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From: Bill Wendling <morbo@google.com>
To: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>, Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,  linux-hardening@vger.kernel.org,
	Bill Wendling <morbo@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2] seq_buf: add seq_buf_strlen(), seq_buf_init_append(), seq_buf_puts_trunc()
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:21:25 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260916222125.1259631-1-morbo@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260916221528.1256283-1-morbo@google.com>

Converting some strlcat() call sites seq_buf need behavior seq_buf doesn't
currently provide, either directly or without introducing subtle bugs:

 - seq_buf_strlen(): seq_buf_used() reports the full buffer size when the
   buffer is completely filled, even though seq_buf_str() then overwrites the
   final byte with a NUL terminator, leaving only size - 1 bytes of
   actual content. Callers that need the true length of the
   NUL-terminated string have to fall back to strlen(seq_buf_str(s)).
   seq_buf_strlen() mirrors seq_buf_str()'s NUL-termination logic but returns
   the resulting string's length directly.

 - seq_buf_init_append(): seq_buf_init() always clears the buffer it's given
   via seq_buf_clear(). Code migrating from strlcat(buf, ...), which
   appends to whatever @buf already contains, can't use seq_buf_init()
   without silently discarding that existing content. seq_buf_init_append()
   preserves it and positions the seq_buf to append after it.

 - seq_buf_puts_trunc(): seq_buf_puts() (like seq_buf_printf() and friends)
   writes nothing at all if the string doesn't fully fit, whereas strlcat()
   always copies as much of the source as there is room for. Converting a
   strlcat() call site that relied on that partial-copy behavior to
   plain seq_buf_puts() can silently drop content that used to survive
   truncated. seq_buf_puts_trunc() keeps the leading bytes of the string
   that fit.

Assisted-by: LLM
Suggested-by: Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Bill Wendling <morbo@google.com>
---
v2: Reword the commit message to be clearer and not refer to a series of
    patches
---
 include/linux/seq_buf.h | 60 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 lib/seq_buf.c           | 35 ++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 95 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/linux/seq_buf.h b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
index 9f2839e73f8a..a552bcaab07f 100644
--- a/include/linux/seq_buf.h
+++ b/include/linux/seq_buf.h
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ struct seq_buf {
 		.size = SIZE,				\
 	}
 
+/**
+ * seq_buf_clear - reset the seq_buf to be read / appended from the beginning
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ */
 static inline void seq_buf_clear(struct seq_buf *s)
 {
 	s->len = 0;
@@ -37,6 +41,14 @@ static inline void seq_buf_clear(struct seq_buf *s)
 		s->buffer[0] = '\0';
 }
 
+/**
+ * seq_buf_init - initialize a seq_buf
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ * @buf: pointer to the buffer
+ * @size: total size of @buf
+ *
+ * The contents of the buffer are ignored.
+ */
 static inline void
 seq_buf_init(struct seq_buf *s, char *buf, unsigned int size)
 {
@@ -45,6 +57,26 @@ seq_buf_init(struct seq_buf *s, char *buf, unsigned int size)
 	seq_buf_clear(s);
 }
 
+/**
+ * seq_buf_init_append - initialize a seq_buf over a buffer that may
+ *			 already hold NUL-terminated content
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ * @buf: pointer to the (possibly non-empty) buffer
+ * @size: total size of @buf
+ *
+ * Unlike seq_buf_init(), which always clears @buf, this preserves
+ * whatever NUL-terminated content @buf already holds and positions
+ * @s to append after it. Useful for converting code that used to
+ * append to an existing buffer with strlcat()/scnprintf() and friends.
+ */
+static inline void
+seq_buf_init_append(struct seq_buf *s, char *buf, unsigned int size)
+{
+	s->buffer = buf;
+	s->size = size;
+	s->len = strnlen(buf, size);
+}
+
 /*
  * seq_buf have a buffer that might overflow. When this happens
  * len is set to be greater than size.
@@ -108,6 +140,33 @@ static inline const char *seq_buf_str(struct seq_buf *s)
 	return s->buffer;
 }
 
+/**
+ * seq_buf_strlen - get the length of the NUL-terminated string in seq_buf
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ *
+ * Like seq_buf_str(), this makes sure that the buffer in @s is
+ * NUL-terminated, and returns the length of the resulting string.
+ * Unlike seq_buf_used(), the returned length is always correct, even
+ * when the buffer is completely full: in that case seq_buf_used()
+ * reports @s->size, but the last byte was overwritten with the
+ * trailing NUL, so only @s->size - 1 bytes of content remain.
+ *
+ * Returns: the length of the NUL-terminated string in @s->buffer.
+ */
+static inline size_t seq_buf_strlen(struct seq_buf *s)
+{
+	if (WARN_ON(s->size == 0))
+		return 0;
+
+	if (seq_buf_buffer_left(s)) {
+		s->buffer[s->len] = 0;
+		return s->len;
+	}
+
+	s->buffer[s->size - 1] = 0;
+	return s->size - 1;
+}
+
 /**
  * seq_buf_get_buf - get buffer to write arbitrary data to
  * @s: the seq_buf handle
@@ -179,6 +238,7 @@ extern int seq_buf_putmem(struct seq_buf *s, const void *mem, unsigned int len);
 extern int seq_buf_putmem_hex(struct seq_buf *s, const void *mem,
 			      unsigned int len);
 extern int seq_buf_path(struct seq_buf *s, const struct path *path, const char *esc);
+extern size_t seq_buf_puts_trunc(struct seq_buf *s, const char *str);
 extern int seq_buf_hex_dump(struct seq_buf *s, const char *prefix_str,
 			    int prefix_type, int rowsize, int groupsize,
 			    const void *buf, size_t len, bool ascii);
diff --git a/lib/seq_buf.c b/lib/seq_buf.c
index a92093f346da..4d56ac71fafe 100644
--- a/lib/seq_buf.c
+++ b/lib/seq_buf.c
@@ -376,6 +376,41 @@ int seq_buf_to_user(struct seq_buf *s, char __user *ubuf, size_t start, int cnt)
 	return cnt - ret;
 }
 
+/**
+ * seq_buf_puts_trunc - append as much of a string as fits, keeping any of it
+ * @s: the seq_buf handle
+ * @str: the string to append
+ *
+ * seq_buf_puts() writes nothing at all if @str doesn't fully fit,
+ * unlike strlcat()/strscpy(), which copy as much of the source as
+ * there is room for. That all-or-nothing behavior is usually what's
+ * wanted for building diagnostic/trace text, but it's the wrong
+ * choice when converting code that relied on strlcat()'s always-copy-
+ * what-fits truncation to avoid losing content that was already
+ * appended. This copies the leading bytes of @str that fit, reserving
+ * room for the NUL terminator later added by seq_buf_str().
+ *
+ * Unlike seq_buf_puts(), this does NOT NUL-terminate @s->buffer as it
+ * goes (it copies raw bytes via seq_buf_putmem(), not @str's own
+ * terminator). Callers MUST call seq_buf_str() or seq_buf_strlen()
+ * before using @s->buffer as a C string.
+ *
+ * Returns: the number of bytes copied from @str.
+ */
+size_t seq_buf_puts_trunc(struct seq_buf *s, const char *str)
+{
+	size_t left = seq_buf_buffer_left(s);
+	size_t len;
+
+	if (left <= 1)
+		return 0;
+
+	len = strnlen(str, left - 1);
+	seq_buf_putmem(s, str, len);
+
+	return len;
+}
+
 /**
  * seq_buf_hex_dump - print formatted hex dump into the sequence buffer
  * @s: seq_buf descriptor
-- 
2.55.0.1082.g2b9226bbc0-goog


  reply	other threads:[~2026-09-16 22:21 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 5+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-09-16 22:15 [PATCH] " Bill Wendling
2026-09-16 22:21 ` Bill Wendling [this message]
2026-09-16 23:47   ` [PATCH v2] " Andrew Morton
2026-09-16 23:55     ` Bill Wendling
2026-09-17  1:13   ` [PATCH v3] " Bill Wendling

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