Re: [PATCH bpf-next v3 03/12] bpf: Prepare linked scalars for relations narrower than 64 bits

[Vineet Gupta <vineet.gupta@linux.dev>]

On 10/20/26 10:08 AM, bot+bpf-ci@kernel.org wrote:
>> bpf: Prepare linked scalars for relations narrower than 64 bits
> TL;DR: Commit message only: regs_exact() now also rejects states whose linked
> scalars share a base id in old but not in cur, a stricter infinite-loop check
> the changelog doesn't mention.
>
>> bpf: Prepare linked scalars for relations narrower than 64 bits
>>
>> Two scalars sharing an ->id are always related by full 64-bit equality
>> today: reg == base + delta over all 64 bits (this is true for
>> BPF_ADD_CONST32 as well, which implies upper bits to be all zero).
>> Sign-extension needs a genuinely low32 equal only relationship kind
>> with bit 31 supplying upper 32-bits.
>>
>> Today the following 2 relationships exist
>>
>>    #define BPF_ADD_CONST64 (1U << 31)
>>    #define BPF_ADD_CONST32 (1U << 30)
>>
>> Model them differently as
>>
>>    enum bpf_reg_link_kind { BPF_REG_LINK_NONE, BPF_REG_LINK_FULL,
>>                             BPF_REG_LINK_ZEXT, BPF_REG_LINK_SEXT };
>>
>> So BPF_ADD_CONST64 becomes BPF_REG_LINK_FULL and BPF_ADD_CONST32 becomes
>> BPF_REG_LINK_ZEXT with the exact same semantics as today. But this paves
>> the way for a future BPF_REG_LINK_SEXT in the same framework.
>>
>> The implementation needs to change as well. Today the above 2 bits are
>> shoe-horned into ->id, needing masking and OR'ing to get ->id and kind
>> bits: with more types and bits needed, move them out into an enum
>> bitfield of its own. To avoid growing the storage (and stay within the
>> 1K allocator bucket), borrow 2 bits out of ->map_uid, 31 -> 29, which is
>> still far more ids than a program can generate.
>>
>> ->id becomes a plain identifier, so check_scalar_ids() loses its "compare
>> the compound id, then the base id" dance in favour of one check_ids().
>>
>> With the kind out of ->id it also leaves the idmap key, so regs_exact()
>> and regsafe()'s explore_alu_limits arm have to compare it explicitly.
>>
>> One case changes behaviour -- old {r2.id=A+delta32} against
>> cur {r2.id=B+delta64} was accepted and is now rejected, correctly, since
>> alu32 and alu64 deltas diverge in sync_linked_regs().
>>
>> Clearing a link is no longer just ->id = 0: any stale ->link_kind needs
>> to be cleared out as well. And given this needs to be done in the newly
>> added kernel/bpf/scev.c, it is moved into bpf_verifier.h as
>> bpf_clear_scalar_id().
>>
>> The helper also zeroes ->delta, which the open-coded clear left behind.
>> Unlike ->id that field is inside the memcmp() prefix state comparison
>> uses, so a leftover value could keep two otherwise-identical states
>> apart; clearing it can only help pruning.
>>
>> Suggested-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>
>> Signed-off-by: Vineet Gupta <vineet.gupta@linux.dev>
> The changelog lists only the delta32/delta64 mismatch as a case that changes
> behaviour.  Is that the only one?
>
> regs_exact() also changes.  It used to run check_ids() on the compound id,
> so old {r2.id=A, r3.id=A|BPF_ADD_CONST64} against cur {r2.id=B,
> r3.id=C|BPF_ADD_CONST64} built two independent idmap entries (A->B and
> A|flag->C|flag) and was accepted as exact.
>
> With the kind moved out of ->id, the same pair now maps A->B and then A->C,
> and check_ids() rejects it:
>
>      return memcmp(rold, rcur, offsetof(struct bpf_reg_state, id)) == 0 &&
>             rold->link_kind == rcur->link_kind &&
>             check_ids(rold->id, rcur->id, idmap) && ...
>
> regs_exact() is reached through regsafe(..., EXACT) from the infinite loop
> check in bpf_is_state_visited():
>
>      states_equal(env, &sl->state, cur, EXACT)
>
> so this is a stricter comparison than before.
>
> Could the changelog also say that regs_exact() now enforces base-id
> consistency for linked scalars, which the old compound-id idmap key did not?

Right. The example you mention is new.

Basically v2 had a patch of its own on this topic and it listed two cases

     old {r1.id=A, r2.id=A+delta}  vs cur {r1.id=B, r2.id=B}
     old {r2.id=A+delta32}         vs cur {r2.id=B+delta64}

Both were same category: one register whose kind differs between old and 
cur, caught by the new
rold->link_kind == rcur->link_kind line.

What you mention here is a different scenario:

     old {r2.id=A, r3.id=A|BPF_ADD_CONST64}
     cur {r2.id=B, r3.id=C|BPF_ADD_CONST64}

kinds match but it is still rejected, by check_ids().

v4 mentions both mechanisms.

Thx,
-Vineet

> --
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> See: https://github.com/kernel-patches/vmtest/blob/master/ci/claude/README.md
>
> CI run summary: https://github.com/kernel-patches/bpf/actions/runs/39458500836