bpf: Refactor object relationship tracking and fix dynptr UAF bug

Refactor object relationship tracking in the verifier and fix a dynptr
use-after-free bug where file/skb dynptrs are not invalidated when the
parent referenced object is freed.

Add parent_id to bpf_reg_state to precisely track child-parent
relationships. A child object's parent_id points to the parent object's
id. This replaces the PTR_TO_MEM-specific dynptr_id.

Remove ref_obj_id from bpf_reg_state by folding its role into the
existing id field. Previously, id tracked pointer identity for null
checking while ref_obj_id tracked the owning reference for lifetime
management. These are now unified: acquire helpers and kfuncs set id
to the acquired reference id, and release paths use id directly.

Add reg_is_referenced() which checks if a register is referenced by
looking up its id in the reference array. This replaces all former
ref_obj_id checks.

For release_reference(), invalidating an object now also invalidates
all descendants by traversing the object tree. This is done using
stack-based DFS to avoid recursive call chains of release_reference() ->
unmark_stack_slots_dynptr() -> release_reference(). Referenced objects
encountered during tree traversal are reported as leaked references.

Add parent_id to bpf_reference_state to enable hierarchical reference
tracking. When acquiring a reference, a parent_id can be specified to
link the new reference to an existing one (e.g., referenced dynptrs
acquire a reference with parent_id linking to the parent object's
reference).

Pointer casting:

For pointer casting helpers (bpf_sk_fullsock, bpf_tcp_sock), instead of
propagating ref_obj_id, the cast result reuses the same reference id as
the source pointer. Since the cast may return NULL for a non-NULL input,
the NULL case is explored as a separate verifier branch. This allows
releasing any of the original or cast pointers to invalidate all others.

Referenced dynptrs:

When constructing a referenced dynptr, acquire a intermediate reference
with parent_id linking to the parent referenced object. The dynptr and
all clones share the same parent_id (pointing to the intermediate ref)
but get unique ids for independent slice tracking. Releasing a
referenced dynptr releases the parent reference, which in turn
invalidates all clones and their derived slices.

Owning to non-owning reference conversion:

After converting owning to non-owning by clearing id (e.g.,
object(id=1) -> object(id=0)), the verifier releases the reference
state via release_reference_nomark().

Note that the error message "reference has not been acquired before" in
the helper and kfunc release paths is removed. This message was already
unreachable. The verifier only calls release_reference() after
confirming the reference is valid, so the condition could never trigger
in practice.

Fixes: 870c28588a ("bpf: net_sched: Add basic bpf qdisc kfuncs")
Signed-off-by: Amery Hung <ameryhung@gmail.com>
Acked-by: Eduard Zingerman <eddyz87@gmail.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260529014936.2811085-6-ameryhung@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>

include/linux/bpf.h

@@ -1062,7 +1062,7 @@ struct bpf_insn_access_aux {
 		struct {
 			struct btf *btf;
 			u32 btf_id;
-			u32 ref_obj_id;
+			u32 ref_id;
 		};
 	};
 	struct bpf_verifier_log *log; /* for verbose logs */
@@ -1631,7 +1631,7 @@ struct bpf_ctx_arg_aux {
 	enum bpf_reg_type reg_type;
 	struct btf *btf;
 	u32 btf_id;
-	u32 ref_obj_id;
+	u32 ref_id;
 	bool refcounted;
 };
 

include/linux/bpf_verifier.h

@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ struct bpf_reg_state {
 
 		struct { /* for PTR_TO_MEM | PTR_TO_MEM_OR_NULL */
 			u32 mem_size;
-			u32 dynptr_id; /* for dynptr slices */
 		};
 
 		/* For dynptr stack slots */
@@ -148,46 +147,14 @@ struct bpf_reg_state {
 #define BPF_ADD_CONST32 (1U << 30)
 #define BPF_ADD_CONST (BPF_ADD_CONST64 | BPF_ADD_CONST32)
 	u32 id;
-	/* PTR_TO_SOCKET and PTR_TO_TCP_SOCK could be a ptr returned
-	 * from a pointer-cast helper, bpf_sk_fullsock() and
-	 * bpf_tcp_sock().
-	 *
-	 * Consider the following where "sk" is a reference counted
-	 * pointer returned from "sk = bpf_sk_lookup_tcp();":
-	 *
-	 * 1: sk = bpf_sk_lookup_tcp();
-	 * 2: if (!sk) { return 0; }
-	 * 3: fullsock = bpf_sk_fullsock(sk);
-	 * 4: if (!fullsock) { bpf_sk_release(sk); return 0; }
-	 * 5: tp = bpf_tcp_sock(fullsock);
-	 * 6: if (!tp) { bpf_sk_release(sk); return 0; }
-	 * 7: bpf_sk_release(sk);
-	 * 8: snd_cwnd = tp->snd_cwnd;  // verifier will complain
-	 *
-	 * After bpf_sk_release(sk) at line 7, both "fullsock" ptr and
-	 * "tp" ptr should be invalidated also.  In order to do that,
-	 * the reg holding "fullsock" and "sk" need to remember
-	 * the original refcounted ptr id (i.e. sk_reg->id) in ref_obj_id
-	 * such that the verifier can reset all regs which have
-	 * ref_obj_id matching the sk_reg->id.
-	 *
-	 * sk_reg->ref_obj_id is set to sk_reg->id at line 1.
-	 * sk_reg->id will stay as NULL-marking purpose only.
-	 * After NULL-marking is done, sk_reg->id can be reset to 0.
-	 *
-	 * After "fullsock = bpf_sk_fullsock(sk);" at line 3,
-	 * fullsock_reg->ref_obj_id is set to sk_reg->ref_obj_id.
-	 *
-	 * After "tp = bpf_tcp_sock(fullsock);" at line 5,
-	 * tp_reg->ref_obj_id is set to fullsock_reg->ref_obj_id
-	 * which is the same as sk_reg->ref_obj_id.
-	 *
-	 * From the verifier perspective, if sk, fullsock and tp
-	 * are not NULL, they are the same ptr with different
-	 * reg->type.  In particular, bpf_sk_release(tp) is also
-	 * allowed and has the same effect as bpf_sk_release(sk).
+	/*
+	 * Tracks the parent object this register was derived from.
+	 * Used for cascading invalidation: when the parent object is
+	 * released or invalidated, all registers with matching parent_id
+	 * are also invalidated. For example, a slice from bpf_dynptr_data()
+	 * gets parent_id set to the dynptr's id.
 	 */
-	u32 ref_obj_id;
+	u32 parent_id;
 	/* Inside the callee two registers can be both PTR_TO_STACK like
 	 * R1=fp-8 and R2=fp-8, but one of them points to this function stack
 	 * while another to the caller's stack. To differentiate them 'frameno'
@@ -364,10 +331,14 @@ struct bpf_reference_state {
 	 * is used purely to inform the user of a reference leak.
 	 */
 	int insn_idx;
-	/* Use to keep track of the source object of a lock, to ensure
-	 * it matches on unlock.
-	 */
-	void *ptr;
+	union {
+		/* For REF_TYPE_PTR */
+		int parent_id;
+		/* Use to keep track of the source object of a lock, to ensure
+		 * it matches on unlock.
+		 */
+		void *ptr;
+	};
 };
 
 struct bpf_retval_range {
@@ -585,7 +556,7 @@ bpf_get_spilled_stack_arg(int slot, struct bpf_func_state *frame)
 	     iter < frame->out_stack_arg_cnt;                          \
 	     iter++, reg = bpf_get_spilled_stack_arg(iter, frame))
 
-#define bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate_mask(__vst, __state, __reg, __mask, __expr)   \
+#define bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate_mask(__vst, __state, __reg, __stack, __mask, __expr)   \
 	({                                                               \
 		struct bpf_verifier_state *___vstate = __vst;            \
 		int ___i, ___j;                                          \
@@ -593,6 +564,7 @@ bpf_get_spilled_stack_arg(int slot, struct bpf_func_state *frame)
 			struct bpf_reg_state *___regs;                   \
 			__state = ___vstate->frame[___i];                \
 			___regs = __state->regs;                         \
+			__stack = NULL;                                  \
 			for (___j = 0; ___j < MAX_BPF_REG; ___j++) {     \
 				__reg = &___regs[___j];                  \
 				(void)(__expr);                          \
@@ -600,8 +572,10 @@ bpf_get_spilled_stack_arg(int slot, struct bpf_func_state *frame)
 			bpf_for_each_spilled_reg(___j, __state, __reg, __mask) { \
 				if (!__reg)                              \
 					continue;                        \
+				__stack = &__state->stack[___j];         \
 				(void)(__expr);                          \
 			}                                                \
+			__stack = NULL;                                  \
 			bpf_for_each_spilled_stack_arg(___j, __state, __reg) { \
 				if (!__reg)                              \
 					continue;                        \
@@ -611,8 +585,13 @@ bpf_get_spilled_stack_arg(int slot, struct bpf_func_state *frame)
 	})
 
 /* Invoke __expr over regsiters in __vst, setting __state and __reg */
-#define bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate(__vst, __state, __reg, __expr) \
-	bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate_mask(__vst, __state, __reg, 1 << STACK_SPILL, __expr)
+#define bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate(__vst, __state, __reg, __expr)		\
+	({									\
+		struct bpf_stack_state * ___stack;                        	\
+		(void)___stack;							\
+		bpf_for_each_reg_in_vstate_mask(__vst, __state, __reg, ___stack,\
+						1 << STACK_SPILL, __expr);	\
+	})
 
 /* linked list of verifier states used to prune search */
 struct bpf_verifier_state_list {
@@ -1442,7 +1421,7 @@ struct bpf_map_desc {
 struct bpf_dynptr_desc {
 	enum bpf_dynptr_type type;
 	u32 id;
-	u32 ref_obj_id;
+	u32 parent_id;
 };
 
 struct bpf_kfunc_call_arg_meta {
@@ -1453,7 +1432,7 @@ struct bpf_kfunc_call_arg_meta {
 	const struct btf_type *func_proto;
 	const char *func_name;
 	/* Out parameters */
-	u32 ref_obj_id;
+	u32 id;
 	u8 release_regno;
 	bool r0_rdonly;
 	u32 ret_btf_id;

kernel/bpf/btf.c

@@ -6957,7 +6957,7 @@ bool btf_ctx_access(int off, int size, enum bpf_access_type type,
 			info->reg_type = ctx_arg_info->reg_type;
 			info->btf = ctx_arg_info->btf ? : btf_vmlinux;
 			info->btf_id = ctx_arg_info->btf_id;
-			info->ref_obj_id = ctx_arg_info->ref_obj_id;
+			info->ref_id = ctx_arg_info->ref_id;
 			return true;
 		}
 	}

kernel/bpf/fixups.c

@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ int bpf_convert_ctx_accesses(struct bpf_verifier_env *env)
 		case PTR_TO_BTF_ID:
 		case PTR_TO_BTF_ID | PTR_UNTRUSTED:
 		/* PTR_TO_BTF_ID | MEM_ALLOC always has a valid lifetime, unlike
-		 * PTR_TO_BTF_ID, and an active ref_obj_id, but the same cannot
+		 * PTR_TO_BTF_ID, and an active referenced id, but the same cannot
 		 * be said once it is marked PTR_UNTRUSTED, hence we must handle
 		 * any faults for loads into such types. BPF_WRITE is disallowed
 		 * for this case.

kernel/bpf/log.c

@@ -665,8 +665,8 @@ static void print_reg_state(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 		verbose_a("id=%d", reg->id & ~BPF_ADD_CONST);
 	if (reg->id & BPF_ADD_CONST)
 		verbose(env, "%+d", reg->delta);
-	if (reg->ref_obj_id)
-		verbose_a("ref_obj_id=%d", reg->ref_obj_id);
+	if (reg->parent_id)
+		verbose_a("parent_id=%d", reg->parent_id);
 	if (type_is_non_owning_ref(reg->type))
 		verbose_a("%s", "non_own_ref");
 	if (type_is_map_ptr(t)) {
@@ -768,21 +768,19 @@ void print_verifier_state(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, const struct bpf_verifie
 			verbose(env, "=dynptr_%s(", dynptr_type_str(reg->dynptr.type));
 			if (reg->id)
 				verbose_a("id=%d", reg->id);
-			if (reg->ref_obj_id)
-				verbose_a("ref_id=%d", reg->ref_obj_id);
-			if (reg->dynptr_id)
-				verbose_a("dynptr_id=%d", reg->dynptr_id);
+			if (reg->parent_id)
+				verbose_a("parent_id=%d", reg->parent_id);
 			verbose(env, ")");
 			break;
 		case STACK_ITER:
-			/* only main slot has ref_obj_id set; skip others */
-			if (!reg->ref_obj_id)
+			/* only main slot has id set; skip others */
+			if (!reg->id)
 				continue;
 
-			verbose(env, " fp%d=iter_%s(ref_id=%d,state=%s,depth=%u)",
+			verbose(env, " fp%d=iter_%s(id=%d,state=%s,depth=%u)",
 				(-i - 1) * BPF_REG_SIZE,
 				iter_type_str(reg->iter.btf, reg->iter.btf_id),
-				reg->ref_obj_id, iter_state_str(reg->iter.state),
+				reg->id, iter_state_str(reg->iter.state),
 				reg->iter.depth);
 			break;
 		case STACK_MISC:

kernel/bpf/states.c

@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ static bool regs_exact(const struct bpf_reg_state *rold,
 {
 	return memcmp(rold, rcur, offsetof(struct bpf_reg_state, id)) == 0 &&
 	       check_ids(rold->id, rcur->id, idmap) &&
-	       check_ids(rold->ref_obj_id, rcur->ref_obj_id, idmap);
+	       check_ids(rold->parent_id, rcur->parent_id, idmap);
 }
 
 enum exact_level {
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@ static bool regsafe(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_reg_state *rold,
 		       range_within(rold, rcur) &&
 		       tnum_in(rold->var_off, rcur->var_off) &&
 		       check_ids(rold->id, rcur->id, idmap) &&
-		       check_ids(rold->ref_obj_id, rcur->ref_obj_id, idmap);
+		       check_ids(rold->parent_id, rcur->parent_id, idmap);
 	case PTR_TO_PACKET_META:
 	case PTR_TO_PACKET:
 		/* We must have at least as much range as the old ptr
@@ -794,7 +794,8 @@ static bool stacksafe(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_func_state *old,
 			cur_reg = &cur->stack[spi].spilled_ptr;
 			if (old_reg->dynptr.type != cur_reg->dynptr.type ||
 			    old_reg->dynptr.first_slot != cur_reg->dynptr.first_slot ||
-			    !check_ids(old_reg->ref_obj_id, cur_reg->ref_obj_id, idmap))
+			    !check_ids(old_reg->id, cur_reg->id, idmap) ||
+			    !check_ids(old_reg->parent_id, cur_reg->parent_id, idmap))
 				return false;
 			break;
 		case STACK_ITER:
@@ -810,13 +811,13 @@ static bool stacksafe(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct bpf_func_state *old,
 			    old_reg->iter.btf_id != cur_reg->iter.btf_id ||
 			    old_reg->iter.state != cur_reg->iter.state ||
 			    /* ignore {old_reg,cur_reg}->iter.depth, see above */
-			    !check_ids(old_reg->ref_obj_id, cur_reg->ref_obj_id, idmap))
+			    !check_ids(old_reg->id, cur_reg->id, idmap))
 				return false;
 			break;
 		case STACK_IRQ_FLAG:
 			old_reg = &old->stack[spi].spilled_ptr;
 			cur_reg = &cur->stack[spi].spilled_ptr;
-			if (!check_ids(old_reg->ref_obj_id, cur_reg->ref_obj_id, idmap) ||
+			if (!check_ids(old_reg->id, cur_reg->id, idmap) ||
 			    old_reg->irq.kfunc_class != cur_reg->irq.kfunc_class)
 				return false;
 			break;

tools/testing/selftests/bpf/prog_tests/spin_lock.c

@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ static struct {
 	const char *err_msg;
 } spin_lock_fail_tests[] = {
 	{ "lock_id_kptr_preserve",
-	  "[0-9]\\+: (bf) r1 = r0                       ; R0=ptr_foo(id=2,ref_obj_id=2)"
-	  " R1=ptr_foo(id=2,ref_obj_id=2) refs=2\n"
+	  "[0-9]\\+: (bf) r1 = r0                       ; R0=ptr_foo(id=2)"
+	  " R1=ptr_foo(id=2) refs=2\n"
 	  "[0-9]\\+: (85) call bpf_this_cpu_ptr#154\n"
 	  "R1 type=ptr_ expected=percpu_ptr_" },
 	{ "lock_id_global_zero",

tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/dynptr_fail.c

@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ static int get_map_val_dynptr(struct bpf_dynptr *ptr)
  * bpf_ringbuf_submit/discard_dynptr call
  */
 SEC("?raw_tp")
-__failure __msg("Unreleased reference id=2")
+__failure __msg("Unreleased reference id=1")
 int ringbuf_missing_release1(void *ctx)
 {
 	struct bpf_dynptr ptr = {};
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ int ringbuf_missing_release1(void *ctx)
 }
 
 SEC("?raw_tp")
-__failure __msg("Unreleased reference id=4")
+__failure __msg("Unreleased reference id=3")
 int ringbuf_missing_release2(void *ctx)
 {
 	struct bpf_dynptr ptr1, ptr2;

tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iters_state_safety.c

@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ int force_clang_to_emit_btf_for_externs(void *ctx)
 
 SEC("?raw_tp")
 __success __log_level(2)
-__msg("fp-8=iter_num(ref_id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-8=iter_num(id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
 int create_and_destroy(void *ctx)
 {
 	struct bpf_iter_num iter;
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ int leak_iter_from_subprog_fail(void *ctx)
 
 SEC("?raw_tp")
 __success __log_level(2)
-__msg("fp-8=iter_num(ref_id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-8=iter_num(id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
 int valid_stack_reuse(void *ctx)
 {
 	struct bpf_iter_num iter;

tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/iters_testmod_seq.c

@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ __s64 res_empty;
 
 SEC("raw_tp/sys_enter")
 __success __log_level(2)
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
 __msg("call bpf_iter_testmod_seq_destroy")
 int testmod_seq_empty(const void *ctx)
 {
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ __s64 res_full;
 
 SEC("raw_tp/sys_enter")
 __success __log_level(2)
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
 __msg("call bpf_iter_testmod_seq_destroy")
 int testmod_seq_full(const void *ctx)
 {
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ static volatile int zero = 0;
 
 SEC("raw_tp/sys_enter")
 __success __log_level(2)
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
-__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(ref_id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=active,depth=0)")
+__msg("fp-16=iter_testmod_seq(id=1,state=drained,depth=0)")
 __msg("call bpf_iter_testmod_seq_destroy")
 int testmod_seq_truncated(const void *ctx)
 {