published October 7, 2025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf, arm64: Fixed a BTI error on returning to patched function
When BPF_TRAMP_F_CALL_ORIG is set, BPF trampoline uses BLR to jump
back to the instruction next to call site to call the patched function.
For BTI-enabled kernel, the instruction next to call site is usually
PACIASP, in this case, it's safe to jump back with BLR. But when
the call site is not followed by a PACIASP or bti, a BTI exception
is triggered.
Here is a fault log:
Unhandled 64-bit el1h sync exception on CPU0, ESR 0x0000000034000002 -- BTI
CPU: 0 PID: 263 Comm: test_progs Tainted: GF
Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
pstate: 40400805 (nZcv daif +PAN -UAO -TCO -DIT -SSBS BTYPE=-c)
pc : bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30
lr : bpf_trampoline_6442573892_0+0x48/0x1000
sp : ffff80000c0c3a50
x29: ffff80000c0c3a90 x28: ffff0000c2e6c080 x27: 0000000000000000
x26: 0000000000000000 x25: 0000000000000000 x24: 0000000000000050
x23: 0000000000000000 x22: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0 x21: 000000000000000a
x20: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0 x19: 0000000000000000 x18: 0000000000000000
x17: 0000000000000000 x16: 0000000000000000 x15: 0000ffffcfd2a7f0
x14: 0000000000000000 x13: 0000000000000000 x12: 0000000000000000
x11: 0000000000000000 x10: ffff80000914f5e4 x9 : ffff8000082a1528
x8 : 0000000000000000 x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0101010101010101
x5 : 0000000000000000 x4 : 00000000fffffff2 x3 : 0000000000000001
x2 : ffff8001f4b82000 x1 : 0000000000000000 x0 : 0000000000000001
Kernel panic - not syncing: Unhandled exception
CPU: 0 PID: 263 Comm: test_progs Tainted: GF
Hardware name: linux,dummy-virt (DT)
Call trace:
dump_backtrace+0xec/0x144
show_stack+0x24/0x7c
dump_stack_lvl+0x8c/0xb8
dump_stack+0x18/0x34
panic+0x1cc/0x3ec
__el0_error_handler_common+0x0/0x130
el1h_64_sync_handler+0x60/0xd0
el1h_64_sync+0x78/0x7c
bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30
bpf_fentry_test1+0xc/0x30
bpf_prog_test_run_tracing+0xdc/0x2a0
__sys_bpf+0x438/0x22a0
__arm64_sys_bpf+0x30/0x54
invoke_syscall+0x78/0x110
el0_svc_common.constprop.0+0x6c/0x1d0
do_el0_svc+0x38/0xe0
el0_svc+0x30/0xd0
el0t_64_sync_handler+0x1ac/0x1b0
el0t_64_sync+0x1a0/0x1a4
Kernel Offset: disabled
CPU features: 0x0000,00034c24,f994fdab
Memory Limit: none
And the instruction next to call site of bpf_fentry_test1 is ADD,
not PACIASP:
<bpf_fentry_test1>:
bti c
nop
nop
add w0, w0, #0x1
paciasp
For BPF prog, JIT always puts a PACIASP after call site for BTI-enabled
kernel, so there is no problem. To fix it, replace BLR with RET to bypass
the branch target check.