This patchset removes livepatch's need for architecture-specific relocation code by leveraging existing code in the module loader to perform arch-dependent work. Specifically, instead of duplicating code and re-implementing what the apply_relocate_add() function in the module loader already does in livepatch's klp_write_module_reloc(), we reuse apply_relocate_add() to write relocations. The hope is that this will make livepatch more easily portable to other architectures and greatly reduce the amount of arch-specific code required to port livepatch to a particular architecture. Background: Why does livepatch need to write its own relocations? == A typical livepatch module contains patched versions of functions that can reference non-exported global symbols and non-included local symbols. Relocations referencing these types of symbols cannot be left in as-is since the kernel module loader cannot resolve them and will therefore reject the livepatch module. Furthermore, we cannot apply relocations that affect modules not loaded yet at run time (e.g. a patch to a driver). The current kpatch build system therefore solves this problem by embedding special "dynrela" (dynamic reloc) sections in the resulting patch module Elf output. Using these dynrela sections, livepatch can correctly resolve symbols while taking into account its scope and what module the symbol belongs to, and then manually apply the dynamic relocations. Motivation: Why is having arch-dependent relocation code a problem? == The original motivation for this patchset stems from the increasing roadblocks encountered while attempting to port livepatch to s390. Specifically, there were problems dealing with s390 PLT and GOT relocation types (R_390_{PLT,GOT}), which are handled differently from x86's relocation types (which are much simpler to deal with, and a single livepatch function (klp_write_module_reloc()) has been sufficient enough). These s390 reloc types cannot be handled by simply performing a calculation (as in the x86 case). For s390 modules with PLT/GOT relocations, the kernel module loader allocates and fills in PLT+GOT table entries for every symbol referenced by a PLT/GOT reloc in module core memory. So the problem of porting livepatch to s390 became much more complicated than simply writing an s390-specific klp_write_module_reloc() function. How can livepatch handle these relocation types if the s390 module loader needs to allocate and fill PLT/GOT entries ahead of time? The potential solutions were: 1) have livepatch possibly allocate and maintain its own PLT/GOT tables for every patch module (requiring even more arch-specific code), 2) modify the s390 module loader heavily to accommodate livepatch modules (i.e. allocate all the needed PLT/GOT entries for livepatch in advance but refrain from applying relocations for to-be-patched modules), or 3) eliminate this potential mess by leveraging module loader code to do all the relocation work, letting livepatch off the hook completely. Solution #3 is what this patchset implements. How does this patchset remedy these problems? == Reusing the module loader code to perform livepatch relocations means that livepatch no longer needs arch-specific reloc code and the aforementioned problems with s390 PLT/GOT reloc types disappear (because we let the module loader do all the relocation work for us). It will enable livepatch to be more easily ported to other architectures. Summary of proposed changes == This patch series enables livepatch to use the module loader's apply_relocate_add() function to apply livepatch relocations (i.e. what used to be dynrelas). apply_relocate_add() requires access to a patch module's section headers, symbol table, reloc section indices, etc., and all of these are accessible through the load_info struct used in the module loader. Therefore we persist module Elf information (copied from load_info) for livepatch modules. The ELF-related changes enable livepatch to patch modules that are not yet loaded (as well as patch vmlinux when kaslr is enabled). In order to use apply_relocate_add(), we need real SHT_RELA sections to pass in. A complication here is that relocations for not-yet-loaded modules should not be applied when the patch module loads; they should only be applied once the target module is loaded. Thus kpatch build scripts were modified to output a livepatch module that contains special .klp.rel. sections that are managed by livepatch and are applied at the appropriate time (i.e. when target module loads). They are marked with a special SHF_RELA_LIVEPATCH section flag to indicate to the module loader that livepatch will handle them. The SHN_LIVEPATCH shndx marks symbols that need to be resolved once their respective target module loads. So, the module loader ignores these symbols and does not attempt to resolve them. These ELF constants were selected from OS-specific ranges according to the definitions from glibc. Based on the following branch: - git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/jikos/livepatching.git for-4.5/core v3: - Remove usage of the klp_reloc_sec struct, since we can simply loop through the patch module's section headers. - Remove necessity of the "external" flag by prefixing symbol names with the object name and extracting this name during symbol resolution. - Create CONFIG_LIVEPATCH and !CONFIG_LIVEPATCH versions of {copy,free}_module_elf(), is_livepatch_module(), and check_livepatch_modinfo(). - Encoded symbol position of a livepatch sym in its st_other field. - Various bug fixes from v2 v2: - Copy only the minimum required Elf information for livepatch modules to make the call to apply_relocate_add(), not the entire load_info struct and the redundant copy of the module in memory - Add module->klp flag for simple identification of livepatch modules - s390: remove redundant vfree() and preserve mod_arch_specific if livepatch module - Use array format instead of a linked list for klp_reloc_secs - Add new documentation describing the format of a livepatch module in Documentation/livepatch Jessica Yu (6): Elf: add livepatch-specific Elf constants module: preserve Elf information for livepatch modules module: s390: keep mod_arch_specific for livepatch modules livepatch: reuse module loader code to write relocations samples: livepatch: mark as livepatch module Documentation: livepatch: outline the Elf format of a livepatch module Documentation/livepatch/patch-module-format.txt | 98 ++++++++++++++++ arch/s390/kernel/module.c | 16 ++- arch/x86/include/asm/livepatch.h | 2 - arch/x86/kernel/Makefile | 1 - arch/x86/kernel/livepatch.c | 70 ----------- include/linux/livepatch.h | 33 +++--- include/linux/module.h | 31 +++++ include/uapi/linux/elf.h | 10 +- kernel/livepatch/core.c | 104 ++++++++--------- kernel/module.c | 149 +++++++++++++++++++++--- samples/livepatch/livepatch-sample.c | 1 + 11 files changed, 347 insertions(+), 168 deletions(-) create mode 100644 Documentation/livepatch/patch-module-format.txt delete mode 100644 arch/x86/kernel/livepatch.c -- 2.4.3 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-api" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html