Error compiling Linux kernel module using custom system calls - c

I'll walk you through step by step
First I edit 3 files in my Linux kernel directory
Open LINUX_DIRECTORY/arch/x86/syscalls/syscall_64.tbl and add the custom calls i'm implementing – using the appropriate format
Declare them here: LINUX_DIRECTORY/include/linux/syscalls.h – using the appropriate format:
Open LINUX_DIRECTORY/Makefile and add the directory I'm storing my new system calls to the core-y line:
core-y := usr/ my_system_call_directory/
Here's where I'm having issues. Inside LINUX_DIRECTORY/my_system_call_directory I add a C file with my custom system call definitions and its corresponding Makefile. I leave the definitions empty because inside the C file for my kernel module I declare an extern function (my custom system call) and define a separate function which is set to my extern function:
extern long (*start_shuttle)(void);
long my_start_shuttle(void) {
// stuff here
}
int init_module(void) {
// stuff here
start_shuttle = my_start_shuttle;
// more stuff
}
After recompiling the kernel I try to make the kernel module and get a no definition for start_shuttle error.
Is this because I left the definition for start_shuttle blank in my_system_call_directory? Should it match exactly the my_start_shuttle I defined in the kernel module or is there something special I'm supposed to add? I'm asking dumb questions in advance because it takes so long for my machine to recompile Linux and I'm not sure what to change. Thanks

Figured it out. For anyone as slow as me, you have to use a wrapper and a stub.
So for this example, in the my_system_call_directory, in the c file for your new system call definitions, you need something like this:
#include <linux/linkage.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <linux/export.h>
// initialize the stub function to be NULL
long (*start_shuttle)(void) = NULL;
EXPORT_SYMBOL(start_shuttle);
// wrapper
asmlinkage long sys_start_shuttle(void)
{
if (start_shuttle)
return start_shuttle();
else
return -ENOSYS;
}

Related

DLL dependency to static library

I currently build a purely static library MainLib for our customers that contains all symbols so that they can intrgrate it into their program. For several reasons, I now need to deliver a DLL version of MainLib that contains parts of the symbols alongside a static library FeatureLib that contains the remaining symbols. One reason is that we want to avoid bad guys using our software by simply stealing the DLL that is provided via the program of our customer. This wouldn't work if parts of the symbols are integrated within the calling software via a static library. The user of the package shall only be able to use the DLL if he added the symbols of FeatureLib into his application.
For Linux, I can make this work like a charm,i.e. the symbol doFeature() is not within libMainLib.so, but I don't succeed on this for Windows.
CMakeLists.txt:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
project(MainLib)
add_library(FeatureLib STATIC src/FeatureLib.c)
target_include_directories(FeatureLib PUBLIC include
PRIVATE src)
add_library(MainLib SHARED src/MainLib.c)
target_include_directories(MainLib PUBLIC include
PRIVATE src)
# I don't want to include symbols from FeatureLib into shared MainLib
#target_link_libraries(MainLib PRIVATE FeatureLib)
add_executable(MainLibDemo src/demo.c)
target_link_libraries(MainLibDemo MainLib FeatureLib) #resolve symbol doFeature()
FeatureLib.h:
extern int doFeature(int input);
MainLib.h:
extern __declspec(dllexport) int MainLib(int input);
FeatureLib.c:
#include "FeatureLib.h"
int doFeature(int input) {return 4;}
MainLib.c:
#include "FeatureLib.h"
#include "MainLib.h"
__declspec(dllexport) int MainLib(int input)
{
if (input > 2) {
return doFeature(input);
} else {
return doFeature(0);
}
}
demo.c:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "MainLib.h"
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
if(argc > 1)
return MainLib(atoi(argv[1]));
else
return 0;
}
With this, I get the following compilation error:
"C:\Daten\tmp\DemoProject\simple\build\ALL_BUILD.vcxproj" (Standardziel) (1) ->
"C:\Daten\tmp\DemoProject\simple\build\MainLib.vcxproj" (Standardziel) (4) ->
(Link Ziel) ->
MainLib.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _doFeature referenced in function _MainLib [C:\Daten\tmp\DemoProject\simple\build\MainLib.vcxproj]
C:\Daten\tmp\DemoProject\simple\build\Debug\MainLib.dll : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externals [C:\Daten\tmp\DemoProject\simple\build\MainLib.vcxproj]
0 Warnung(en)
2 Fehler
Is this even possible with Windows? What do I have to do to make it work and how can I verify it other than not linking FeatureLib to MainLibDemo. Any ideas are very welcome.
Kind regards,
Florian
The way you do it under Linux will not work under Windows
because dynamic linking works differently here.
Here is one strategy that could work.
In MainLib.dll code, instead of directly calling doFeature
you need to define a global pointer variable of proper function
pointer type and use it to call the function.
This will allow to build MainLib.dll without errors.
Now you need to set this pointer variable. One way would be:
Add exported function to MainLib.dll that takes pointers
to all functions that the DLL needs from the executable.
In FeatureLib.lib code add an initialisation function
that the application will need to call before using
your DLL which will pass pointers to its peers to the DLL.
This is basically the way most programs with plugins use to
give the plugins access to their facilities.
Another way would be to (Warning! I have not tested this specific
solution):
Declare the functions in FeatureLib.lib as exported
with __declspec(dllexport). This way they will be exported
from executable.
In MainLib.dll before first using the pointers use
GetModuleHandle and GetProcAddress to obtain the pointers.
It would best be done in some initialisation function for the
library. Otherwise you need to take care to avoid race conditions.
Hope this will help.
Though I do not think your copy protection scheme will work.
Andrew Henle is right in his comment: it is not hard
to extract the needed code from one executable and include it
in another.

Mocking C functions in MSVC (Visual Studio)

I am reading several articles on mocking C functions (like CMock, or CMocka), but I am not sure how the actual functions are replaced with mocked functions in this process. For example, CMocka relies on automatic wrapping using a GNU compiler, which supports parameters like --wrap to append the __wrap prefix to function calls, or weak symbols which allow you to override any symbol you like.
But how do you do this in Visual Studio, for pretty much all other frameworks?
For example, CMock has an example similar to this (simplified a lot here):
// myfunc.c
#include <parsestuff.h>
// this is the function we would like to test
int MyFunc(char* Command)
{
// this is the call to the function we will mock
return ParseStuff(Command);
}
There is also the actual implementation, which contains the actual function the linker should find in the actual application:
// parsestuff.c
int ParseStuff(char* cmd)
{
// do some actual work
return 42;
}
Now, during testing the Ruby script creates mock functions like:
// MockParseStuff.c (auto created by cmock)
int ParseStuff(char* Cmd);
void ParseStuff_ExpectAndReturn(char* Cmd, int toReturn);
But if the VS project already includes parsestuff.c, how will it be possible that the call from myfunc.c ends up in MockParseStuff.c?
Does this mean I cannot have parsestuff.c included in the unit testing project? But if this is the case, then it's also impossible to mock, for example, MyFunc from myfunc.c in any tests, since I already had to include the file it in order to test it?
(Update) I am also aware that I can include the .c file instead of the .h file, and then do some preprocessor stuff to replace the original call, like:
// replace ParseStuff with ParseStuff_wrap
#define ParseStuff ParseStuff_wrap
// include the source instead of the header
#include <myfunc.c>
#undef ParseStuff
int ParseStuff_wrap(char* cmd)
{
// this will get called from MyFunc,
// which is now statically included
}
but this seems like a lot of plumbing, and I don't even see it mentioned anywhere.
Here's a simple and short solution with hippomocks:
I created an empty Win32 console application with
main.cpp
myfunc.c + myfunc.h
parsestuff.c, parsestuff.h
and added the code from your example.
With help of hippomocks, you can mock every C-Function. Here's how my main.cpp looks like:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "myfunc.h"
#include "hippomocks.h"
extern "C" int ParseStuff(char* cmd);
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
MockRepository mocks;
mocks.ExpectCallFunc(ParseStuff).Return(4711);
char buf[10] = "";
int result = MyFunc(buf);
return result; //assert result is 4711
}
HippoMocks is a free, simple and very powerful one-header framework and can be downloaded on GitHub.
Hope I've earned the bounty :)
UPDATE, How it works:
HippoMocks gets the func pointer to ParseStuff
HippoMocks builds a replacement func pointer to a template function with same signature and own implementation.
Hippomocks patches the jmp opcode from the function call prologue in memory, so that it points to the replaced function.
Replacement and memory patch are released after call or in destructor.
Here's how it looks like on my machine:
#ILT+3080(_ParseStuff):
00D21C0D jmp HippoMocks::mockFuncs<char,int>::static_expectation1<0,char *> (0D21DB1h)
If you watch the memory address 00D21C0D (may differ from run to run) in memory window, you will see, that it gets patched after the call of ExpectCallFunc.
I have not dealt with the C mocking libraries or Visual Studio, but I have thought about this in my own project. The Feathers book suggests the preprocessor seam or the link seam as a tool for dealing with this. You already mentioned the preprocessor seam, so I'll focus on the link seam.
The link seam requires the mocked function to be in a library, and the mock function to be in a library. The test can link against the mock function library while the target application can link against the original library.
Of course, as you mention, to mock MyFunc() you will have to create another library and a separate test application to link against it (or dynamically load and unload libraries in the test application).
It sounds quite laborious which is why I am procrastinating adding tests in my own application!
Hope this helps!

Can't create C header file to be accessible from my programs

I made up my project, saved main and c source in one file, and saved the header file in the include directory of codeblocks.
When I call my functions from within the project main function, it compiles beautifully.. but when I #include the header to other files for use, the compiler cannot find the functions. The prototypes are in the header, but their definition is in the source code which is in another file. I can access preprocessor constants and macros stored in the header, but the link between the function prototypes and their source code seems not to exist outside the actual project.
My goal was to make header files just like the existing ones I was using (stdio.h, stdlib.h, etc.). I can't find anything helpful on that anywhere. Help me, I've been at this for days!
I know I can make .c files with functions which is way easier, but I want the challenge, want to create lib files, and I'm a performance freak (as far as I know using .h files instead of .c files is much more efficient, can't remember why, though.)
header file:
#ifndef FIRO_H_INCLUDED
#define FIRO_H_INCLUDED
#include <stdbool.h>
#define MA_TA 69
bool checkprime(unsigned long long);
int square(int);
#endif // FIRO_H_INCLUDED
source code:
#include "firo.h"
#include <math.h>
bool checkprime(unsigned long long prime)
{
unsigned long long root=(unsigned long long)(sqrt(prime)+1);
unsigned long long i;
for(i=2; i<=root; i<3?(i++):(i+=2))
{
if(prime%i==0)
return false;
}
return true;
}
int square(int a)
{
return a*a;
}
I was hoping for an answer, not irony. I did read somewhere that segmenting code into .h files and source codes separately would somehow dinamically speed up the process of accesing functions, don't blame me for not knowing how that works. The checkprime function I actualy use, the rest is just for testing.
In codeblocks, you'll have to create a different project for the static lib and build it. Then, you may open your main project's linker settings (Project -> Build Options -> Linker settings tab) and add your library to the "Link libraries" list.

Loadable Kernel Module Programming and System Call Interception

Assume that we want to intercept the exit system call and print a message on the console when any process invokes it. In order to do this, we have to write our own fake exit system call, then make the kernel call our fake exit function instead of the original exit call. At the end of our fake exit call, we can invoke the original exit call. In order to do this, we must manipulate the system call table array (sys_call_table).
Armed with the sys_call_table array, we can manipulate it to make the sys_exit entry point to our new fake exit call. We must store a pointer to the original sys_exit call and call it when we are done printing our message to the console. Source code :
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <sys/syscall.h>
extern void *sys_call_table[];
asmlinkage int (*original_sys_exit)(int);
asmlinkage int our_fake_exit_function(int error_code)
{
/*print message on console every time we
*are called*/
printk("HEY! sys_exit called with error_code=%d\n",error_code);
/*call the original sys_exit*/
return original_sys_exit(error_code);
}
/*this function is called when the module is
*loaded (initialization)*/
int init_module()
{
/*store reference to the original sys_exit*/
original_sys_exit=sys_call_table[__NR_exit];
/*manipulate sys_call_table to call our
*fake exit function instead
*of sys_exit*/
sys_call_table[__NR_exit]=our_fake_exit_function;
}
/*this function is called when the module is
*unloaded*/
void cleanup_module()
{
/*make __NR_exit point to the original
*sys_exit when our module
*is unloaded*/
sys_call_table[__NR_exit]=original_sys_exit;
}
When I compile this program I got warning :
WARNING: "sys_call_table" [/home/roiht/driver/one.ko] undefined!
As I did search, I found that kernel version after 2.5 changed the concept of sys_call table.
So, my question is what is alternative method to do this in new kernel version ?
Any kernel variable can be used in a module if it has been explicitly exported in the kernel using EXPORT_SYMBOL(). Since kernel version 2.6, export for sys_call_table has been removed. So if you want to use this approach, explicitly export the variable. As a convention, theis export is done right after the variable declaration, but I guess exporting from any file where this variable is defined will also do. To check if the approach worked, simply look in the output of "cat /proc/kallsyms".
Another approach to capture the exit syscall will be to put a hook in the sysenter part of syscall execution. Look here for more details: http://articles.manugarg.com/systemcallinlinux2_6.html
You can read the address of sys_call_table from System.map-xxx file corresponding to your kernel. The file is usually in /boot directory, and the name is System.map-<kernel-version>, where kernel-version is the result of command uname -r. You can use module parameter to pass the address to your module.

How to call exported kernel module functions from another module?

I'm writing an API as a kernel module that provides device drivers with various functions. I wrote three functions in mycode.c. I then built and loaded the module, then copied mycode.h into < kernel >/include/linux. In a device driver, I have a #include < linux/mycode.h > and call those three functions. But when I build the driver module, I get three linker warnings saying that those functions are undefined.
Notes:
The functions are declared extern in mycode.h
The functions are exported using EXPORT_SYMBOL(func_name) in mycode.c
Running the command nm mycode.ko shows all three functions as being available in the symbol table (capital T next to them, meaning the symbols are found in the text (code) section)
After loading the module, the command grep func_name /proc/kallsyms shows all three functions as being loaded
So clearly the functions are being exported correctly and the kernel knows what and where they are. So why can't the driver see their definitions? Any idea what am I missing?
EDIT: I found some information about this here: http://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/modules.txt
Sometimes, an external module uses exported symbols from another
external module. kbuild needs to have full knowledge of all symbols
to avoid spitting out warnings about undefined symbols. Three
solutions exist for this situation.
NOTE: The method with a top-level kbuild file is recommended but may
be impractical in certain situations.
Use a top-level kbuild file If you have two modules, foo.ko and
bar.ko, where foo.ko needs symbols from bar.ko, you can use a
common top-level kbuild file so both modules are compiled in the
same build. Consider the following directory layout:
./foo/ <= contains foo.ko
./bar/ <= contains bar.ko
The top-level kbuild file would then look like:
#./Kbuild (or ./Makefile):
obj-y := foo/ bar/
And executing
$ make -C $KDIR M=$PWD
will then do the expected and compile both modules with full
knowledge of symbols from either module.
Use an extra Module.symvers file When an external module is built,
a Module.symvers file is generated containing all exported symbols
which are not defined in the kernel. To get access to symbols from
bar.ko, copy the Module.symvers file from the compilation of bar.ko
to the directory where foo.ko is built. During the module build,
kbuild will read the Module.symvers file in the directory of the
external module, and when the build is finished, a new
Module.symvers file is created containing the sum of all symbols
defined and not part of the kernel.
Use "make" variable KBUILD_EXTRA_SYMBOLS If it is impractical to
copy Module.symvers from another module, you can assign a space
separated list of files to KBUILD_EXTRA_SYMBOLS in your build file.
These files will be loaded by modpost during the initialization of
its symbol tables.
But with all three of these solutions, in order for any driver to use my API, it would have to either create a new Makefile or have direct access to my Module.symvers file? That seems a bit inconvenient. I was hoping they'd just be able to #include my header file and be good to go. Do no other alternatives exist?
From my research, it seems that those are the only three ways to handle this situation, and I've gotten each of them to work, so I think I'll just pick my favorite out of those.
Minimal QEMU + Buildroot example
I have tested the following in a fully reproducible QEMU + Buildroot environment, so maybe having this working version version will help you find out what is wong with your code.
GitHub upstream is centered on the files:
dep.c
dep2.c
Makefile
dep.c
#include <linux/delay.h> /* usleep_range */
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/kthread.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
int lkmc_dep = 0;
EXPORT_SYMBOL(lkmc_dep);
static struct task_struct *kthread;
static int work_func(void *data)
{
while (!kthread_should_stop()) {
printk(KERN_INFO "%d\n", lkmc_dep);
usleep_range(1000000, 1000001);
}
return 0;
}
static int myinit(void)
{
kthread = kthread_create(work_func, NULL, "mykthread");
wake_up_process(kthread);
return 0;
}
static void myexit(void)
{
kthread_stop(kthread);
}
module_init(myinit)
module_exit(myexit)
dep2.c
#include <linux/delay.h> /* usleep_range */
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/kthread.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
extern int lkmc_dep;
static struct task_struct *kthread;
static int work_func(void *data)
{
while (!kthread_should_stop()) {
usleep_range(1000000, 1000001);
lkmc_dep++;
}
return 0;
}
static int myinit(void)
{
kthread = kthread_create(work_func, NULL, "mykthread");
wake_up_process(kthread);
return 0;
}
static void myexit(void)
{
kthread_stop(kthread);
}
module_init(myinit)
module_exit(myexit)
And now you can do:
insmod dep.ko
insmod dep2.ko
With that Buildroot setup, things are already configuring depmod /lib/module/*/depmod with the dependency, so just this is enough to load both:
modprobe dep
Also, if you built your kernel with CONFIG_KALLSYMS_ALL=y, then the exported symbol can be seen with:
grep lkmc_dep /proc/kallsyms
see also: Does kallsyms have all the symbol of kernel functions?
OK: You have one module where the function is and one place what wants to import it right?
You must use "EXPORT_SYMBOL("name of the function") such as foo in the place where the function is. So in the "c" file have the function "foo" defined and put in:
EXPORT_SYMBOL(foo)
Make sure you have the prototype for "foo" in a common header file (you can have it in separate places for each module and it will work but you are asking for trouble if the signatures change). So say: void foo(void *arg);
Then the other module that wants it just invoke "foo" and you are good.
Also: Make sure that you load the module with foo first. If you have cross dependencies like module2 needs foo from module1 and module1 needs bar from module2 you need to have one register functions with another. If you want to know please ask a separate Q.

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