linux-kernel - [PATCH] perf/core: Replace zero-length array with flexible-array

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Date:   Mon, 11 May 2020 15:12:27 -0500
From:   "Gustavo A. R. Silva" <gustavoars@...nel.org>
To:     Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>,
        Ingo Molnar <mingo@...hat.com>,
        Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@...nel.org>,
        Mark Rutland <mark.rutland@....com>,
        Alexander Shishkin <alexander.shishkin@...ux.intel.com>,
        Jiri Olsa <jolsa@...hat.com>,
        Namhyung Kim <namhyung@...nel.org>
Cc:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        "Gustavo A. R. Silva" <gustavo@...eddedor.com>
Subject: [PATCH] perf/core: Replace zero-length array with flexible-array

The current codebase makes use of the zero-length array language
extension to the C90 standard, but the preferred mechanism to declare
variable-length types such as these ones is a flexible array member[1][2],
introduced in C99:

struct foo {
        int stuff;
        struct boo array[];
};

By making use of the mechanism above, we will get a compiler warning
in case the flexible array does not occur last in the structure, which
will help us prevent some kind of undefined behavior bugs from being
inadvertently introduced[3] to the codebase from now on.

Also, notice that, dynamic memory allocations won't be affected by
this change:

"Flexible array members have incomplete type, and so the sizeof operator
may not be applied. As a quirk of the original implementation of
zero-length arrays, sizeof evaluates to zero."[1]

sizeof(flexible-array-member) triggers a warning because flexible array
members have incomplete type[1]. There are some instances of code in
which the sizeof operator is being incorrectly/erroneously applied to
zero-length arrays and the result is zero. Such instances may be hiding
some bugs. So, this work (flexible-array member conversions) will also
help to get completely rid of those sorts of issues.

This issue was found with the help of Coccinelle.

[1] https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Zero-Length.html
[2] https://github.com/KSPP/linux/issues/21
[3] commit 76497732932f ("cxgb3/l2t: Fix undefined behaviour")

Signed-off-by: Gustavo A. R. Silva <gustavoars@...nel.org>
---
 include/linux/perf_event.h | 4 ++--
 kernel/events/callchain.c  | 2 +-
 kernel/events/internal.h   | 2 +-
 3 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/include/linux/perf_event.h b/include/linux/perf_event.h
index 9c3e7619c929..306b07b56cc6 100644
--- a/include/linux/perf_event.h
+++ b/include/linux/perf_event.h
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ struct perf_guest_info_callbacks {
 
 struct perf_callchain_entry {
 	__u64				nr;
-	__u64				ip[0]; /* /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_max_stack */
+	__u64				ip[]; /* /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_max_stack */
 };
 
 struct perf_callchain_entry_ctx {
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ struct perf_raw_record {
 struct perf_branch_stack {
 	__u64				nr;
 	__u64				hw_idx;
-	struct perf_branch_entry	entries[0];
+	struct perf_branch_entry	entries[];
 };
 
 struct task_struct;
diff --git a/kernel/events/callchain.c b/kernel/events/callchain.c
index c2b41a263166..b1991043b7d8 100644
--- a/kernel/events/callchain.c
+++ b/kernel/events/callchain.c
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 struct callchain_cpus_entries {
 	struct rcu_head			rcu_head;
-	struct perf_callchain_entry	*cpu_entries[0];
+	struct perf_callchain_entry	*cpu_entries[];
 };
 
 int sysctl_perf_event_max_stack __read_mostly = PERF_MAX_STACK_DEPTH;
diff --git a/kernel/events/internal.h b/kernel/events/internal.h
index f16f66b6b655..fcbf5616a441 100644
--- a/kernel/events/internal.h
+++ b/kernel/events/internal.h
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ struct perf_buffer {
 	void				*aux_priv;
 
 	struct perf_event_mmap_page	*user_page;
-	void				*data_pages[0];
+	void				*data_pages[];
 };
 
 extern void rb_free(struct perf_buffer *rb);
-- 
2.26.2