[PATCHES v1 0/5] perf tools: Fix OOB reads, reference leaks, and overflow in sched/script/auxtrace

[PATCHES v1 0/5] perf tools: Fix OOB reads, reference leaks, and overflow in sched/script/auxtrace

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

Hi,

Five more pre-existing bugs found by sashiko-bot during AI-assisted
review of the perf-data-validation hardening series.  All are
independent of that series -- they are latent bugs in surrounding code
exposed during review.

  1. test_bit(cpu, cpu_bitmap) reads out of bounds in
     auxtrace.c:filter_cpu() and builtin-script.c:filter_cpu() when
     the CPU value is negative or >= MAX_NR_CPUS.  Same class of bug
     fixed in the previous series for annotate, diff, report, and
     sched.

  2. cpu__get_node() in cpumap.c indexes cpunode_map[] without bounds
     checking against max_cpu_num.  Callers like builtin-kmem pass
     untrusted sample->cpu from perf.data.

  3. Thread reference leaks in perf sched timehist_get_thread() --
     two error paths and the success path in the idle_hist block
     fail to release thread references acquired via
     machine__findnew_thread() and get_idle_thread().

  4. sched->max_cpu updated from sample->cpu without bounds checking
     in perf_timehist__process_sample().  Later code uses max_cpu + 1
     as iteration count over arrays allocated with MAX_CPUS entries.
     Also caps the env->nr_cpus_online initialization.

  5. register_pid() in perf sched replay has integer overflow on
     32-bit (pid * sizeof wraps), strcpy into fixed 20-byte buffer
     without length check, BUG_ON on allocation failure, and unsafe
     realloc pattern that leaks on failure.

All require crafted or unusual perf.data inputs to trigger.
Verified with gcc and clang builds, checkpatch, and perf test.

Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo (5):
  perf tools: Guard remaining test_bit calls from OOB sample CPU
  perf tools: Add bounds check to cpu__get_node()
  perf sched: Fix thread reference leaks in timehist_get_thread()
  perf sched: Cap max_cpu at MAX_CPUS in timehist sample processing
  perf sched: Fix register_pid() overflow, strcpy, and BUG_ON

 tools/perf/builtin-sched.c  | 56 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 tools/perf/builtin-script.c |  2 +-
 tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c  |  3 ++-
 tools/perf/util/cpumap.c    |  4 ++++
 4 files changed, 49 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

Developed with AI assistance (Claude/sashiko), tagged in commits.

Thanks,

- Arnaldo

[PATCH 1/5] perf tools: Guard remaining test_bit calls from OOB sample CPU

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

auxtrace.c:filter_cpu() and builtin-script.c:filter_cpu() call
test_bit(cpu, cpu_bitmap) where cpu_bitmap is declared with
MAX_NR_CPUS bits.  When the CPU value from a perf.data event is
corrupt or absent (e.g. negative or >= MAX_NR_CPUS), test_bit reads
out of bounds.

Add bounds checks before test_bit(): >= 0 for the int16_t cpu.cpu in
auxtrace (which also covers the -1 sentinel), and < MAX_NR_CPUS for
both sites.  Matches the pattern applied in the previous series for
builtin-annotate.c, builtin-diff.c, builtin-report.c, and
builtin-sched.c.

Fixes: 644e0840ad46 ("perf auxtrace: Add CPU filter support")
Fixes: 5d67be97f890 ("perf report/annotate/script: Add option to specify a CPU range")
Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
Cc: Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@intel.com>
Cc: Anton Blanchard <anton@samba.org>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
---
 tools/perf/builtin-script.c | 2 +-
 tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c  | 3 ++-
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
index f4aa255fc3297f90..9ac29bdc3cd547e6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-script.c
@@ -2646,7 +2646,7 @@ static int cleanup_scripting(void)
 
 static bool filter_cpu(struct perf_sample *sample)
 {
-	if (cpu_list && sample->cpu != (u32)-1)
+	if (cpu_list && sample->cpu != (u32)-1 && sample->cpu < MAX_NR_CPUS)
 		return !test_bit(sample->cpu, cpu_bitmap);
 	return false;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c b/tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c
index 5f4aa1701aef649a..4cd2caf5401522ca 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/auxtrace.c
@@ -372,7 +372,8 @@ static bool filter_cpu(struct perf_session *session, struct perf_cpu cpu)
 {
 	unsigned long *cpu_bitmap = session->itrace_synth_opts->cpu_bitmap;
 
-	return cpu_bitmap && cpu.cpu != -1 && !test_bit(cpu.cpu, cpu_bitmap);
+	return cpu_bitmap && cpu.cpu >= 0 && cpu.cpu < MAX_NR_CPUS &&
+	       !test_bit(cpu.cpu, cpu_bitmap);
 }
 
 static int auxtrace_queues__add_buffer(struct auxtrace_queues *queues,
-- 
2.54.0

[PATCH 2/5] perf tools: Add bounds check to cpu__get_node()

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

cpu__get_node() accesses cpunode_map[cpu.cpu] without checking against
max_cpu_num, the allocation size of cpunode_map.  Callers such as
builtin-kmem.c:evsel__process_alloc_event() pass sample->cpu from
perf.data events, which may exceed the host's CPU count when analyzing
cross-machine recordings.

Add a bounds check against max_cpu_num before indexing, returning -1
for out-of-range values.  This is a central fix that protects all
callers.

Fixes: 86895b480a2f ("perf stat: Add --per-node agregation support")
Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@kernel.org>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
---
 tools/perf/util/cpumap.c | 4 ++++
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
index b1e5c29c6e3ec8df..d3432622b2adc994 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
@@ -576,6 +576,10 @@ int cpu__get_node(struct perf_cpu cpu)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	/* cpunode_map allocated for max_cpu_num entries; input may be untrusted */
+	if (cpu.cpu < 0 || cpu.cpu >= max_cpu_num.cpu)
+		return -1;
+
 	return cpunode_map[cpu.cpu];
 }
 
-- 
2.54.0

[PATCH 3/5] perf sched: Fix thread reference leaks in timehist_get_thread()

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

timehist_get_thread() acquires a thread reference via
machine__findnew_thread() and an idle thread reference via
get_idle_thread() (which calls thread__get()).  Two error paths in
the idle_hist block return NULL without releasing these references:

 - When get_idle_thread() fails, the thread reference leaks.
 - When thread__priv(idle) returns NULL, both idle and thread leak.

Additionally, the idle thread reference acquired on the success path
is never released, leaking a reference on every sample when
--idle-hist is active.

Add thread__put() calls on both error paths and release the idle
reference after use on the success path.

Fixes: 5d8f17fb5822 ("perf sched timehist: Add -I/--idle-hist option")
Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
---
 tools/perf/builtin-sched.c | 8 +++++++-
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
index 4aa7833cae6e36b8..7bd61028327b39db 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
@@ -2546,12 +2546,16 @@ static struct thread *timehist_get_thread(struct perf_sched *sched,
 			idle = get_idle_thread(sample->cpu);
 			if (idle == NULL) {
 				pr_err("Failed to get idle thread for cpu %d.\n", sample->cpu);
+				thread__put(thread);
 				return NULL;
 			}
 
 			itr = thread__priv(idle);
-			if (itr == NULL)
+			if (itr == NULL) {
+				thread__put(idle);
+				thread__put(thread);
 				return NULL;
+			}
 
 			thread__put(itr->last_thread);
 			itr->last_thread = thread__get(thread);
@@ -2559,6 +2563,8 @@ static struct thread *timehist_get_thread(struct perf_sched *sched,
 			/* copy task callchain when entering to idle */
 			if (perf_sample__intval(sample, "next_pid") == 0)
 				save_idle_callchain(sched, itr, sample);
+
+			thread__put(idle);
 		}
 	}
 
-- 
2.54.0

[PATCH 4/5] perf sched: Cap max_cpu at MAX_CPUS in timehist sample processing

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

perf_timehist__process_sample() updates sched->max_cpu from the
sample CPU without bounds checking.  Later code uses max_cpu + 1 as
an iteration count over arrays allocated with MAX_CPUS entries
(curr_thread, cpu_last_switched).  A recording with CPU IDs >= MAX_CPUS
causes out-of-bounds array accesses.

Also cap the env->nr_cpus_online initialization of max_cpu in
perf_sched__timehist(), which could exceed MAX_CPUS on very large
systems.

Add bounds checks before both max_cpu updates, matching the pattern
already used in map_switch_event().

Fixes: 49394a2a24c7 ("perf sched timehist: Introduce timehist command")
Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
Cc: David Ahern <dsahern@gmail.com>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
---
 tools/perf/builtin-sched.c | 8 +++++---
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
index 7bd61028327b39db..87a1f4cf8760e1e9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
@@ -3215,7 +3215,9 @@ static int perf_timehist__process_sample(const struct perf_tool *tool,
 		.cpu = sample->cpu,
 	};
 
-	if (this_cpu.cpu > sched->max_cpu.cpu)
+	/* max_cpu indexes arrays allocated with MAX_CPUS entries */
+	if (this_cpu.cpu >= 0 && this_cpu.cpu < MAX_CPUS &&
+	    this_cpu.cpu > sched->max_cpu.cpu)
 		sched->max_cpu = this_cpu;
 
 	if (evsel->handler != NULL) {
@@ -3385,8 +3387,8 @@ static int perf_sched__timehist(struct perf_sched *sched)
 		perf_session__set_tracepoints_handlers(session, migrate_handlers))
 		goto out;
 
-	/* pre-allocate struct for per-CPU idle stats */
-	sched->max_cpu.cpu = env->nr_cpus_online;
+	/* pre-allocate struct for per-CPU idle stats; cap to array bounds */
+	sched->max_cpu.cpu = min(env->nr_cpus_online, MAX_CPUS);
 	if (sched->max_cpu.cpu == 0)
 		sched->max_cpu.cpu = 4;
 	if (init_idle_threads(sched->max_cpu.cpu))
-- 
2.54.0

[PATCH 5/5] perf sched: Fix register_pid() overflow, strcpy, and BUG_ON

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>

register_pid() has several issues when processing untrusted perf.data:

1. Integer overflow: (pid + 1) * sizeof(struct task_desc *) can wrap
   to a small value on 32-bit systems when pid is large (e.g.
   0x40000000), causing realloc to return a tiny buffer followed by
   out-of-bounds writes in the initialization loop.

2. Heap buffer overflow: strcpy(task->comm, comm) copies the
   untrusted comm string into a fixed 20-byte COMM_LEN buffer with
   no length check.

3. BUG_ON on allocation failure: perf.data is untrusted input, so
   allocation failures should be handled gracefully rather than
   killing the process.

4. Realloc of sched->tasks assigned directly back, leaking the old
   pointer on failure; nr_tasks incremented before the realloc,
   leaving corrupted state on failure.

Cap pid at PID_MAX_LIMIT (4194304, matching the kernel's maximum
on 64-bit), replace strcpy with strlcpy, guard against NULL comm,
replace BUG_ON with NULL returns using safe realloc patterns, and
add NULL checks in callers that dereference the result.

Fixes: ec156764d424 ("perf sched: Import schedbench.c")
Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <mingo@elte.hu>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
---
 tools/perf/builtin-sched.c | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
index 87a1f4cf8760e1e9..21fb820b625b43e1 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@
 #define COMM_LEN		20
 #define SYM_LEN			129
 #define MAX_PID			1024000
+#define PID_MAX_LIMIT		4194304 /* kernel limit on 64-bit */
 #define MAX_PRIO		140
 #define SEP_LEN			100
 
@@ -448,17 +449,28 @@ static void add_sched_event_sleep(struct perf_sched *sched, struct task_desc *ta
 static struct task_desc *register_pid(struct perf_sched *sched,
 				      unsigned long pid, const char *comm)
 {
-	struct task_desc *task;
+	struct task_desc *task, **tasks_p;
 	static int pid_max;
 
+	/* perf.data is untrusted — cap pid to prevent overflow in size calculations */
+	if (pid >= PID_MAX_LIMIT) {
+		pr_err("pid %lu exceeds limit %d, skipping\n", pid, PID_MAX_LIMIT);
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	if (sched->pid_to_task == NULL) {
 		if (sysctl__read_int("kernel/pid_max", &pid_max) < 0)
 			pid_max = MAX_PID;
-		BUG_ON((sched->pid_to_task = calloc(pid_max, sizeof(struct task_desc *))) == NULL);
+		sched->pid_to_task = calloc(pid_max, sizeof(struct task_desc *));
+		if (sched->pid_to_task == NULL)
+			return NULL;
 	}
 	if (pid >= (unsigned long)pid_max) {
-		BUG_ON((sched->pid_to_task = realloc(sched->pid_to_task, (pid + 1) *
-			sizeof(struct task_desc *))) == NULL);
+		void *p = realloc(sched->pid_to_task, (pid + 1) * sizeof(struct task_desc *));
+
+		if (p == NULL)
+			return NULL;
+		sched->pid_to_task = p;
 		while (pid >= (unsigned long)pid_max)
 			sched->pid_to_task[pid_max++] = NULL;
 	}
@@ -469,9 +481,11 @@ static struct task_desc *register_pid(struct perf_sched *sched,
 		return task;
 
 	task = zalloc(sizeof(*task));
+	if (task == NULL)
+		return NULL;
 	task->pid = pid;
-	task->nr = sched->nr_tasks;
-	strcpy(task->comm, comm);
+	if (comm)
+		strlcpy(task->comm, comm, sizeof(task->comm));
 	/*
 	 * every task starts in sleeping state - this gets ignored
 	 * if there's no wakeup pointing to this sleep state:
@@ -479,10 +493,12 @@ static struct task_desc *register_pid(struct perf_sched *sched,
 	add_sched_event_sleep(sched, task, 0);
 
 	sched->pid_to_task[pid] = task;
-	sched->nr_tasks++;
-	sched->tasks = realloc(sched->tasks, sched->nr_tasks * sizeof(struct task_desc *));
-	BUG_ON(!sched->tasks);
-	sched->tasks[task->nr] = task;
+	tasks_p = realloc(sched->tasks, (sched->nr_tasks + 1) * sizeof(struct task_desc *));
+	if (!tasks_p)
+		return NULL;
+	sched->tasks = tasks_p;
+	sched->tasks[sched->nr_tasks] = task;
+	task->nr = sched->nr_tasks++;
 
 	if (verbose > 0)
 		printf("registered task #%ld, PID %ld (%s)\n", sched->nr_tasks, pid, comm);
@@ -841,6 +857,8 @@ replay_wakeup_event(struct perf_sched *sched,
 
 	waker = register_pid(sched, sample->tid, "<unknown>");
 	wakee = register_pid(sched, pid, comm);
+	if (waker == NULL || wakee == NULL)
+		return -1;
 
 	add_sched_event_wakeup(sched, waker, sample->time, wakee);
 	return 0;
@@ -881,6 +899,8 @@ static int replay_switch_event(struct perf_sched *sched,
 
 	prev = register_pid(sched, prev_pid, prev_comm);
 	next = register_pid(sched, next_pid, next_comm);
+	if (prev == NULL || next == NULL)
+		return -1;
 
 	sched->cpu_last_switched[cpu] = timestamp;
 
-- 
2.54.0

Re: [PATCH 4/5] perf sched: Cap max_cpu at MAX_CPUS in timehist sample processing

[David Ahern]

On 6/5/26 6:15 AM, Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo wrote:
> From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
> 
> perf_timehist__process_sample() updates sched->max_cpu from the
> sample CPU without bounds checking.  Later code uses max_cpu + 1 as
> an iteration count over arrays allocated with MAX_CPUS entries
> (curr_thread, cpu_last_switched).  A recording with CPU IDs >= MAX_CPUS
> causes out-of-bounds array accesses.
> 
> Also cap the env->nr_cpus_online initialization of max_cpu in
> perf_sched__timehist(), which could exceed MAX_CPUS on very large
> systems.
> 
> Add bounds checks before both max_cpu updates, matching the pattern
> already used in map_switch_event().
> 
> Fixes: 49394a2a24c7 ("perf sched timehist: Introduce timehist command")
> Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
> Cc: David Ahern <dsahern@gmail.com>
> Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
> Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
> ---
>  tools/perf/builtin-sched.c | 8 +++++---
>  1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
> 

LGTM

Reviewed-by: David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>

Re: [PATCH 4/5] perf sched: Cap max_cpu at MAX_CPUS in timehist sample processing

[Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo]

On Fri, Jun 05, 2026 at 08:34:53AM -0600, David Ahern wrote:
> On 6/5/26 6:15 AM, Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo wrote:
> > From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
> > Add bounds checks before both max_cpu updates, matching the pattern
> > already used in map_switch_event().

> > Fixes: 49394a2a24c7 ("perf sched timehist: Introduce timehist command")
> > Reported-by: sashiko-bot <sashiko-bot@kernel.org>
> > Cc: David Ahern <dsahern@gmail.com>
> > Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
> > Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
> > ---
> >  tools/perf/builtin-sched.c | 8 +++++---
> >  1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

> LGTM
 
> Reviewed-by: David Ahern <dsahern@kernel.org>
 
Thanks, added to the cset,

- Arnaldo