published October 18, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
bpf: Bound ownership depth through local kptrs and graph roots
Program-allocated objects can own other local objects through referenced
kptrs. bpf_obj_free_fields() follows those pointers through
__bpf_obj_drop_impl() synchronously, before the object storage is freed
through RCU. A self-referential local kptr type therefore permits arbitrarily
deep object chains, and dropping the head can exhaust the kernel stack.
Long acyclic type chains have the same problem.
btf_check_and_fixup_fields() still assumes referenced kptrs only point to
kernel types and checks ownership through list and rbtree roots only. Its
existing rule is sufficient for graph-only cycles: the target of each graph
edge must contain a node, so every type in a cycle has both a root and a
node. The rule rejects such a type owning another root, breaking every
cycle. It also limits graph-only chains to three types, or two if the first
type contains a node, and conservatively rejects longer acyclic chains.
The missing local-kptr edges, rather than a missed graph-only cycle, are the
bug introduced by support for bpf_kptr_xchg() into local kptrs.
Replace that restriction with one bounded ownership walk covering graph
roots and local referenced kptrs. Run it after all BTF records have been
fixed up, reject cycles and paths deeper than eight record-bearing types,
and cache each type's suffix depth while checking it against the remaining
budget. This also permits the longer acyclic graph-only layouts rejected
by the old rule; update their existing BTF tests accordingly.
Keep the bound independent of MAX_CALL_FRAMES because recursive destruction
can run below a BPF call chain. A plain local pointee without special-field
metadata adds only a final non-recursing drop. Non-owning kptrs and
kernel-BTF kptrs do not recurse through local records and remain outside the
walk. Include local percpu-kptr edges too, although allocation of percpu
objects with special fields is currently forbidden, so that relaxing that
restriction cannot bypass the ownership bound.
btf_check_and_fixup_fields() continues to initialize graph_root.value_rec,
including for separately allocated map records. The ownership relationships
belong to immutable program BTF and only need validation at BTF load time.