Libelf functions do not set errno on failure. Instead, it relies on its
internal _elf_errno value, that can be retrieved via elf_errno (or the
corresponding message via elf_errmsg()). From "man libelf":
If a libelf function encounters an error it will set an internal
error code that can be retrieved with elf_errno. Each thread
maintains its own separate error code. The meaning of each error
code can be determined with elf_errmsg, which returns a string
describing the error.
As a consequence, libbpf should not return -errno when a function from
libelf fails, because an empty value will not be interpreted as an error
and won't prevent the program to stop. This is visible in
bpf_linker__add_file(), for example, where we call a succession of
functions that rely on libelf:
err = err ?: linker_load_obj_file(linker, filename, opts, &obj);
err = err ?: linker_append_sec_data(linker, &obj);
err = err ?: linker_append_elf_syms(linker, &obj);
err = err ?: linker_append_elf_relos(linker, &obj);
err = err ?: linker_append_btf(linker, &obj);
err = err ?: linker_append_btf_ext(linker, &obj);
If the object file that we try to process is not, in fact, a correct
object file, linker_load_obj_file() may fail with errno not being set,
and return 0. In this case we attempt to run linker_append_elf_sysms()
and may segfault.
This can happen (and was discovered) with bpftool:
$ bpftool gen object output.o sample_ret0.bpf.c
libbpf: failed to get ELF header for sample_ret0.bpf.c: invalid `Elf' handle
zsh: segmentation fault (core dumped) bpftool gen object output.o sample_ret0.bpf.c
Fix the issue by returning a non-null error code (-EINVAL) when libelf
functions fail.
Fixes:
faf6ed321cf6 ("libbpf: Add BPF static linker APIs")
Signed-off-by: Quentin Monnet <qmo@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrii Nakryiko <andrii@kernel.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20241205135942.65262-1-qmo@kernel.org
}
obj->elf = elf_begin(obj->fd, ELF_C_READ_MMAP, NULL);
if (!obj->elf) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to parse ELF file '%s'", filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
/* Sanity check ELF file high-level properties */
ehdr = elf64_getehdr(obj->elf);
if (!ehdr) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to get ELF header for %s", filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
/* Linker output endianness set by first input object */
}
if (elf_getshdrstrndx(obj->elf, &obj->shstrs_sec_idx)) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to get SHSTRTAB section index for %s", filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
scn = NULL;
shdr = elf64_getshdr(scn);
if (!shdr) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to get section #%zu header for %s",
sec_idx, filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
sec_name = elf_strptr(obj->elf, obj->shstrs_sec_idx, shdr->sh_name);
if (!sec_name) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to get section #%zu name for %s",
sec_idx, filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
data = elf_getdata(scn, 0);
if (!data) {
- err = -errno;
pr_warn_elf("failed to get section #%zu (%s) data from %s",
sec_idx, sec_name, filename);
- return err;
+ return -EINVAL;
}
sec = add_src_sec(obj, sec_name);
/* Finalize ELF layout */
if (elf_update(linker->elf, ELF_C_NULL) < 0) {
- err = -errno;
+ err = -EINVAL;
pr_warn_elf("failed to finalize ELF layout");
return libbpf_err(err);
}
/* Write out final ELF contents */
if (elf_update(linker->elf, ELF_C_WRITE) < 0) {
- err = -errno;
+ err = -EINVAL;
pr_warn_elf("failed to write ELF contents");
return libbpf_err(err);
}