xref: /linux/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst (revision 2697b79a469b68e3ad3640f55284359c1396278d)
1KCOV: code coverage for fuzzing
2===============================
3
4KCOV collects and exposes kernel code coverage information in a form suitable
5for coverage-guided fuzzing. Coverage data of a running kernel is exported via
6the ``kcov`` debugfs file. Coverage collection is enabled on a task basis, and
7thus KCOV can capture precise coverage of a single system call.
8
9Note that KCOV does not aim to collect as much coverage as possible. It aims
10to collect more or less stable coverage that is a function of syscall inputs.
11To achieve this goal, it does not collect coverage in soft/hard interrupts
12(unless remove coverage collection is enabled, see below) and from some
13inherently non-deterministic parts of the kernel (e.g. scheduler, locking).
14
15Besides collecting code coverage, KCOV can also collect comparison operands.
16See the "Comparison operands collection" section for details.
17
18Besides collecting coverage data from syscall handlers, KCOV can also collect
19coverage for annotated parts of the kernel executing in background kernel
20tasks or soft interrupts. See the "Remote coverage collection" section for
21details.
22
23Prerequisites
24-------------
25
26KCOV relies on compiler instrumentation and requires GCC 6.1.0 or later
27or any Clang version supported by the kernel.
28
29Collecting comparison operands is supported with GCC 8+ or with Clang.
30
31To enable KCOV, configure the kernel with::
32
33        CONFIG_KCOV=y
34
35To enable comparison operands collection, set::
36
37	CONFIG_KCOV_ENABLE_COMPARISONS=y
38
39Coverage data only becomes accessible once debugfs has been mounted::
40
41        mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
42
43Coverage collection
44-------------------
45
46The following program demonstrates how to use KCOV to collect coverage for a
47single syscall from within a test program:
48
49.. code-block:: c
50
51    #include <stdio.h>
52    #include <stddef.h>
53    #include <stdint.h>
54    #include <stdlib.h>
55    #include <sys/types.h>
56    #include <sys/stat.h>
57    #include <sys/ioctl.h>
58    #include <sys/mman.h>
59    #include <unistd.h>
60    #include <fcntl.h>
61    #include <linux/types.h>
62
63    #define KCOV_INIT_TRACE			_IOR('c', 1, unsigned long)
64    #define KCOV_ENABLE			_IO('c', 100)
65    #define KCOV_DISABLE			_IO('c', 101)
66    #define COVER_SIZE			(64<<10)
67
68    #define KCOV_TRACE_PC  0
69    #define KCOV_TRACE_CMP 1
70
71    int main(int argc, char **argv)
72    {
73	int fd;
74	unsigned long *cover, n, i;
75
76	/* A single fd descriptor allows coverage collection on a single
77	 * thread.
78	 */
79	fd = open("/sys/kernel/debug/kcov", O_RDWR);
80	if (fd == -1)
81		perror("open"), exit(1);
82	/* Setup trace mode and trace size. */
83	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_INIT_TRACE, COVER_SIZE))
84		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
85	/* Mmap buffer shared between kernel- and user-space. */
86	cover = (unsigned long*)mmap(NULL, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long),
87				     PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
88	if ((void*)cover == MAP_FAILED)
89		perror("mmap"), exit(1);
90	/* Enable coverage collection on the current thread. */
91	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_ENABLE, KCOV_TRACE_PC))
92		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
93	/* Reset coverage from the tail of the ioctl() call. */
94	__atomic_store_n(&cover[0], 0, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
95	/* Call the target syscall call. */
96	read(-1, NULL, 0);
97	/* Read number of PCs collected. */
98	n = __atomic_load_n(&cover[0], __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
99	for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
100		printf("0x%lx\n", cover[i + 1]);
101	/* Disable coverage collection for the current thread. After this call
102	 * coverage can be enabled for a different thread.
103	 */
104	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_DISABLE, 0))
105		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
106	/* Free resources. */
107	if (munmap(cover, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long)))
108		perror("munmap"), exit(1);
109	if (close(fd))
110		perror("close"), exit(1);
111	return 0;
112    }
113
114After piping through ``addr2line`` the output of the program looks as follows::
115
116    SyS_read
117    fs/read_write.c:562
118    __fdget_pos
119    fs/file.c:774
120    __fget_light
121    fs/file.c:746
122    __fget_light
123    fs/file.c:750
124    __fget_light
125    fs/file.c:760
126    __fdget_pos
127    fs/file.c:784
128    SyS_read
129    fs/read_write.c:562
130
131If a program needs to collect coverage from several threads (independently),
132it needs to open ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcov`` in each thread separately.
133
134The interface is fine-grained to allow efficient forking of test processes.
135That is, a parent process opens ``/sys/kernel/debug/kcov``, enables trace mode,
136mmaps coverage buffer, and then forks child processes in a loop. The child
137processes only need to enable coverage (it gets disabled automatically when
138a thread exits).
139
140Comparison operands collection
141------------------------------
142
143Comparison operands collection is similar to coverage collection:
144
145.. code-block:: c
146
147    /* Same includes and defines as above. */
148
149    /* Number of 64-bit words per record. */
150    #define KCOV_WORDS_PER_CMP 4
151
152    /*
153     * The format for the types of collected comparisons.
154     *
155     * Bit 0 shows whether one of the arguments is a compile-time constant.
156     * Bits 1 & 2 contain log2 of the argument size, up to 8 bytes.
157     */
158
159    #define KCOV_CMP_CONST          (1 << 0)
160    #define KCOV_CMP_SIZE(n)        ((n) << 1)
161    #define KCOV_CMP_MASK           KCOV_CMP_SIZE(3)
162
163    int main(int argc, char **argv)
164    {
165	int fd;
166	uint64_t *cover, type, arg1, arg2, is_const, size;
167	unsigned long n, i;
168
169	fd = open("/sys/kernel/debug/kcov", O_RDWR);
170	if (fd == -1)
171		perror("open"), exit(1);
172	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_INIT_TRACE, COVER_SIZE))
173		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
174	/*
175	* Note that the buffer pointer is of type uint64_t*, because all
176	* the comparison operands are promoted to uint64_t.
177	*/
178	cover = (uint64_t *)mmap(NULL, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long),
179				     PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
180	if ((void*)cover == MAP_FAILED)
181		perror("mmap"), exit(1);
182	/* Note KCOV_TRACE_CMP instead of KCOV_TRACE_PC. */
183	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_ENABLE, KCOV_TRACE_CMP))
184		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
185	__atomic_store_n(&cover[0], 0, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
186	read(-1, NULL, 0);
187	/* Read number of comparisons collected. */
188	n = __atomic_load_n(&cover[0], __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
189	for (i = 0; i < n; i++) {
190		uint64_t ip;
191
192		type = cover[i * KCOV_WORDS_PER_CMP + 1];
193		/* arg1 and arg2 - operands of the comparison. */
194		arg1 = cover[i * KCOV_WORDS_PER_CMP + 2];
195		arg2 = cover[i * KCOV_WORDS_PER_CMP + 3];
196		/* ip - caller address. */
197		ip = cover[i * KCOV_WORDS_PER_CMP + 4];
198		/* size of the operands. */
199		size = 1 << ((type & KCOV_CMP_MASK) >> 1);
200		/* is_const - true if either operand is a compile-time constant.*/
201		is_const = type & KCOV_CMP_CONST;
202		printf("ip: 0x%lx type: 0x%lx, arg1: 0x%lx, arg2: 0x%lx, "
203			"size: %lu, %s\n",
204			ip, type, arg1, arg2, size,
205		is_const ? "const" : "non-const");
206	}
207	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_DISABLE, 0))
208		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
209	/* Free resources. */
210	if (munmap(cover, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long)))
211		perror("munmap"), exit(1);
212	if (close(fd))
213		perror("close"), exit(1);
214	return 0;
215    }
216
217Note that the KCOV modes (collection of code coverage or comparison operands)
218are mutually exclusive.
219
220Remote coverage collection
221--------------------------
222
223Besides collecting coverage data from handlers of syscalls issued from a
224userspace process, KCOV can also collect coverage for parts of the kernel
225executing in other contexts - so-called "remote" coverage.
226
227Using KCOV to collect remote coverage requires:
228
2291. Modifying kernel code to annotate the code section from where coverage
230   should be collected with ``kcov_remote_start`` and ``kcov_remote_stop``.
231
2322. Using ``KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE`` instead of ``KCOV_ENABLE`` in the userspace
233   process that collects coverage.
234
235Both ``kcov_remote_start`` and ``kcov_remote_stop`` annotations and the
236``KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE`` ioctl accept handles that identify particular coverage
237collection sections. The way a handle is used depends on the context where the
238matching code section executes.
239
240KCOV supports collecting remote coverage from the following contexts:
241
2421. Global kernel background tasks. These are the tasks that are spawned during
243   kernel boot in a limited number of instances (e.g. one USB ``hub_event``
244   worker is spawned per one USB HCD).
245
2462. Local kernel background tasks. These are spawned when a userspace process
247   interacts with some kernel interface and are usually killed when the process
248   exits (e.g. vhost workers).
249
2503. Soft interrupts.
251
252For #1 and #3, a unique global handle must be chosen and passed to the
253corresponding ``kcov_remote_start`` call. Then a userspace process must pass
254this handle to ``KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE`` in the ``handles`` array field of the
255``kcov_remote_arg`` struct. This will attach the used KCOV device to the code
256section referenced by this handle. Multiple global handles identifying
257different code sections can be passed at once.
258
259For #2, the userspace process instead must pass a non-zero handle through the
260``common_handle`` field of the ``kcov_remote_arg`` struct. This common handle
261gets saved to the ``kcov_handle`` field in the current ``task_struct`` and
262needs to be passed to the newly spawned local tasks via custom kernel code
263modifications. Those tasks should in turn use the passed handle in their
264``kcov_remote_start`` and ``kcov_remote_stop`` annotations.
265
266KCOV follows a predefined format for both global and common handles. Each
267handle is a ``u64`` integer. Currently, only the one top and the lower 4 bytes
268are used. Bytes 4-7 are reserved and must be zero.
269
270For global handles, the top byte of the handle denotes the id of a subsystem
271this handle belongs to. For example, KCOV uses ``1`` as the USB subsystem id.
272The lower 4 bytes of a global handle denote the id of a task instance within
273that subsystem. For example, each ``hub_event`` worker uses the USB bus number
274as the task instance id.
275
276For common handles, a reserved value ``0`` is used as a subsystem id, as such
277handles don't belong to a particular subsystem. The lower 4 bytes of a common
278handle identify a collective instance of all local tasks spawned by the
279userspace process that passed a common handle to ``KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE``.
280
281In practice, any value can be used for common handle instance id if coverage
282is only collected from a single userspace process on the system. However, if
283common handles are used by multiple processes, unique instance ids must be
284used for each process. One option is to use the process id as the common
285handle instance id.
286
287The following program demonstrates using KCOV to collect coverage from both
288local tasks spawned by the process and the global task that handles USB bus #1:
289
290.. code-block:: c
291
292    /* Same includes and defines as above. */
293
294    struct kcov_remote_arg {
295	__u32		trace_mode;
296	__u32		area_size;
297	__u32		num_handles;
298	__aligned_u64	common_handle;
299	__aligned_u64	handles[0];
300    };
301
302    #define KCOV_INIT_TRACE			_IOR('c', 1, unsigned long)
303    #define KCOV_DISABLE			_IO('c', 101)
304    #define KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE		_IOW('c', 102, struct kcov_remote_arg)
305
306    #define COVER_SIZE	(64 << 10)
307
308    #define KCOV_TRACE_PC	0
309
310    #define KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_COMMON	(0x00ull << 56)
311    #define KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_USB	(0x01ull << 56)
312
313    #define KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_MASK	(0xffull << 56)
314    #define KCOV_INSTANCE_MASK	(0xffffffffull)
315
316    static inline __u64 kcov_remote_handle(__u64 subsys, __u64 inst)
317    {
318	if (subsys & ~KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_MASK || inst & ~KCOV_INSTANCE_MASK)
319		return 0;
320	return subsys | inst;
321    }
322
323    #define KCOV_COMMON_ID	0x42
324    #define KCOV_USB_BUS_NUM	1
325
326    int main(int argc, char **argv)
327    {
328	int fd;
329	unsigned long *cover, n, i;
330	struct kcov_remote_arg *arg;
331
332	fd = open("/sys/kernel/debug/kcov", O_RDWR);
333	if (fd == -1)
334		perror("open"), exit(1);
335	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_INIT_TRACE, COVER_SIZE))
336		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
337	cover = (unsigned long*)mmap(NULL, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long),
338				     PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
339	if ((void*)cover == MAP_FAILED)
340		perror("mmap"), exit(1);
341
342	/* Enable coverage collection via common handle and from USB bus #1. */
343	arg = calloc(1, sizeof(*arg) + sizeof(uint64_t));
344	if (!arg)
345		perror("calloc"), exit(1);
346	arg->trace_mode = KCOV_TRACE_PC;
347	arg->area_size = COVER_SIZE;
348	arg->num_handles = 1;
349	arg->common_handle = kcov_remote_handle(KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_COMMON,
350							KCOV_COMMON_ID);
351	arg->handles[0] = kcov_remote_handle(KCOV_SUBSYSTEM_USB,
352						KCOV_USB_BUS_NUM);
353	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_REMOTE_ENABLE, arg))
354		perror("ioctl"), free(arg), exit(1);
355	free(arg);
356
357	/*
358	 * Here the user needs to trigger execution of a kernel code section
359	 * that is either annotated with the common handle, or to trigger some
360	 * activity on USB bus #1.
361	 */
362	sleep(2);
363
364	n = __atomic_load_n(&cover[0], __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
365	for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
366		printf("0x%lx\n", cover[i + 1]);
367	if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_DISABLE, 0))
368		perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
369	if (munmap(cover, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long)))
370		perror("munmap"), exit(1);
371	if (close(fd))
372		perror("close"), exit(1);
373	return 0;
374    }
375