| =========================== |
| Livepatch module Elf format |
| =========================== |
| |
| This document outlines the Elf format requirements that livepatch modules must follow. |
| |
| ----------------- |
| Table of Contents |
| ----------------- |
| 0. Background and motivation |
| 1. Livepatch modinfo field |
| 2. Livepatch relocation sections |
| 2.1 What are livepatch relocation sections? |
| 2.2 Livepatch relocation section format |
| 2.2.1 Required flags |
| 2.2.2 Required name format |
| 2.2.3 Example livepatch relocation section names |
| 2.2.4 Example `readelf --sections` output |
| 2.2.5 Example `readelf --relocs` output |
| 3. Livepatch symbols |
| 3.1 What are livepatch symbols? |
| 3.2 A livepatch module's symbol table |
| 3.3 Livepatch symbol format |
| 3.3.1 Required flags |
| 3.3.2 Required name format |
| 3.3.3 Example livepatch symbol names |
| 3.3.4 Example `readelf --symbols` output |
| 4. Architecture-specific sections |
| 5. Symbol table and Elf section access |
| |
| ---------------------------- |
| 0. Background and motivation |
| ---------------------------- |
| |
| Formerly, livepatch required separate architecture-specific code to write |
| relocations. However, arch-specific code to write relocations already |
| exists in the module loader, so this former approach produced redundant |
| code. So, instead of duplicating code and re-implementing what the module |
| loader can already do, livepatch leverages existing code in the module |
| loader to perform the all the arch-specific relocation work. Specifically, |
| livepatch reuses the apply_relocate_add() function in the module loader to |
| write relocations. The patch module Elf format described in this document |
| enables livepatch to be able to do this. The hope is that this will make |
| livepatch more easily portable to other architectures and reduce the amount |
| of arch-specific code required to port livepatch to a particular |
| architecture. |
| |
| Since apply_relocate_add() requires access to a module's section header |
| table, symbol table, and relocation section indices, Elf information is |
| preserved for livepatch modules (see section 5). Livepatch manages its own |
| relocation sections and symbols, which are described in this document. The |
| Elf constants used to mark livepatch symbols and relocation sections were |
| selected from OS-specific ranges according to the definitions from glibc. |
| |
| 0.1 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 yet loaded at patch module load time (e.g. a patch to a |
| driver that is not loaded). Formerly, livepatch solved this problem by |
| embedding special "dynrela" (dynamic rela) sections in the resulting patch |
| module Elf output. Using these dynrela sections, livepatch could resolve |
| symbols while taking into account its scope and what module the symbol |
| belongs to, and then manually apply the dynamic relocations. However this |
| approach required livepatch to supply arch-specific code in order to write |
| these relocations. In the new format, livepatch manages its own SHT_RELA |
| relocation sections in place of dynrela sections, and the symbols that the |
| relas reference are special livepatch symbols (see section 2 and 3). The |
| arch-specific livepatch relocation code is replaced by a call to |
| apply_relocate_add(). |
| |
| ================================ |
| PATCH MODULE FORMAT REQUIREMENTS |
| ================================ |
| |
| -------------------------- |
| 1. Livepatch modinfo field |
| -------------------------- |
| |
| Livepatch modules are required to have the "livepatch" modinfo attribute. |
| See the sample livepatch module in samples/livepatch/ for how this is done. |
| |
| Livepatch modules can be identified by users by using the 'modinfo' command |
| and looking for the presence of the "livepatch" field. This field is also |
| used by the kernel module loader to identify livepatch modules. |
| |
| Example modinfo output: |
| ----------------------- |
| % modinfo livepatch-meminfo.ko |
| filename: livepatch-meminfo.ko |
| livepatch: Y |
| license: GPL |
| depends: |
| vermagic: 4.3.0+ SMP mod_unload |
| |
| -------------------------------- |
| 2. Livepatch relocation sections |
| -------------------------------- |
| |
| ------------------------------------------- |
| 2.1 What are livepatch relocation sections? |
| ------------------------------------------- |
| A livepatch module manages its own Elf relocation sections to apply |
| relocations to modules as well as to the kernel (vmlinux) at the |
| appropriate time. For example, if a patch module patches a driver that is |
| not currently loaded, livepatch will apply the corresponding livepatch |
| relocation section(s) to the driver once it loads. |
| |
| Each "object" (e.g. vmlinux, or a module) within a patch module may have |
| multiple livepatch relocation sections associated with it (e.g. patches to |
| multiple functions within the same object). There is a 1-1 correspondence |
| between a livepatch relocation section and the target section (usually the |
| text section of a function) to which the relocation(s) apply. It is |
| also possible for a livepatch module to have no livepatch relocation |
| sections, as in the case of the sample livepatch module (see |
| samples/livepatch). |
| |
| Since Elf information is preserved for livepatch modules (see Section 5), a |
| livepatch relocation section can be applied simply by passing in the |
| appropriate section index to apply_relocate_add(), which then uses it to |
| access the relocation section and apply the relocations. |
| |
| Every symbol referenced by a rela in a livepatch relocation section is a |
| livepatch symbol. These must be resolved before livepatch can call |
| apply_relocate_add(). See Section 3 for more information. |
| |
| --------------------------------------- |
| 2.2 Livepatch relocation section format |
| --------------------------------------- |
| |
| 2.2.1 Required flags |
| -------------------- |
| Livepatch relocation sections must be marked with the SHF_RELA_LIVEPATCH |
| section flag. See include/uapi/linux/elf.h for the definition. The module |
| loader recognizes this flag and will avoid applying those relocation sections |
| at patch module load time. These sections must also be marked with SHF_ALLOC, |
| so that the module loader doesn't discard them on module load (i.e. they will |
| be copied into memory along with the other SHF_ALLOC sections). |
| |
| 2.2.2 Required name format |
| -------------------------- |
| The name of a livepatch relocation section must conform to the following format: |
| |
| .klp.rela.objname.section_name |
| ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ |
| |________||_____| |__________| |
| [A] [B] [C] |
| |
| [A] The relocation section name is prefixed with the string ".klp.rela." |
| [B] The name of the object (i.e. "vmlinux" or name of module) to |
| which the relocation section belongs follows immediately after the prefix. |
| [C] The actual name of the section to which this relocation section applies. |
| |
| 2.2.3 Example livepatch relocation section names: |
| ------------------------------------------------- |
| .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4_attr_store |
| .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.cmdline_proc_show |
| |
| 2.2.4 Example `readelf --sections` output for a patch |
| module that patches vmlinux and modules 9p, btrfs, ext4: |
| -------------------------------------------------------- |
| Section Headers: |
| [Nr] Name Type Address Off Size ES Flg Lk Inf Al |
| [ snip ] |
| [29] .klp.rela.9p.text.caches.show RELA 0000000000000000 002d58 0000c0 18 AIo 64 9 8 |
| [30] .klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs.feature.attr.show RELA 0000000000000000 002e18 000060 18 AIo 64 11 8 |
| [ snip ] |
| [34] .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4.attr.store RELA 0000000000000000 002fd8 0000d8 18 AIo 64 13 8 |
| [35] .klp.rela.ext4.text.ext4.attr.show RELA 0000000000000000 0030b0 000150 18 AIo 64 15 8 |
| [36] .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.cmdline.proc.show RELA 0000000000000000 003200 000018 18 AIo 64 17 8 |
| [37] .klp.rela.vmlinux.text.meminfo.proc.show RELA 0000000000000000 003218 0000f0 18 AIo 64 19 8 |
| [ snip ] ^ ^ |
| | | |
| [*] [*] |
| [*] Livepatch relocation sections are SHT_RELA sections but with a few special |
| characteristics. Notice that they are marked SHF_ALLOC ("A") so that they will |
| not be discarded when the module is loaded into memory, as well as with the |
| SHF_RELA_LIVEPATCH flag ("o" - for OS-specific). |
| |
| 2.2.5 Example `readelf --relocs` output for a patch module: |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Relocation section '.klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs_feature_attr_show' at offset 0x2ba0 contains 4 entries: |
| Offset Info Type Symbol's Value Symbol's Name + Addend |
| 000000000000001f 0000005e00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 - 4 |
| 0000000000000028 0000003d0000000b R_X86_64_32S 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.btrfs.btrfs_ktype,0 + 0 |
| 0000000000000036 0000003b00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.btrfs.can_modify_feature.isra.3,0 - 4 |
| 000000000000004c 0000004900000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 - 4 |
| [ snip ] ^ |
| | |
| [*] |
| [*] Every symbol referenced by a relocation is a livepatch symbol. |
| |
| -------------------- |
| 3. Livepatch symbols |
| -------------------- |
| |
| ------------------------------- |
| 3.1 What are livepatch symbols? |
| ------------------------------- |
| Livepatch symbols are symbols referred to by livepatch relocation sections. |
| These are symbols accessed from new versions of functions for patched |
| objects, whose addresses cannot be resolved by the module loader (because |
| they are local or unexported global syms). Since the module loader only |
| resolves exported syms, and not every symbol referenced by the new patched |
| functions is exported, livepatch symbols were introduced. They are used |
| also in cases where we cannot immediately know the address of a symbol when |
| a patch module loads. For example, this is the case when livepatch patches |
| a module that is not loaded yet. In this case, the relevant livepatch |
| symbols are resolved simply when the target module loads. In any case, for |
| any livepatch relocation section, all livepatch symbols referenced by that |
| section must be resolved before livepatch can call apply_relocate_add() for |
| that reloc section. |
| |
| Livepatch symbols must be marked with SHN_LIVEPATCH so that the module |
| loader can identify and ignore them. Livepatch modules keep these symbols |
| in their symbol tables, and the symbol table is made accessible through |
| module->symtab. |
| |
| ------------------------------------- |
| 3.2 A livepatch module's symbol table |
| ------------------------------------- |
| Normally, a stripped down copy of a module's symbol table (containing only |
| "core" symbols) is made available through module->symtab (See layout_symtab() |
| in kernel/module.c). For livepatch modules, the symbol table copied into memory |
| on module load must be exactly the same as the symbol table produced when the |
| patch module was compiled. This is because the relocations in each livepatch |
| relocation section refer to their respective symbols with their symbol indices, |
| and the original symbol indices (and thus the symtab ordering) must be |
| preserved in order for apply_relocate_add() to find the right symbol. |
| |
| For example, take this particular rela from a livepatch module: |
| Relocation section '.klp.rela.btrfs.text.btrfs_feature_attr_show' at offset 0x2ba0 contains 4 entries: |
| Offset Info Type Symbol's Value Symbol's Name + Addend |
| 000000000000001f 0000005e00000002 R_X86_64_PC32 0000000000000000 .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 - 4 |
| |
| This rela refers to the symbol '.klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0', and the symbol index is encoded |
| in 'Info'. Here its symbol index is 0x5e, which is 94 in decimal, which refers to the |
| symbol index 94. |
| And in this patch module's corresponding symbol table, symbol index 94 refers to that very symbol: |
| [ snip ] |
| 94: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 |
| [ snip ] |
| |
| --------------------------- |
| 3.3 Livepatch symbol format |
| --------------------------- |
| |
| 3.3.1 Required flags |
| -------------------- |
| Livepatch symbols must have their section index marked as SHN_LIVEPATCH, so |
| that the module loader can identify them and not attempt to resolve them. |
| See include/uapi/linux/elf.h for the actual definitions. |
| |
| 3.3.2 Required name format |
| -------------------------- |
| Livepatch symbol names must conform to the following format: |
| |
| .klp.sym.objname.symbol_name,sympos |
| ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ |
| |_______||_____| |_________| | |
| [A] [B] [C] [D] |
| |
| [A] The symbol name is prefixed with the string ".klp.sym." |
| [B] The name of the object (i.e. "vmlinux" or name of module) to |
| which the symbol belongs follows immediately after the prefix. |
| [C] The actual name of the symbol. |
| [D] The position of the symbol in the object (as according to kallsyms) |
| This is used to differentiate duplicate symbols within the same |
| object. The symbol position is expressed numerically (0, 1, 2...). |
| The symbol position of a unique symbol is 0. |
| |
| 3.3.3 Example livepatch symbol names: |
| ------------------------------------- |
| .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 |
| .klp.sym.vmlinux.printk,0 |
| .klp.sym.btrfs.btrfs_ktype,0 |
| |
| 3.3.4 Example `readelf --symbols` output for a patch module: |
| ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Symbol table '.symtab' contains 127 entries: |
| Num: Value Size Type Bind Vis Ndx Name |
| [ snip ] |
| 73: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.snprintf,0 |
| 74: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.capable,0 |
| 75: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.find_next_bit,0 |
| 76: 0000000000000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT OS [0xff20] .klp.sym.vmlinux.si_swapinfo,0 |
| [ snip ] ^ |
| | |
| [*] |
| [*] Note that the 'Ndx' (Section index) for these symbols is SHN_LIVEPATCH (0xff20). |
| "OS" means OS-specific. |
| |
| --------------------------------- |
| 4. Architecture-specific sections |
| --------------------------------- |
| Architectures may override arch_klp_init_object_loaded() to perform |
| additional arch-specific tasks when a target module loads, such as applying |
| arch-specific sections. On x86 for example, we must apply per-object |
| .altinstructions and .parainstructions sections when a target module loads. |
| These sections must be prefixed with ".klp.arch.$objname." so that they can |
| be easily identified when iterating through a patch module's Elf sections |
| (See arch/x86/kernel/livepatch.c for a complete example). |
| |
| -------------------------------------- |
| 5. Symbol table and Elf section access |
| -------------------------------------- |
| A livepatch module's symbol table is accessible through module->symtab. |
| |
| Since apply_relocate_add() requires access to a module's section headers, |
| symbol table, and relocation section indices, Elf information is preserved for |
| livepatch modules and is made accessible by the module loader through |
| module->klp_info, which is a klp_modinfo struct. When a livepatch module loads, |
| this struct is filled in by the module loader. Its fields are documented below: |
| |
| struct klp_modinfo { |
| Elf_Ehdr hdr; /* Elf header */ |
| Elf_Shdr *sechdrs; /* Section header table */ |
| char *secstrings; /* String table for the section headers */ |
| unsigned int symndx; /* The symbol table section index */ |
| }; |