The vmlinux ".BTF_ids" ELF section is declared in btf_ids.h to hold a list of zero-filled BTF IDs, which is then patched at link-time with correct values by resolv_btfids. The section is flagged as "allocable" to preclude compression, but notably the section contents (BTF IDs) are untyped.
When patching the BTF IDs, resolve_btfids writes in host-native endianness and relies on libelf for any required translation on reading and updating vmlinux. However, since the type of the .BTF_ids section content defaults to ELF_T_BYTE (i.e. unsigned char), no translation occurs. This results in incorrect patched values when cross-compiling to non-native endianness, and can manifest as kernel Oops and test failures which are difficult to troubleshoot [1].
Explicitly set the type of patched data to ELF_T_WORD, the architecture- neutral ELF type corresponding to the u32 BTF IDs. This enables libelf to transparently perform any needed endian conversions.
Fixes: fbbb68de80a4 ("bpf: Add resolve_btfids tool to resolve BTF IDs in ELF object") Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org # v5.10+ Cc: Frank Eigler fche@redhat.com Cc: Mark Wielaard mark@klomp.org Cc: Jiri Olsa jolsa@kernel.org Cc: Yonghong Song yhs@fb.com Link: [1] https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/CAPGftE_eY-Zdi3wBcgDfkz_iOr1KF10n=9mJHm1_a_Pykcs... Signed-off-by: Tony Ambardar Tony.Ambardar@gmail.com Acked-by: Jiri Olsa jolsa@redhat.com --- v1 -> v2: * add context and elaborate on commit message per request * include ACK from Jiri Olsa --- tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/main.c | 3 +++ 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)
diff --git a/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/main.c b/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/main.c index d636643ddd35..f32c059fbfb4 100644 --- a/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/main.c +++ b/tools/bpf/resolve_btfids/main.c @@ -649,6 +649,9 @@ static int symbols_patch(struct object *obj) if (sets_patch(obj)) return -1;
+ /* Set type to ensure endian translation occurs. */ + obj->efile.idlist->d_type = ELF_T_WORD; + elf_flagdata(obj->efile.idlist, ELF_C_SET, ELF_F_DIRTY);
err = elf_update(obj->efile.elf, ELF_C_WRITE);