/header.c
@@ -2335,6 +2335,9 @@ static int perf_header__read_build_ids_abi_quirk(struct perf_header *header,
 			perf_event_header__bswap(&old_bev.header);
 
 		len = old_bev.header.size - sizeof(old_bev);
+		if (len < 0 || len >= PATH_MAX)
+			return -1;
+
 		if (readn(input, filename, len) != len)
 			return -1;
 
@@ -2377,6 +2380,9 @@ static int perf_header__read_build_ids(struct perf_header *header,
 			perf_event_header__bswap(&bev.header);
 
 		len = bev.header.size - sizeof(bev);
+		if (len < 0 || len >= PATH_MAX)
+			goto out;
+
 		if (readn(input, filename, len) != len)
 			goto out;
 		/*
-- 
2.52.0

Re: [PATCH] perf header: Validate build_id filename length to prevent buffer overflow

[Ian Rogers]

On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 12:37 AM SeungJu Cheon <suunj1331@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The build_id parsing functions calculate a filename length from the
> event header size and read directly into a stack buffer of PATH_MAX
> bytes without bounds checking. A malformed perf.data file with a
> crafted header.size can cause the length to be negative or exceed
> PATH_MAX, resulting in a stack buffer overflow.
>
> Add bounds checking for the filename length in both
> perf_header__read_build_ids() and the ABI quirk variant.

Lgtm, could we print errors when these conditions occur?

Thanks,
Ian

> Signed-off-by: SeungJu Cheon <suunj1331@gmail.com>
> ---
>  tools/perf/util/header.c | 6 ++++++
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/tools/perf/util/header.c b/tools/perf/util/header.c
> index f5cad377c99e..208ccaa62399 100644
> --- a/tools/perf/util/header.c
> +++ b/tools/perf/util/header.c
> @@ -2335,6 +2335,9 @@ static int perf_header__read_build_ids_abi_quirk(struct perf_header *header,
>                         perf_event_header__bswap(&old_bev.header);
>
>                 len = old_bev.header.size - sizeof(old_bev);
> +               if (len < 0 || len >= PATH_MAX)
> +                       return -1;
> +
>                 if (readn(input, filename, len) != len)
>                         return -1;
>
> @@ -2377,6 +2380,9 @@ static int perf_header__read_build_ids(struct perf_header *header,
>                         perf_event_header__bswap(&bev.header);
>
>                 len = bev.header.size - sizeof(bev);
> +               if (len < 0 || len >= PATH_MAX)
> +                       goto out;
> +
>                 if (readn(input, filename, len) != len)
>                         goto out;
>                 /*
> --
> 2.52.0
>