Type checking for BPF tracing
Type checking for BPF tracing
[Kernel] Posted Oct 28, 2019 20:47 UTC (Mon) by corbet
The BPF in-kernel virtual machine has brought a new set of capabilities to a number of functional areas in the kernel, including, significantly, tracing. Since BPF programs run in the kernel, much effort goes into ensuring that they will not cause problems for the running system; to that end, the BPF verifier checks every possible aspect of each BPF program's behavior to ensure that it is safe to run in the kernel — with one notable exception. With a patch set titled "revolutionize bpf tracing", Alexei Starovoitov aims to close that loophole and eliminate a set of potential problems in a widely used class of BPF programs.