strncpy removal for v7.2-rc1

- Remove the per-arch strncpy implementations in alpha, m68k, powerpc,
   x86, and xtensa
 
 - Remove strncpy API
 
 Over the last 6 years working on strncpy removal there were 362 commits
 by 70 contributors. Folks with more than 1 commit were:
 
     211  Justin Stitt <justinstitt@google.com>
      22  Xu Panda <xu.panda@zte.com.cn>
      21  Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>
      17  Thorsten Blum <thorsten.blum@linux.dev>
      12  Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
       4  Pranav Tyagi <pranav.tyagi03@gmail.com>
       4  Lee Jones <lee@kernel.org>
       2  Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>
       2  Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
       2  Marcelo Moreira <marcelomoreira1905@gmail.com>
       2  Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk@kernel.org>
       2  Kalle Valo <kvalo@kernel.org>
       2  Jaroslav Kysela <perex@perex.cz>
       2  Daniel Thompson <danielt@kernel.org>
       2  Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>
 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
 
 iHUEABYKAB0WIQRSPkdeREjth1dHnSE2KwveOeQkuwUCajSC5QAKCRA2KwveOeQk
 u+L0AQCqbRKDuNHKWwbdwv5Sy6nbsHLLd4//m+dJDesqbdMYfgD/UQyygfeicqep
 tXcP2krB9Mcl6qsMqNgkKAPpNTCPAwE=
 =FZ+4
 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Merge tag 'strncpy-removal-v7.2-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kees/linux

Pull strncpy removal from Kees Cook:

 - Remove the per-arch strncpy implementations in alpha, m68k, powerpc,
   x86, and xtensa

 - Remove strncpy API

   Over the last 6 years working on strncpy removal there were 362
   commits by 70 contributors. Folks with more than 1 commit were:

    211  Justin Stitt <justinstitt@google.com>
     22  Xu Panda <xu.panda@zte.com.cn>
     21  Kees Cook <kees@kernel.org>
     17  Thorsten Blum <thorsten.blum@linux.dev>
     12  Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
      4  Pranav Tyagi <pranav.tyagi03@gmail.com>
      4  Lee Jones <lee@kernel.org>
      2  Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>
      2  Sam Ravnborg <sam@ravnborg.org>
      2  Marcelo Moreira <marcelomoreira1905@gmail.com>
      2  Krzysztof Kozlowski <krzk@kernel.org>
      2  Kalle Valo <kvalo@kernel.org>
      2  Jaroslav Kysela <perex@perex.cz>
      2  Daniel Thompson <danielt@kernel.org>
      2  Andrew Lunn <andrew@lunn.ch>

* tag 'strncpy-removal-v7.2-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kees/linux:
  string: Remove strncpy() from the kernel
  xtensa: Remove arch-specific strncpy() implementation
  x86: Remove arch-specific strncpy() implementation
  powerpc: Remove arch-specific strncpy() implementation
  m68k: Remove arch-specific strncpy() implementation
  alpha: Remove arch-specific strncpy() implementation
This commit is contained in:
Linus Torvalds 2026-06-19 14:56:45 -07:00
commit 1a3746ccbb
19 changed files with 26 additions and 346 deletions

View File

@ -131,27 +131,32 @@ value of strcpy() was used, since strscpy() does not return a pointer to
the destination, but rather a count of non-NUL bytes copied (or negative
errno when it truncates).
strncpy() on NUL-terminated strings
-----------------------------------
Use of strncpy() does not guarantee that the destination buffer will
be NUL terminated. This can lead to various linear read overflows and
other misbehavior due to the missing termination. It also NUL-pads
the destination buffer if the source contents are shorter than the
destination buffer size, which may be a needless performance penalty
for callers using only NUL-terminated strings.
strncpy()
---------
strncpy() has been removed from the kernel. All former callers have
been migrated to safer alternatives.
When the destination is required to be NUL-terminated, the replacement is
strscpy(), though care must be given to any cases where the return value
of strncpy() was used, since strscpy() does not return a pointer to the
destination, but rather a count of non-NUL bytes copied (or negative
errno when it truncates). Any cases still needing NUL-padding should
instead use strscpy_pad().
strncpy() did not guarantee NUL-termination of the destination buffer,
leading to linear read overflows and other misbehavior. It also
unconditionally NUL-padded the destination, which was a needless
performance penalty for callers using only NUL-terminated strings. Due
to its various behaviors, it was an ambiguous API for determining what
an author's true intent was for the copy.
If a caller is using non-NUL-terminated strings, strtomem() should be
used, and the destinations should be marked with the `__nonstring
<https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Common-Variable-Attributes.html>`_
attribute to avoid future compiler warnings. For cases still needing
NUL-padding, strtomem_pad() can be used.
The replacements for strncpy() are:
- strscpy() when the destination must be NUL-terminated.
- strscpy_pad() when the destination must be NUL-terminated and
zero-padded (e.g., structs crossing privilege boundaries).
- memtostr() for NUL-terminated destinations from non-NUL-terminated
fixed-width sources (with the `__nonstring` attribute on the source).
- memtostr_pad() for the same, but with zero-padding.
- strtomem() for non-NUL-terminated fixed-width destinations, with
the `__nonstring` attribute on the destination.
- strtomem_pad() for non-NUL-terminated destinations that also need
zero-padding.
- memcpy_and_pad() for bounded copies from potentially unterminated
sources where the destination size is a runtime value.
strlcpy()
---------

View File

@ -47,8 +47,6 @@ extern inline void *__memset(void *s, int c, size_t n)
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRCPY
extern char * strcpy(char *,const char *);
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
extern char * strncpy(char *, const char *, size_t);
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRCAT
extern char * strcat(char *, const char *);
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCAT

View File

@ -1,83 +0,0 @@
/* SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 */
/*
* arch/alpha/lib/strncpy.S
* Contributed by Richard Henderson (rth@tamu.edu)
*
* Copy no more than COUNT bytes of the null-terminated string from
* SRC to DST. If SRC does not cover all of COUNT, the balance is
* zeroed.
*
* Or, rather, if the kernel cared about that weird ANSI quirk. This
* version has cropped that bit o' nastiness as well as assuming that
* __stxncpy is in range of a branch.
*/
#include <linux/export.h>
.set noat
.set noreorder
.text
.align 4
.globl strncpy
.ent strncpy
strncpy:
.frame $30, 0, $26
.prologue 0
mov $16, $0 # set return value now
beq $18, $zerolen
unop
bsr $23, __stxncpy # do the work of the copy
unop
bne $18, $multiword # do we have full words left?
subq $24, 1, $3 # nope
subq $27, 1, $4
or $3, $24, $3 # clear the bits between the last
or $4, $27, $4 # written byte and the last byte in COUNT
andnot $3, $4, $4
zap $1, $4, $1
stq_u $1, 0($16)
ret
.align 4
$multiword:
subq $27, 1, $2 # clear the final bits in the prev word
or $2, $27, $2
zapnot $1, $2, $1
subq $18, 1, $18
stq_u $1, 0($16)
addq $16, 8, $16
unop
beq $18, 1f
nop
unop
nop
blbc $18, 0f
stq_u $31, 0($16) # zero one word
subq $18, 1, $18
addq $16, 8, $16
beq $18, 1f
0: stq_u $31, 0($16) # zero two words
subq $18, 2, $18
stq_u $31, 8($16)
addq $16, 16, $16
bne $18, 0b
1: ldq_u $1, 0($16) # clear the leading bits in the final word
subq $24, 1, $2
or $2, $24, $2
zap $1, $2, $1
stq_u $1, 0($16)
$zerolen:
ret
.end strncpy
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strncpy)

View File

@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
#include "strncpy.S"
#ifdef CONFIG_ALPHA_EV67
#include "ev67-strncat.S"
#else

View File

@ -21,23 +21,6 @@ static inline size_t strnlen(const char *s, size_t count)
return sc - s;
}
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
static inline char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t n)
{
char *xdest = dest;
asm volatile ("\n"
" jra 2f\n"
"1: move.b (%1),(%0)+\n"
" jeq 2f\n"
" addq.l #1,%1\n"
"2: subq.l #1,%2\n"
" jcc 1b\n"
: "+a" (dest), "+a" (src), "+d" (n)
: : "memory");
return xdest;
}
#define __HAVE_ARCH_MEMMOVE
extern void *memmove(void *, const void *, __kernel_size_t);

View File

@ -18,19 +18,6 @@ strcpy:
bne 1b
blr
.globl strncpy
strncpy:
cmpwi 0,r5,0
beqlr
mtctr r5
addi r6,r3,-1
addi r4,r4,-1
1: lbzu r0,1(r4)
cmpwi 0,r0,0
stbu r0,1(r6)
bdnzf 2,1b /* dec ctr, branch if ctr != 0 && !cr0.eq */
blr
.globl strcat
strcat:
addi r5,r3,-1

View File

@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
#include <stddef.h>
extern char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src);
extern char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t n);
extern char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src);
extern char *strchr(const char *s, int c);
extern char *strrchr(const char *s, int c);

View File

@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
#ifdef __KERNEL__
#ifndef CONFIG_KASAN
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCMP
#define __HAVE_ARCH_MEMCHR
#define __HAVE_ARCH_MEMCMP
@ -18,7 +17,6 @@
#define __HAVE_ARCH_MEMCPY_FLUSHCACHE
extern char * strcpy(char *,const char *);
extern char * strncpy(char *,const char *, __kernel_size_t);
extern __kernel_size_t strlen(const char *);
extern int strcmp(const char *,const char *);
extern int strncmp(const char *, const char *, __kernel_size_t);

View File

@ -10,28 +10,6 @@
.text
/* This clears out any unused part of the destination buffer,
just as the libc version does. -- paulus */
_GLOBAL(strncpy)
PPC_LCMPI 0,r5,0
beqlr
mtctr r5
addi r6,r3,-1
addi r4,r4,-1
.balign IFETCH_ALIGN_BYTES
1: lbzu r0,1(r4)
cmpwi 0,r0,0
stbu r0,1(r6)
bdnzf 2,1b /* dec ctr, branch if ctr != 0 && !cr0.eq */
bnelr /* if we didn't hit a null char, we're done */
mfctr r5
PPC_LCMPI 0,r5,0 /* any space left in destination buffer? */
beqlr /* we know r0 == 0 here */
2: stbu r0,1(r6) /* clear it out if so */
bdnz 2b
blr
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strncpy)
_GLOBAL(strncmp)
PPC_LCMPI 0,r5,0
beq- 2f

View File

@ -9,9 +9,6 @@
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRCPY
extern char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src);
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
extern char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count);
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRCAT
extern char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src);

View File

@ -30,25 +30,6 @@ char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src)
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strcpy);
#endif
#ifdef __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count)
{
int d0, d1, d2, d3;
asm volatile("1:\tdecl %2\n\t"
"js 2f\n\t"
"lodsb\n\t"
"stosb\n\t"
"testb %%al,%%al\n\t"
"jne 1b\n\t"
"rep stosb\n"
"2:"
: "=&S" (d0), "=&D" (d1), "=&c" (d2), "=&a" (d3)
: "0" (src), "1" (dest), "2" (count) : "memory");
return dest;
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strncpy);
#endif
#ifdef __HAVE_ARCH_STRCAT
char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src)
{

View File

@ -34,31 +34,6 @@ static inline char *strcpy(char *__dest, const char *__src)
return __xdest;
}
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
static inline char *strncpy(char *__dest, const char *__src, size_t __n)
{
register char *__xdest = __dest;
unsigned long __dummy;
if (__n == 0)
return __xdest;
__asm__ __volatile__(
"1:\n\t"
"l8ui %2, %1, 0\n\t"
"s8i %2, %0, 0\n\t"
"addi %1, %1, 1\n\t"
"addi %0, %0, 1\n\t"
"beqz %2, 2f\n\t"
"bne %1, %5, 1b\n"
"2:"
: "=r" (__dest), "=r" (__src), "=&r" (__dummy)
: "0" (__dest), "1" (__src), "r" ((uintptr_t)__src+__n)
: "memory");
return __xdest;
}
#define __HAVE_ARCH_STRCMP
static inline int strcmp(const char *__cs, const char *__ct)
{

View File

@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ static void lkdtm_FORTIFY_MEM_MEMBER(void)
pr_info("trying to memcpy() past the end of a struct member...\n");
/*
* strncpy(target.a, src, 20); will hit a compile error because the
* memcpy(target.a, src, 20); will hit a compile error because the
* compiler knows at build time that target.a < 20 bytes. Use a
* volatile to force a runtime error.
*/

View File

@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
#define FORTIFY_WRITE 1
#define EACH_FORTIFY_FUNC(macro) \
macro(strncpy), \
macro(strnlen), \
macro(strlen), \
macro(strscpy), \
@ -95,8 +94,6 @@ extern char *__underlying_strcat(char *p, const char *q) __RENAME(strcat);
extern char *__underlying_strcpy(char *p, const char *q) __RENAME(strcpy);
extern __kernel_size_t __underlying_strlen(const char *p) __RENAME(strlen);
extern char *__underlying_strncat(char *p, const char *q, __kernel_size_t count) __RENAME(strncat);
extern char *__underlying_strncpy(char *p, const char *q, __kernel_size_t size) __RENAME(strncpy);
#else
#if defined(__SANITIZE_MEMORY__)
@ -120,7 +117,6 @@ extern char *__underlying_strncpy(char *p, const char *q, __kernel_size_t size)
#define __underlying_strcpy __builtin_strcpy
#define __underlying_strlen __builtin_strlen
#define __underlying_strncat __builtin_strncat
#define __underlying_strncpy __builtin_strncpy
#endif
@ -159,50 +155,6 @@ extern char *__underlying_strncpy(char *p, const char *q, __kernel_size_t size)
(bounds) < (length) \
)
/**
* strncpy - Copy a string to memory with non-guaranteed NUL padding
*
* @p: pointer to destination of copy
* @q: pointer to NUL-terminated source string to copy
* @size: bytes to write at @p
*
* If strlen(@q) >= @size, the copy of @q will stop after @size bytes,
* and @p will NOT be NUL-terminated
*
* If strlen(@q) < @size, following the copy of @q, trailing NUL bytes
* will be written to @p until @size total bytes have been written.
*
* Do not use this function. While FORTIFY_SOURCE tries to avoid
* over-reads of @q, it cannot defend against writing unterminated
* results to @p. Using strncpy() remains ambiguous and fragile.
* Instead, please choose an alternative, so that the expectation
* of @p's contents is unambiguous:
*
* +--------------------+--------------------+------------+
* | **p** needs to be: | padded to **size** | not padded |
* +====================+====================+============+
* | NUL-terminated | strscpy_pad() | strscpy() |
* +--------------------+--------------------+------------+
* | not NUL-terminated | strtomem_pad() | strtomem() |
* +--------------------+--------------------+------------+
*
* Note strscpy*()'s differing return values for detecting truncation,
* and strtomem*()'s expectation that the destination is marked with
* __nonstring when it is a character array.
*
*/
__FORTIFY_INLINE __diagnose_as(__builtin_strncpy, 1, 2, 3)
char *strncpy(char * const POS p, const char *q, __kernel_size_t size)
{
const size_t p_size = __member_size(p);
if (__compiletime_lessthan(p_size, size))
__write_overflow();
if (p_size < size)
fortify_panic(FORTIFY_FUNC_strncpy, FORTIFY_WRITE, p_size, size, p);
return __underlying_strncpy(p, q, size);
}
extern __kernel_size_t __real_strnlen(const char *, __kernel_size_t) __RENAME(strnlen);
/**
* strnlen - Return bounded count of characters in a NUL-terminated string
@ -809,7 +761,6 @@ char *strcpy(char * const POS p, const char * const POS q)
#undef __underlying_strcpy
#undef __underlying_strlen
#undef __underlying_strncat
#undef __underlying_strncpy
#undef POS
#undef POS0

View File

@ -67,9 +67,6 @@ void *vmemdup_array_user(const void __user *src, size_t n, size_t size)
#ifndef __HAVE_ARCH_STRCPY
extern char * strcpy(char *,const char *);
#endif
#ifndef __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
extern char * strncpy(char *,const char *, __kernel_size_t);
#endif
ssize_t sized_strscpy(char *, const char *, size_t);
/*

View File

@ -88,22 +88,6 @@ char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src)
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strcpy);
#endif
#ifndef __HAVE_ARCH_STRNCPY
char *strncpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count)
{
char *tmp = dest;
while (count) {
if ((*tmp = *src) != 0)
src++;
tmp++;
count--;
}
return dest;
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(strncpy);
#endif
#ifdef __BIG_ENDIAN
# define ALLBUTLAST_BYTE_MASK (~255ul)
#else

View File

@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
#define TEST \
strncpy(small, large_src, sizeof(small) + 1)
#include "test_fortify.h"

View File

@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
#define TEST \
strncpy(instance.buf, large_src, sizeof(instance.buf) + 1)
#include "test_fortify.h"

View File

@ -458,7 +458,7 @@ static void fortify_test_strnlen(struct kunit *test)
/* Make string unterminated, and recount. */
pad.buf[end] = 'A';
end = sizeof(pad.buf);
/* Reading beyond with strncpy() will fail. */
/* Reading beyond will fail. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, strnlen(pad.buf, end + 1), end);
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, fortify_read_overflows, 1);
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, strnlen(pad.buf, end + 2), end);
@ -531,64 +531,6 @@ static void fortify_test_strcpy(struct kunit *test)
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_after, 0);
}
static void fortify_test_strncpy(struct kunit *test)
{
struct fortify_padding pad = { };
char src[] = "Copy me fully into a small buffer and I will overflow!";
size_t sizeof_buf = sizeof(pad.buf);
OPTIMIZER_HIDE_VAR(sizeof_buf);
/* Destination is %NUL-filled to start with. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_before, 0);
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 1], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 3], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_after, 0);
/* Legitimate strncpy() 1 less than of max size. */
KUNIT_ASSERT_TRUE(test, strncpy(pad.buf, src, sizeof_buf - 1)
== pad.buf);
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, fortify_write_overflows, 0);
/* Only last byte should be %NUL */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 1], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 3], '\0');
/* Legitimate (though unterminated) max-size strncpy. */
KUNIT_ASSERT_TRUE(test, strncpy(pad.buf, src, sizeof_buf)
== pad.buf);
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, fortify_write_overflows, 0);
/* No trailing %NUL -- thanks strncpy API. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 1], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
/* But we will not have gone beyond. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_after, 0);
/* Now verify that FORTIFY is working... */
KUNIT_ASSERT_TRUE(test, strncpy(pad.buf, src, sizeof_buf + 1)
== pad.buf);
/* Should catch the overflow. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, fortify_write_overflows, 1);
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 1], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
/* And we will not have gone beyond. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_after, 0);
/* And further... */
KUNIT_ASSERT_TRUE(test, strncpy(pad.buf, src, sizeof_buf + 2)
== pad.buf);
/* Should catch the overflow. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, fortify_write_overflows, 2);
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 1], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
KUNIT_EXPECT_NE(test, pad.buf[sizeof_buf - 2], '\0');
/* And we will not have gone beyond. */
KUNIT_EXPECT_EQ(test, pad.bytes_after, 0);
}
static void fortify_test_strscpy(struct kunit *test)
{
struct fortify_padding pad = { };
@ -1100,7 +1042,6 @@ static struct kunit_case fortify_test_cases[] = {
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strlen),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strnlen),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strcpy),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strncpy),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strscpy),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strcat),
KUNIT_CASE(fortify_test_strncat),