[PATCH] smp_wmb() in kcov_move_area() after memcpy()

From: Soham Bagchi
Date: Wed Jul 16 2025 - 22:49:53 EST


KCOV Remote uses two separate memory buffers, one private to the kernel
space (kcov_remote_areas) and the second one shared between user and
kernel space (kcov->area). After every pair of kcov_remote_start() and
kcov_remote_stop(), the coverage data collected in the
kcov_remote_areas is copied to kcov->area so the user can read the
collected coverage data. This memcpy() is located in kcov_move_area().

The load/store pattern on the kernel-side [1] is:

```
/* dst_area === kcov->area, dst_area[0] is where the count is stored */
dst_len = READ_ONCE(*(unsigned long *)dst_area);
...
memcpy(dst_entries, src_entries, ...);
...
WRITE_ONCE(*(unsigned long *)dst_area, dst_len + entries_moved);
```

And for the user [2]:

```
/* cover is equivalent to kcov->area */
n = __atomic_load_n(&cover[0], __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
```

Without a write-memory barrier, the atomic load for the user can
potentially read fresh values of the count stored at cover[0],
but continue to read stale coverage data from the buffer itself.
Hence, we recommend adding a write-memory barrier between the
memcpy() and the WRITE_ONCE() in kcov_move_area().

[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/kernel/kcov.c?h=master#n978
[2] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst#n364

Signed-off-by: Soham Bagchi <sohambagchi@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
kernel/kcov.c | 9 +++++++++
1 file changed, 9 insertions(+)

diff --git a/kernel/kcov.c b/kernel/kcov.c
index 187ba1b80bd..d6f015eff56 100644
--- a/kernel/kcov.c
+++ b/kernel/kcov.c
@@ -978,6 +978,15 @@ static void kcov_move_area(enum kcov_mode mode, void *dst_area,
memcpy(dst_entries, src_entries, bytes_to_move);
entries_moved = bytes_to_move >> entry_size_log;

+ /**
+ * A write memory barrier is required here, to ensure
+ * that the writes from the memcpy() are visible before
+ * the count is updated. Without this, it is possible for
+ * a user to observe a new count value but stale
+ * coverage data.
+ */
+ smp_wmb();
+
switch (mode) {
case KCOV_MODE_TRACE_PC:
WRITE_ONCE(*(unsigned long *)dst_area, dst_len + entries_moved);
--
2.34.1