path: root/Documentation/bpf/llvm_reloc.rst

.. SPDX-License-Identifier: (LGPL-2.1 OR BSD-2-Clause)

====================
BPF LLVM Relocations
====================

This document describes LLVM BPF backend relocation types.

Relocation Record
=================

LLVM BPF backend records each relocation with the following 16-byte
ELF structure::

  typedef struct
  {
    Elf64_Addr    r_offset;  // Offset from the beginning of section.
    Elf64_Xword   r_info;    // Relocation type and symbol index.
  } Elf64_Rel;

For example, for the following code::

  int g1 __attribute__((section("sec")));
  int g2 __attribute__((section("sec")));
  static volatile int l1 __attribute__((section("sec")));
  static volatile int l2 __attribute__((section("sec")));
  int test() {
    return g1 + g2 + l1 + l2;
  }

Compiled with ``clang --target=bpf -O2 -c test.c``, the following is
the code with ``llvm-objdump -dr test.o``::

       0:       18 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = 0 ll
                0000000000000000:  R_BPF_64_64  g1
       2:       61 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = *(u32 *)(r1 + 0)
       3:       18 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 r2 = 0 ll
                0000000000000018:  R_BPF_64_64  g2
       5:       61 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 = *(u32 *)(r2 + 0)
       6:       0f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r1
       7:       18 01 00 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = 8 ll
                0000000000000038:  R_BPF_64_64  sec
       9:       61 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = *(u32 *)(r1 + 0)
      10:       0f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r1
      11:       18 01 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = 12 ll
                0000000000000058:  R_BPF_64_64  sec
      13:       61 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = *(u32 *)(r1 + 0)
      14:       0f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r1
      15:       95 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 exit

There are four relocations in the above for four ``LD_imm64`` instructions.
The following ``llvm-readelf -r test.o`` shows the binary values of the four
relocations::

  Relocation section '.rel.text' at offset 0x190 contains 4 entries:
      Offset             Info             Type               Symbol's Value  Symbol's Name
  0000000000000000  0000000600000001 R_BPF_64_64            0000000000000000 g1
  0000000000000018  0000000700000001 R_BPF_64_64            0000000000000004 g2
  0000000000000038  0000000400000001 R_BPF_64_64            0000000000000000 sec
  0000000000000058  0000000400000001 R_BPF_64_64            0000000000000000 sec

Each relocation is represented by ``Offset`` (8 bytes) and ``Info`` (8 bytes).
For example, the first relocation corresponds to the first instruction
(Offset 0x0) and the corresponding ``Info`` indicates the relocation type
of ``R_BPF_64_64`` (type 1) and the entry in the symbol table (entry 6).
The following is the symbol table with ``llvm-readelf -s test.o``::

  Symbol table '.symtab' contains 8 entries:
     Num:    Value          Size Type    Bind   Vis       Ndx Name
       0: 0000000000000000     0 NOTYPE  LOCAL  DEFAULT   UND
       1: 0000000000000000     0 FILE    LOCAL  DEFAULT   ABS test.c
       2: 0000000000000008     4 OBJECT  LOCAL  DEFAULT     4 l1
       3: 000000000000000c     4 OBJECT  LOCAL  DEFAULT     4 l2
       4: 0000000000000000     0 SECTION LOCAL  DEFAULT     4 sec
       5: 0000000000000000   128 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT     2 test
       6: 0000000000000000     4 OBJECT  GLOBAL DEFAULT     4 g1
       7: 0000000000000004     4 OBJECT  GLOBAL DEFAULT     4 g2

The 6th entry is global variable ``g1`` with value 0.

Similarly, the second relocation is at ``.text`` offset ``0x18``, instruction 3,
has a type of ``R_BPF_64_64`` and refers to entry 7 in the symbol table.
The second relocation resolves to global variable ``g2`` which has a symbol
value 4. The symbol value represents the offset from the start of ``.data``
section where the initial value of the global variable ``g2`` is stored.

The third and fourth relocations refer to static variables ``l1``
and ``l2``. From the ``.rel.text`` section above, it is not clear
to which symbols they really refer as they both refer to
symbol table entry 4, symbol ``sec``, which has ``STT_SECTION`` type
and represents a section. So for a static variable or function,
the section offset is written to the original insn
buffer, which is called ``A`` (addend). Looking at
above insn ``7`` and ``11``, they have section offset ``8`` and ``12``.
From symbol table, we can find that they correspond to entries ``2``
and ``3`` for ``l1`` and ``l2``.

In general, the ``A`` is 0 for global variables and functions,
and is the section offset or some computation result based on
section offset for static variables/functions. The non-section-offset
case refers to function calls. See below for more details.

Different Relocation Types
==========================

Six relocation types are supported. The following is an overview and
``S`` represents the value of the symbol in the symbol table::

  Enum  ELF Reloc Type     Description      BitSize  Offset        Calculation
  0     R_BPF_NONE         None
  1     R_BPF_64_64        ld_imm64 insn    32       r_offset + 4  S + A
  2     R_BPF_64_ABS64     normal data      64       r_offset      S + A
  3     R_BPF_64_ABS32     normal data      32       r_offset      S + A
  4     R_BPF_64_NODYLD32  .BTF[.ext] data  32       r_offset      S + A
  10    R_BPF_64_32        call insn        32       r_offset + 4  (S + A) / 8 - 1

For example, ``R_BPF_64_64`` relocation type is used for ``ld_imm64`` instruction.
The actual to-be-relocated data (0 or section offset)
is stored at ``r_offset + 4`` and the read/write
data bitsize is 32 (4 bytes). The relocation can be resolved with
the symbol value plus implicit addend. Note that the ``BitSize`` is 32 which
means the section offset must be less than or equal to ``UINT32_MAX`` and this
is enforced by LLVM BPF backend.

In another case, ``R_BPF_64_ABS64`` relocation type is used for normal 64-bit data.
The actual to-be-relocated data is stored at ``r_offset`` and the read/write data
bitsize is 64 (8 bytes). The relocation can be resolved with
the symbol value plus implicit addend.

Both ``R_BPF_64_ABS32`` and ``R_BPF_64_NODYLD32`` types are for 32-bit data.
But ``R_BPF_64_NODYLD32`` specifically refers to relocations in ``.BTF`` and
``.BTF.ext`` sections. For cases like bcc where llvm ``ExecutionEngine RuntimeDyld``
is involved, ``R_BPF_64_NODYLD32`` types of relocations should not be resolved
to actual function/variable address. Otherwise, ``.BTF`` and ``.BTF.ext``
become unusable by bcc and kernel.

Type ``R_BPF_64_32`` is used for call instruction. The call target section
offset is stored at ``r_offset + 4`` (32bit) and calculated as
``(S + A) / 8 - 1``.

Examples
========

Types ``R_BPF_64_64`` and ``R_BPF_64_32`` are used to resolve ``ld_imm64``
and ``call`` instructions. For example::

  __attribute__((noinline)) __attribute__((section("sec1")))
  int gfunc(int a, int b) {
    return a * b;
  }
  static __attribute__((noinline)) __attribute__((section("sec1")))
  int lfunc(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
  }
  int global __attribute__((section("sec2")));
  int test(int a, int b) {
    return gfunc(a, b) +  lfunc(a, b) + global;
  }

Compiled with ``clang --target=bpf -O2 -c test.c``, we will have
following code with `llvm-objdump -dr test.o``::

  Disassembly of section .text:

  0000000000000000 <test>:
         0:       bf 26 00 00 00 00 00 00 r6 = r2
         1:       bf 17 00 00 00 00 00 00 r7 = r1
         2:       85 10 00 00 ff ff ff ff call -1
                  0000000000000010:  R_BPF_64_32  gfunc
         3:       bf 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 r8 = r0
         4:       bf 71 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = r7
         5:       bf 62 00 00 00 00 00 00 r2 = r6
         6:       85 10 00 00 02 00 00 00 call 2
                  0000000000000030:  R_BPF_64_32  sec1
         7:       0f 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r8
         8:       18 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = 0 ll
                  0000000000000040:  R_BPF_64_64  global
        10:       61 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 r1 = *(u32 *)(r1 + 0)
        11:       0f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r1
        12:       95 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 exit

  Disassembly of section sec1:

  0000000000000000 <gfunc>:
         0:       bf 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 = r2
         1:       2f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 *= r1
         2:       95 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 exit

  0000000000000018 <lfunc>:
         3:       bf 20 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 = r2
         4:       0f 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 r0 += r1
         5:       95 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 exit

The first relocation corresponds to ``gfunc(a, b)`` where ``gfunc`` has a value of 0,
so the ``call`` instruction offset is ``(0 + 0)/8 - 1 = -1``.
The second relocation corresponds to ``lfunc(a, b)`` where ``lfunc`` has a section
offset ``0x18``, so the ``call`` instruction offset is ``(0 + 0x18)/8 - 1 = 2``.
The third relocation corresponds to ld_imm64 of ``global``, which has a section
offset ``0``.

The following is an example to show how R_BPF_64_ABS64 could be generated::

  int global() { return 0; }
  struct t { void *g; } gbl = { global };

Compiled with ``clang --target=bpf -O2 -g -c test.c``, we will see a
relocation below in ``.data`` section with command
``llvm-readelf -r test.o``::

  Relocation section '.rel.data' at offset 0x458 contains 1 entries:
      Offset             Info             Type               Symbol's Value  Symbol's Name
  0000000000000000  0000000700000002 R_BPF_64_ABS64         0000000000000000 global

The relocation says the first 8-byte of ``.data`` section should be
filled with address of ``global`` variable.

With ``llvm-readelf`` output, we can see that dwarf sections have a bunch of
``R_BPF_64_ABS32`` and ``R_BPF_64_ABS64`` relocations::

  Relocation section '.rel.debug_info' at offset 0x468 contains 13 entries:
      Offset             Info             Type               Symbol's Value  Symbol's Name
  0000000000000006  0000000300000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_abbrev
  000000000000000c  0000000400000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_str
  0000000000000012  0000000400000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_str
  0000000000000016  0000000600000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_line
  000000000000001a  0000000400000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_str
  000000000000001e  0000000200000002 R_BPF_64_ABS64         0000000000000000 .text
  000000000000002b  0000000400000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_str
  0000000000000037  0000000800000002 R_BPF_64_ABS64         0000000000000000 gbl
  0000000000000040  0000000400000003 R_BPF_64_ABS32         0000000000000000 .debug_str
  ......

The .BTF/.BTF.ext sections has R_BPF_64_NODYLD32 relocations::

  Relocation section '.rel.BTF' at offset 0x538 contains 1 entries:
      Offset             Info             Type               Symbol's Value  Symbol's Name
  0000000000000084  0000000800000004 R_BPF_64_NODYLD32      0000000000000000 gbl

  Relocation section '.rel.BTF.ext' at offset 0x548 contains 2 entries:
      Offset             Info             Type               Symbol's Value  Symbol's Name
  000000000000002c  0000000200000004 R_BPF_64_NODYLD32      0000000000000000 .text
  0000000000000040  0000000200000004 R_BPF_64_NODYLD32      0000000000000000 .text

.. _btf-co-re-relocations:

=================
CO-RE Relocations
=================

From object file point of view CO-RE mechanism is implemented as a set
of CO-RE specific relocation records. These relocation records are not
related to ELF relocations and are encoded in .BTF.ext section.
See :ref:`Documentation/bpf/btf.rst <BTF_Ext_Section>` for more
information on .BTF.ext structure.

CO-RE relocations are applied to BPF instructions to update immediate
or offset fields of the instruction at load time with information
relevant for target kernel.

Field to patch is selected basing on the instruction class:

* For BPF_ALU, BPF_ALU64, BPF_LD `immediate` field is patched;
* For BPF_LDX, BPF_STX, BPF_ST `offset` field is patched;
* BPF_JMP, BPF_JMP32 instructions **should not** be patched.

Relocation kinds
================

There are several kinds of CO-RE relocations that could be split in
three groups:

* Field-based - patch instruction with field related information, e.g.
  change offset field of the BPF_LDX instruction to reflect offset
  of a specific structure field in the target kernel.

* Type-based - patch instruction with type related information, e.g.
  change immediate field of the BPF_ALU move instruction to 0 or 1 to
  reflect if specific type is present in the target kernel.

* Enum-based - patch instruction with enum related information, e.g.
  change immediate field of the BPF_LD_IMM64 instruction to reflect
  value of a specific enum literal in the target kernel.

The complete list of relocation kinds is represented by the following enum:

.. code-block:: c

 enum bpf_core_relo_kind {
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_BYTE_OFFSET = 0,  /* field byte offset */
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_BYTE_SIZE   = 1,  /* field size in bytes */
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_EXISTS      = 2,  /* field existence in target kernel */
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_SIGNED      = 3,  /* field signedness (0 - unsigned, 1 - signed) */
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_LSHIFT_U64  = 4,  /* bitfield-specific left bitshift */
	BPF_CORE_FIELD_RSHIFT_U64  = 5,  /* bitfield-specific right bitshift */
	BPF_CORE_TYPE_ID_LOCAL     = 6,  /* type ID in local BPF object */
	BPF_CORE_TYPE_ID_TARGET    = 7,  /* type ID in target kernel */
	BPF_CORE_TYPE_EXISTS       = 8,  /* type existence in target kernel */
	BPF_CORE_TYPE_SIZE         = 9,  /* type size in bytes */
	BPF_CORE_ENUMVAL_EXISTS    = 10, /* enum value existence in target kernel */
	BPF_CORE_ENUMVAL_VALUE     = 11, /* enum value integer value */
	BPF_CORE_TYPE_MATCHES      = 12, /* type match in target kernel */
 };

Notes:

* ``BPF_CORE_FIELD_LSHIFT_U64`` and ``BPF_CORE_FIELD_RSHIFT_U64`` are
  supposed to be used to read bitfield values using the following
  algorithm:

  .. code-block:: c

     // To read bitfield ``f`` from ``struct s``
     is_signed = relo(s->f, BPF_CORE_FIELD_SIGNED)
     off = relo(s->f, BPF_CORE_FIELD_BYTE_OFFSET)
     sz  = relo(s->f, BPF_CORE_FIELD_BYTE_SIZE)
     l   = relo(s->f, BPF_CORE_FIELD_LSHIFT_U64)
     r   = relo(s->f, BPF_CORE_FIELD_RSHIFT_U64)
     // define ``v`` as signed or unsigned integer of size ``sz``
     v = *({s|u}<sz> *)((void *)s + off)
     v <<= l
     v >>= r

* The ``BPF_CORE_TYPE_MATCHES`` queries matching relation, defined as
  follows:

  * for integers: types match if size and signedness match;
  * for arrays & pointers: target types are recursively matched;
  * for structs & unions:

    * local members need to exist in target with the same name;

    * for each member we recursively check match unless it is already behind a
      pointer, in which case we only check matching names and compatible kind;

  * for enums:

    * local variants have to have a match in target by symbolic name (but not
      numeric value);

    * size has to match (but enum may match enum64 and vice versa);

  * for function pointers:

    * number and position of arguments in local type has to match target;
    * for each argument and the return value we recursively check match.

CO-RE Relocation Record
=======================

Relocation record is encoded as the following structure:

.. code-block:: c

 struct bpf_core_relo {
	__u32 insn_off;
	__u32 type_id;
	__u32 access_str_off;
	enum bpf_core_relo_kind kind;
 };

* ``insn_off`` - instruction offset (in bytes) within a code section
  associated with this relocation;

* ``type_id`` - BTF type ID of the "root" (containing) entity of a
  relocatable type or field;

* ``access_str_off`` - offset into corresponding .BTF string section.
  String interpretation depends on specific relocation kind:

  * for field-based relocations, string encodes an accessed field using
    a sequence of field and array indices, separated by colon (:). It's
    conceptually very close to LLVM's `getelementptr <GEP_>`_ instruction's
    arguments for identifying offset to a field. For example, consider the
    following C code:

    .. code-block:: c

       struct sample {
           int a;
           int b;
           struct { int c[10]; };
       } __attribute__((preserve_access_index));
       struct sample *s;

    * Access to ``s[0].a`` would be encoded as ``0:0``:

      * ``0``: first element of ``s`` (as if ``s`` is an array);
      * ``0``: index of field ``a`` in ``struct sample``.

    * Access to ``s->a`` would be encoded as ``0:0`` as well.
    * Access to ``s->b`` would be encoded as ``0:1``:

      * ``0``: first element of ``s``;
      * ``1``: index of field ``b`` in ``struct sample``.

    * Access to ``s[1].c[5]`` would be encoded as ``1:2:0:5``:

      * ``1``: second element of ``s``;
      * ``2``: index of anonymous structure field in ``struct sample``;
      * ``0``: index of field ``c`` in anonymous structure;
      * ``5``: access to array element #5.

  * for type-based relocations, string is expected to be just "0";

  * for enum value-based relocations, string contains an index of enum
     value within its enum type;

* ``kind`` - one of ``enum bpf_core_relo_kind``.

.. _GEP: https://llvm.org/docs/LangRef.html#getelementptr-instruction

.. _btf_co_re_relocation_examples:

CO-RE Relocation Examples
=========================

For the following C code:

.. code-block:: c

 struct foo {
   int a;
   int b;
   unsigned c:15;
 } __attribute__((preserve_access_index));

 enum bar { U, V };

With the following BTF definitions:

.. code-block::

 ...
 [2] STRUCT 'foo' size=8 vlen=2
        'a' type_id=3 bits_offset=0
        'b' type_id=3 bits_offset=32
        'c' type_id=4 bits_offset=64 bitfield_size=15
 [3] INT 'int' size=4 bits_offset=0 nr_bits=32 encoding=SIGNED
 [4] INT 'unsigned int' size=4 bits_offset=0 nr_bits=32 encoding=(none)
 ...
 [16] ENUM 'bar' encoding=UNSIGNED size=4 vlen=2
        'U' val=0
        'V' val=1

Field offset relocations are generated automatically when
``__attribute__((preserve_access_index))`` is used, for example:

.. code-block:: c

  void alpha(struct foo *s, volatile unsigned long *g) {
    *g = s->a;
    s->a = 1;
  }

  00 <alpha>:
    0:  r3 = *(s32 *)(r1 + 0x0)
           00:  CO-RE <byte_off> [2] struct foo::a (0:0)
    1:  *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r3
    2:  *(u32 *)(r1 + 0x0) = 0x1
           10:  CO-RE <byte_off> [2] struct foo::a (0:0)
    3:  exit


All relocation kinds could be requested via built-in functions.
E.g. field-based relocations:

.. code-block:: c

  void bravo(struct foo *s, volatile unsigned long *g) {
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->b, 0 /* field byte offset */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->b, 1 /* field byte size */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->b, 2 /* field existence */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->b, 3 /* field signedness */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->c, 4 /* bitfield left shift */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_field_info(s->c, 5 /* bitfield right shift */);
  }

  20 <bravo>:
     4:     r1 = 0x4
            20:  CO-RE <byte_off> [2] struct foo::b (0:1)
     5:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
     6:     r1 = 0x4
            30:  CO-RE <byte_sz> [2] struct foo::b (0:1)
     7:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
     8:     r1 = 0x1
            40:  CO-RE <field_exists> [2] struct foo::b (0:1)
     9:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    10:     r1 = 0x1
            50:  CO-RE <signed> [2] struct foo::b (0:1)
    11:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    12:     r1 = 0x31
            60:  CO-RE <lshift_u64> [2] struct foo::c (0:2)
    13:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    14:     r1 = 0x31
            70:  CO-RE <rshift_u64> [2] struct foo::c (0:2)
    15:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    16:     exit


Type-based relocations:

.. code-block:: c

  void charlie(struct foo *s, volatile unsigned long *g) {
    *g = __builtin_preserve_type_info(*s, 0 /* type existence */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_type_info(*s, 1 /* type size */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_type_info(*s, 2 /* type matches */);
    *g = __builtin_btf_type_id(*s, 0 /* type id in this object file */);
    *g = __builtin_btf_type_id(*s, 1 /* type id in target kernel */);
  }

  88 <charlie>:
    17:     r1 = 0x1
            88:  CO-RE <type_exists> [2] struct foo
    18:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    19:     r1 = 0xc
            98:  CO-RE <type_size> [2] struct foo
    20:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    21:     r1 = 0x1
            a8:  CO-RE <type_matches> [2] struct foo
    22:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    23:     r1 = 0x2 ll
            b8:  CO-RE <local_type_id> [2] struct foo
    25:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    26:     r1 = 0x2 ll
            d0:  CO-RE <target_type_id> [2] struct foo
    28:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    29:     exit

Enum-based relocations:

.. code-block:: c

  void delta(struct foo *s, volatile unsigned long *g) {
    *g = __builtin_preserve_enum_value(*(enum bar *)U, 0 /* enum literal existence */);
    *g = __builtin_preserve_enum_value(*(enum bar *)V, 1 /* enum literal value */);
  }

  f0 <delta>:
    30:     r1 = 0x1 ll
            f0:  CO-RE <enumval_exists> [16] enum bar::U = 0
    32:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    33:     r1 = 0x1 ll
            108:  CO-RE <enumval_value> [16] enum bar::V = 1
    35:     *(u64 *)(r2 + 0x0) = r1
    36:     exit