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From: Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
To: linux-hardening@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk@kernel.org>,
	 "Maciej W. Rozycki" <macro@orcam.me.uk>,
	Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@linux-m68k.org>,
	 Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>,
	Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>,
	 Andy Shevchenko <andy@kernel.org>,
	Bartosz Golaszewski <brgl@kernel.org>,
	 Daniel Scally <djrscally@gmail.com>,
	Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>,
	 Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>,
	Hans Verkuil <hverkuil-cisco@xs4all.nl>,
	 Heikki Krogerus <heikki.krogerus@linux.intel.com>,
	Joe Perches <joe@perches.com>, Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org>,
	 Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>,
	Laurent Pinchart <laurent.pinchart@ideasonboard.com>,
	 Len Brown <lenb@kernel.org>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>,
	 Linus Walleij <linusw@kernel.org>,
	Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>,
	 "Rafael J. Wysocki" <rafael@kernel.org>,
	Rob Herring <robh@kernel.org>,
	 Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>,
	Saravana Kannan <saravanak@kernel.org>,
	 Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
	Tom Zanussi <zanussi@kernel.org>,
	linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org,  driver-core@lists.linux.dev,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, devicetree@vger.kernel.org,
	 linux-gpio@vger.kernel.org,
	Bartosz Golaszewski <bartosz.golaszewski@oss.qualcomm.com>
Subject: [PATCH v3 1/5] string: Add strprefix(), and deprecate str_has_prefix()
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 2026 16:33:23 +0100	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <556766412884389a7cecfe6affcc9fa3a78f9807.1794323750.git.alx@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <cover.1794323750.git.alx@kernel.org>

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As Bartosz reported, str_has_prefix() has a bug: it can't differentiate
between an empty prefix matching an empty string from a non-matching
prefix.  This is a fundamental design flaw in this API, and not
something that can be fixed.

As always, this is a consequence of choosing sizes instead of pointers.
Sizes are often the wrong choice.  In this specific case, pointers are
more capable of differentiating these cases, as NULL is a special
sentinel value that doesn't need to overload a valid value.

Let's implement strprefix(), a function that returns a pointer
right after the prefix if found, and a null pointer if not found.

We'll slowly migrate existing code from str_has_prefix() to strprefix().

Copy the description from str_has_prefix().

Reported-by: Bartosz Golaszewski <bartosz.golaszewski@oss.qualcomm.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/linux-hardening/20261104-fwnode-for-each-prop-v1-1-6e28fe1c72c4@oss.qualcomm.com/
Cc: Andy Shevchenko <andy@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
---
 include/linux/string.h   | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 lib/tests/string_kunit.c |  9 +++++++++
 2 files changed, 36 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/string.h b/include/linux/string.h
index 6cb5cdd01158..12e31c17f0d3 100644
--- a/include/linux/string.h
+++ b/include/linux/string.h
@@ -546,15 +546,38 @@ void memcpy_and_pad(void *dest, size_t dest_len, const void *src, size_t count,
 })
 
 /**
- * str_has_prefix - Test if a string has a given prefix
- * @str: The string to test
- * @prefix: The string to see if @str starts with
+ * strprefix - string prefix
+ * @s: The string to be tested
+ * @prefix: The string to see if @s starts with
  *
  * A common way to test a prefix of a string is to do:
  *  strncmp(str, prefix, sizeof(prefix) - 1)
  *
  * But this can lead to bugs due to typos, or if prefix is a pointer
- * and not a constant. Instead use str_has_prefix().
+ * and not a constant. Instead use strprefix().
+ *
+ * Returns:
+ * *  @s+strlen(@prefix) if @s starts with @prefix
+ * *  NULL if @s does not start with @prefix
+ */
+static inline char *strprefix(const char *s, const char *prefix)
+{
+	size_t len = strlen(prefix);
+	return strncmp(s, prefix, len) == 0 ? (char *) s + len : NULL;
+}
+
+/**
+ * str_has_prefix - Test if a string has a given prefix
+ * @str: The string to test
+ * @prefix: The string to see if @str starts with
+ *
+ * DEPRECATED: Use strprefix()
+ *
+ * A common way to test a prefix of a string is to do:
+ *  strncmp(str, prefix, sizeof(prefix) - 1)
+ *
+ * But this can lead to bugs due to typos, or if prefix is a pointer
+ * and not a constant. Instead use strprefix().
  *
  * Returns:
  * * strlen(@prefix) if @str starts with @prefix
diff --git a/lib/tests/string_kunit.c b/lib/tests/string_kunit.c
index 0819ace5b027..73d2614b1474 100644
--- a/lib/tests/string_kunit.c
+++ b/lib/tests/string_kunit.c
@@ -287,6 +287,14 @@ static void string_test_strspn(struct kunit *test)
 	}
 }
 
+static void string_test_strprefix(struct kunit *test)
+{
+	KUNIT_ASSERT_EQ(test, 0, strcmp(strprefix("foobar", "foo"), "bar"));
+	KUNIT_ASSERT_EQ(test, 0, strcmp(strprefix("foobar", ""), "foobar"));
+	KUNIT_ASSERT_EQ(test, 0, strcmp(strprefix("foobar", "foobar"), ""));
+	KUNIT_ASSERT_NULL(test, strprefix("foobar", "bar"));
+}
+
 static char strcmp_buffer1[STRCMP_LARGE_BUF_LEN];
 static char strcmp_buffer2[STRCMP_LARGE_BUF_LEN];
 
@@ -891,6 +899,7 @@ static struct kunit_case string_test_cases[] = {
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strnchr),
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strrchr),
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strspn),
+	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strprefix),
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strcmp),
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strcmp_long_strings),
 	KUNIT_CASE(string_test_strncmp),
-- 
2.55.0


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  reply	other threads:[~2026-11-10 15:33 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 9+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-11-10 15:33 [PATCH v3 0/5] Add strprefix() and fix a bug with it Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 15:33 ` Alejandro Colomar [this message]
2026-11-10 15:47   ` [PATCH v3 1/5] string: Add strprefix(), and deprecate str_has_prefix() Joe Perches
2026-11-10 16:14     ` Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 15:33 ` [PATCH v3 2/5] device property: Fix fwnode_name_eq() for empty node names Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 15:33 ` [PATCH v3 3/5] stddef: Add const_cast() Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 15:33 ` [PATCH v3 4/5] string: Add [C]QChar_of() and QVoid_of() Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 15:33 ` [PATCH v3 5/5] string: Make strprefix() const-qualifier-generic Alejandro Colomar
2026-11-10 16:32   ` Joe Perches

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