linux-hardening - Re: [PATCH v6 1/5] slab: Introduce kmalloc

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Message-ID: <aZbDQLeMsHCv32X8@stanley.mountain>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2026 11:01:04 +0300
From: Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@...aro.org>
To: Kees Cook <kees@...nel.org>
Cc: Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@...e.cz>, Christoph Lameter <cl@...ux.com>,
	Pekka Enberg <penberg@...nel.org>,
	David Rientjes <rientjes@...gle.com>,
	Joonsoo Kim <iamjoonsoo.kim@....com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Roman Gushchin <roman.gushchin@...ux.dev>,
	Hyeonggon Yoo <42.hyeyoo@...il.com>,
	"Gustavo A . R . Silva" <gustavoars@...nel.org>,
	Bill Wendling <morbo@...gle.com>,
	Justin Stitt <justinstitt@...gle.com>, Jann Horn <jannh@...gle.com>,
	Przemek Kitszel <przemyslaw.kitszel@...el.com>,
	Marco Elver <elver@...gle.com>,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
	Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>, linux-mm@...ck.org,
	Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...radead.org>,
	Miguel Ojeda <ojeda@...nel.org>,
	Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org>,
	John Hubbard <jhubbard@...dia.com>, Joe Perches <joe@...ches.com>,
	Vegard Nossum <vegard.nossum@...cle.com>,
	Harry Yoo <harry.yoo@...cle.com>,
	Nathan Chancellor <nathan@...nel.org>,
	Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
	Nick Desaulniers <nick.desaulniers+lkml@...il.com>,
	Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>, Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>,
	Yafang Shao <laoar.shao@...il.com>,
	Tony Ambardar <tony.ambardar@...il.com>,
	Alexander Lobakin <aleksander.lobakin@...el.com>,
	Jan Hendrik Farr <kernel@...rr.cc>,
	Alexander Potapenko <glider@...gle.com>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, linux-hardening@...r.kernel.org,
	linux-doc@...r.kernel.org, llvm@...ts.linux.dev
Subject: Re: [PATCH v6 1/5] slab: Introduce kmalloc_obj() and family

On Wed, Dec 03, 2025 at 03:30:31PM -0800, Kees Cook wrote:
> Introduce type-aware kmalloc-family helpers to replace the common
> idioms for single object and arrays of objects allocation:
> 
> 	ptr = kmalloc(sizeof(*ptr), gfp);
> 	ptr = kmalloc(sizeof(struct some_obj_name), gfp);
> 	ptr = kzalloc(sizeof(*ptr), gfp);
> 	ptr = kmalloc_array(count, sizeof(*ptr), gfp);
> 	ptr = kcalloc(count, sizeof(*ptr), gfp);
> 
> These become, respectively:
> 
> 	ptr = kmalloc_obj(*ptr, gfp);

We are already getting patches that covert these to:

	ptr = kmalloc_obj(ptr, gfp);

(without the *).  This feels like the obvious bug people will introduce
with this API.  I sort of think that "ptr = kmalloc_obj(ptr, gfp);" is
more natural, so maybe we could make it work that way instead?

regards,
dan carpenter