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Konstantin Khorenko 56cb9b7d96 gcov: use atomic counter updates to fix concurrent access crashes
GCC's GCOV instrumentation can merge global branch counters with loop
induction variables as an optimization.  In inflate_fast(), the inner copy
loops get transformed so that the GCOV counter value is loaded multiple
times to compute the loop base address, start index, and end bound.  Since
GCOV counters are global (not per-CPU), concurrent execution on different
CPUs causes the counter to change between loads, producing inconsistent
values and out-of-bounds memory writes.

The crash manifests during IPComp (IP Payload Compression) processing when
inflate_fast() runs concurrently on multiple CPUs:

  BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ffffd0a3c0902ffa
  RIP: inflate_fast+1431
  Call Trace:
   zlib_inflate
   __deflate_decompress
   crypto_comp_decompress
   ipcomp_decompress [xfrm_ipcomp]
   ipcomp_input [xfrm_ipcomp]
   xfrm_input

At the crash point, the compiler generated three loads from the same
global GCOV counter (__gcov0.inflate_fast+216) to compute base, start, and
end for an indexed loop.  Another CPU modified the counter between loads,
making the values inconsistent - the write went 3.4 MB past a 65 KB
buffer.

Add -fprofile-update=prefer-atomic to CFLAGS_GCOV at the global level in
the top-level Makefile, guarded by a try-run compile test.  The test
compiles a minimal program with and without -fprofile-update=prefer-atomic
using the full KBUILD_CFLAGS, then compares undefined symbols in the
resulting object files.  If prefer-atomic introduces new undefined
references (such as __atomic_fetch_add_8 on i386 or __aarch64_ldadd8_relax
on arm64 with outline-atomics), the flag is not added -- the kernel does
not link against libatomic.

On architectures where GCC inlines 64-bit atomic counter updates (x86_64,
s390, ...) the test passes and the flag is enabled, preventing the
compiler from merging counters with loop induction variables and fixing
the observed concurrent-access crash.

On architectures where the flag would introduce libatomic dependencies, it
is silently omitted and behaviour is no worse than before this patch.

Move the CFLAGS_GCOV block from its original position (before the arch
Makefile include) to after the core KBUILD_CFLAGS assignments but before
the scripts/Makefile.gcc-plugins include.  This placement ensures the
try-run test sees arch-specific flags (-m32, -march=,
-mno-outline-atomics) while avoiding GCC plugin flags (-fplugin=) that
would break the test on clean builds when plugin shared objects do not yet
exist.

Link: https://lore.kernel.org/20260511105052.417187-2-khorenko@virtuozzo.com
Signed-off-by: Konstantin Khorenko <khorenko@virtuozzo.com>
Tested-by: Arnd Bergmann <arnd@arndb.de>
Tested-by: Peter Oberparleiter <oberpar@linux.ibm.com>
Reviewed-by: Peter Oberparleiter <oberpar@linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Masahiro Yamada <masahiroy@kernel.org>
Cc: Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@kernel.org>
Cc: Mikhail Zaslonko <zaslonko@linux.ibm.com>
Cc: Nathan Chancellor <nathan@kernel.org>
Cc: Pavel Tikhomirov <ptikhomirov@virtuozzo.com>
Cc: Thomas Weißschuh <linux@weissschuh.net>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
arch uaccess: unify inline vs outline copy_{from,to}_user() selection 2026-05-28 21:24:44 -07:00
block cgroup: Fixes for v7.1-rc4 2026-05-22 16:28:47 -07:00
certs treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
crypto crypto/krb5, rxrpc: Fix lack of pre-decrypt/pre-verify length checks 2026-05-20 16:36:45 -07:00
Documentation checkpatch: add option to not force /* */ for SPDX 2026-05-28 21:24:39 -07:00
drivers rapidio/tsi721: prevent a bad dereference in tsi721_db_dpc() 2026-05-28 21:24:45 -07:00
fs treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
include llist: make locking comments consistent 2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
init treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.1-20260522 2026-05-22 11:53:28 -07:00
ipc ipc: limit next_id allocation to the valid ID range 2026-05-21 19:06:11 -07:00
kernel kcov: refactor common handle ID into kcov_common_handle_id 2026-05-28 21:24:45 -07:00
lib uaccess: unify inline vs outline copy_{from,to}_user() selection 2026-05-28 21:24:44 -07:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm kfence: fix KASAN HW tags bypass via runtime sample_interval change 2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
net 13 hotfixes. 9 are for MM. 9 are cc:stable and the remaining 4 address 2026-05-26 08:23:19 -07:00
rust uaccess: unify inline vs outline copy_{from,to}_user() selection 2026-05-28 21:24:44 -07:00
samples soc: drivers for 7.1 2026-04-16 20:34:34 -07:00
scripts get_maintainer: add --json output mode 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
security lsm/stable-7.1 PR 20260519 2026-05-19 15:31:35 -05:00
sound ASoC: Fixes for v7.1 2026-05-22 08:25:18 +02:00
tools kselftest/filelock: add a .gitignore file 2026-05-28 21:24:44 -07:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt KVM: Reject wrapped offset in kvm_reset_dirty_gfn() 2026-05-12 22:16:16 +02:00
.clang-format clang-format: fix formatting of guard() and scoped_guard() statements 2026-05-28 21:24:41 -07:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore kbuild: rust: provide an option to inline C helpers into Rust 2026-03-30 02:03:52 +02:00
.mailmap 13 hotfixes. 9 are for MM. 9 are cc:stable and the remaining 4 address 2026-05-26 08:23:19 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS MAINTAINERS/CREDITS: remove inactive checkpatch reviewers 2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS MAINTAINERS/CREDITS: remove inactive checkpatch reviewers 2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
Makefile gcov: use atomic counter updates to fix concurrent access crashes 2026-05-28 21:24:46 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst