pointer return value changes after function call - c

Code snippets from two C source files:
A.c
Channel *testChannelGet()
{
Channel *ch = channelGet (parser,parserCh);
return ch;
}
B.c
Channel *channelGet(UINT8 parser, UINT16 parserCh)
{
chnl.player = &solPlayer;
return((Channel *)&chnl);
}
I compile both files and create a static and a shared library. Now I call testChannelGet from a sample program. When I link it against the static library, it works perfectly. But if I link it against the shared library, its SEGFAULTing. Debugging tells me that the pointer returned from channelGet is changing the moment it returns. GDB output below.
174 Channel *ch = channelGet (parser,parserCh);
(gdb) s
channelGet (parser=1 '\001', parserCh=1) at B.c:15174
15174 chnl.player = &solPlayer;
(gdb) n
15175 return((Channel *)&chnl);
(gdb) p ((Channel *)&chnl)
$1 = (Channel *) 0x7ffff7fed1a0
(gdb) n
15176 }
(gdb) n
testChannelGet at A.c:175
175 return ch;
(gdb) p ch
$2 = (Channel *) 0xfffffffff7fed1a0
It seems the address value points to a different offset now - 0xfffffffff7fed1a0 vs 0x7ffff7fed1a0 . The last bytes in both addresses are the same.
Any hints? I have tried the -fPIC option to no avail.

Is there a prototype in scope for channelGet() in A.c?
If not, the results you're seeing could be explained as follows:
channelGet() is assumed to return int (due to lack of prototype), so the result is truncated to 0xf7fed1a0
then it is cast to a 64-bit pointer, so gets sign-extended to 0xfffffffff7fed1a0
(You should get complaints about this if you compile with warnings enabled, of course...)

Run your program under valgrind. Find and fix any errors it reports.

Related

How to use actions command in GDB tool?

Below is the code which i had used to understand actions command in gdb.
#include <stdio.h>
int Use_Action(int CatchedInt, char * CatchedStr)
{
printf("CatchedInt = %d, CatchedStr = %s\n", CatchedInt, CatchedStr);
return 0;
}
int main(void)
{
int PassingInt = 20;
char PassingStr[10] = "Hello";
Use_Action(PassingInt, PassingStr);
}
In GDB Tool I have done the following things with the help of https://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/Tracepoint-Actions.html
(gdb) trace Use_Action
Tracepoint 1 at 0x1169: file action.c, line 5.
(gdb) info tracepoints
Num Type Disp Enb Address What
1 tracepoint keep y 0x0000000000001169 in Use_Action at action.c:5
not installed on target
(gdb) actions
Enter actions for tracepoint 1, one per line.
End with a line saying just "end".
>collect CatchedInt
>end
(gdb) info tracepoints
Num Type Disp Enb Address What
1 tracepoint keep y 0x0000000000001169 in Use_Action at action.c:5
collect CatchedInt
not installed on target
If i had collect the value of "Catchedint" by command collect Catchedint, then how to display the value. Is there something I missed? or i understand this actions command in wrong way!!?
Is there something I missed?
Yes: you need to actually run the program while collecting the trace, using tstart, run and tstop commands.
If you tried that, you would likely get this error:
(gdb) tstart
You can't do that when your target is `exec'
That's because only some targets support tracepoints, and local execution doesn't. You'll need to use gdbserver instead.

Member value lost when passing object by pointer

I am very new to the FreeBSD world and am currently porting my terminal emulation library from Linux to FreeBSD and Mac OS. I've encountered some very strange behavior such that when I pass a struct by pointer to a subroutine the member values become zeroed out. This does not happen on Linux or Mac OS. It also does not matter if the compiler is GCC or Clang.
I've confirmed that the member value is correct before the subroutine is called and the parent struct is passed by pointer.
I've tested the same code on Linux and Mac OS and they do not exhibit the problem.
I've switched between GCC and Clang on FreeBSD and that seems to have no effect.
I've consider that stack smashing could be happening but it seems unlikely because ulimit shows that the stack size on Linux is 8M but on FreeBSD it's much larger (524 MB). I've also tried compiling with -fstack-protector-strong but none of this matters.
#include "vterm.h"
#include "vterm_private" // vterm_t and vterm_desc_t defined here
void vterm_cursor_move_backward(vterm_t* vterm) {
vterm_desc_t* v_desc = NULL;
int min_row;
int idx;
// idx = vterm_buffer_get_active(vterm);
idx = 0; // hard set to 0 just for debugging
v_desc = &vterm->vterm_desc[idx];
// printf() will display a value of zero
printf("%d\n\r", v_desc->ccol);
fflush(stdout);
}
void vterm_interpret_ctrl_char(vterm_t* vterm, const char* data) {
vterm_desc_t *v_desc = NULL;
int idx;
char verb;
// idx = vterm_buffer_get_active(vterm);
idx = 0; // hard set to 0 just for debugging
v_desc = &vterm->vterm_desc[idx];
verb = data[0];
switch (verb) {
case '\b': {
// the following printf will print a positive number
printf("%d\n\r", v_desc->ccol);
fflush(stdout);
vterm_cursor_move_backward(vterm);
break;
}
}
}
I expect the value of v_desc->ccol to be identical in both functions. Godbolt Link Github Link See files vterm_ctrl_char.c and vterm_cursor.c
After countless hours of debugging I figured out that data in the vterm_desc_t structure was actually being shifted causing the member value to be set to zero. Although, the ncurses header file is included via vterm_private.h, on FreeBSD that doesn't seem to matter. Both GCC and Clang are happy to silently compile the vterm_cursor.c translation unit with bad / incomplete alignment.
I would recommend anyone running into kind of problem to try and compile each translation unit individually which is how I unearthed it. For example gcc -S vterm_cursor.c
Thank you to everyone who took a look at this.

Segmentation Fault: C-Program migrating from HPUX to Linux

I'm trying to migrate a small c program from hpux to linux. The project compiles fine but crashes at runtime showing me a segmentation fault. I've already tried to see behind the mirror using strace and gdb but still don't understand. The relevant (truncated) parts:
tts_send_2.c
Contains a method
int sequenznummernabgleich(int sockfd, char *snd_id, char *rec_id, int timeout_quit) {
TS_TEL_TAB tel_tab_S01;
int n;
# truncated
}
which is called from within that file like this:
. . .
. . .
switch(sequenznummernabgleich(sockfd,c_snd_id,c_rec_id,c_timeout_quit)) {
/* kritischer Fehler */
case -1:
. . .
. . .
when calling that method I'm presented a segmentation fault (gdb output):
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x0000000000403226 in sequenznummernabgleich (sockfd=<error reading variable: Cannot access memory at address 0x7fffff62f94c>,
snd_id=<error reading variable: Cannot access memory at address 0x7fffff62f940>, rec_id=<error reading variable: Cannot access memory at address 0x7fffff62f938>,
timeout_quit=<error reading variable: Cannot access memory at address 0x7fffff62f934>) at tts_snd_2.c:498
498 int sequenznummernabgleich(int sockfd, char *snd_id, char *rec_id, int timeout_quit) {
which I just don't understand. When I'm stepping to the line where the method is called using gdb, all the variables are looking fine:
1008 switch(sequenznummernabgleich(sockfd,c_snd_id,c_rec_id,c_timeout_quit)) {
(gdb) p sockfd
$9 = 8
(gdb) p &sockfd
$10 = (int *) 0x611024 <sockfd>
(gdb) p c_snd_id
$11 = "KR", '\000' <repeats 253 times>
(gdb) p &c_snd_id
$12 = (char (*)[256]) 0xfde220 <c_snd_id>
(gdb) p c_rec_id
$13 = "CO", '\000' <repeats 253 times>
(gdb) p &c_rec_id
$14 = (char (*)[256]) 0xfde560 <c_rec_id>
(gdb) p c_timeout_quit
$15 = 20
(gdb) p &c_timeout_quit
$16 = (int *) 0xfde660 <c_timeout_quit>
I've also created an strace output. Here's the last part concerning the code shown above:
strace output
Any ideas ? I've searched the web and of course stackoverflow for hours without finding a really similar case.
Thanks
Kriz
I haven't used an HP/UX in eons but do hazily remember enough for the following suggestions:
Make sure you're initializing variables / struts correctly. Use calloc instead of malloc.
Also don't assume a specific bit pattern order: eg low byte then high byte. Ska endian-ness of the machine. There are usually macros in the compiler that will handle the appropriate ordering for you.
Update 15.10.16
After debugging for even more hours I found the real Problem. On the first line of the Method "sequenznummernabgleich" is a declaration of a struct
TS_TEL_TAB tel_tab_S01;
This is defined as following:
typedef struct {
TS_BOF_REC bof;
TS_REM_REC rem;
TS_EOF_REC eof;
int bof_len;
int rem_len;
int eof_len;
int cnt;
char teltyp[LEN_TELTYP+1];
TS_TEL_ENTRY entries[MAX_TEL];
} TS_TEL_TAB;
and it's embedded struct TS_TEL_ENTRY
typedef struct {
int len;
char tel[MAX_TEL_LEN];
} TS_TEL_ENTRY;
The problem is that the value for MAX_TEL_LEN had been changed from 512 to 1024 and thus the struct almost doubled in size what lead to that the STACK SIZE was not big enough anymore.
SOLUTION
Simply set the stack size from 8Mb to 64Mb. This can be achieved using ulimit command (under linux).
List current stack size: ulimit -s
Set stack size to 64Mb: ulimit -s 65535
Note: Values for stack size are in kB.
For a good short ref on ulimit command have a look # ss64

Strange load instructions produced by mipsel-gcc when compiling glibc

I'm trying to get a small piece of hello-world MIPS program running in Gem 5 simulator. The program was compiled with gcc 4.9.2 and glibc 2.19 (built by crosstool-ng) and runs well in qemu, but it crashed with a page fault (trying to access address 0) in gem5.
Code is rather simple:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("hello, world\n");
return 0;
}
file ./test result:
./test: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, MIPS, MIPS-I version 1, statically
linked, for GNU/Linux 3.15.4, not stripped
After some debugging with gdb, I figured out that the page fault is triggered by _dl_setup_stack_chk_guard function in glibc. It accepts a void pointer called _dl_random passed by __libc_start_main function, which happens to be NULL. However, as far as I know, these functions never dereference the pointer, but instructions were generated to load values from the memory _dl_random pointer points to. Some code pieces might help understanding:
in function __libc_start_main (macro THREAD_SET_STACK_GUARD is not set):
/* Initialize the thread library at least a bit since the libgcc
functions are using thread functions if these are available and
we need to setup errno. */
__pthread_initialize_minimal ();
/* Set up the stack checker's canary. */
uintptr_t stack_chk_guard = _dl_setup_stack_chk_guard (_dl_random);
# ifdef THREAD_SET_STACK_GUARD
THREAD_SET_STACK_GUARD (stack_chk_guard);
# else
__stack_chk_guard = stack_chk_guard;
# endif
in function _dl_setup_stack_chk_guard (always inlined):
static inline uintptr_t __attribute__ ((always_inline))
_dl_setup_stack_chk_guard (void *dl_random)
{
union
{
uintptr_t num;
unsigned char bytes[sizeof (uintptr_t)];
} ret = { 0 };
if (dl_random == NULL)
{
ret.bytes[sizeof (ret) - 1] = 255;
ret.bytes[sizeof (ret) - 2] = '\n';
}
else
{
memcpy (ret.bytes, dl_random, sizeof (ret));
#if BYTE_ORDER == LITTLE_ENDIAN
ret.num &= ~(uintptr_t) 0xff;
#elif BYTE_ORDER == BIG_ENDIAN
ret.num &= ~((uintptr_t) 0xff << (8 * (sizeof (ret) - 1)));
#else
# error "BYTE_ORDER unknown"
#endif
}
return ret.num;
}
disassembly code:
0x00400ea4 <+228>: jal 0x4014b4 <__pthread_initialize_minimal>
0x00400ea8 <+232>: nop
0x00400eac <+236>: lui v0,0x4a
0x00400eb0 <+240>: lw v0,6232(v0)
0x00400eb4 <+244>: li a0,-256
0x00400eb8 <+248>: lwl v1,3(v0)
0x00400ebc <+252>: lwr v1,0(v0)
0x00400ec0 <+256>: addiu v0,v0,4
0x00400ec4 <+260>: and v1,v1,a0
0x00400ec8 <+264>: lui a0,0x4a
0x00400ecc <+268>: sw v1,6228(a0)
0x4a1858 (0x4a0000 + 6232) is the address of _dl_random
0x4a1854 (0x4a0000 + 6228) is the address of __stack_chk_guard
Page fault occurs at 0x00400eb8. I don't quite get it how instruction 0x00400eb8 and 0x00400ebc are generated. Could someone shed some light on it please? Thanks.
Here is how I find the root of this problem and my suggestion for solution.
I think it helpful to dive into the Glibc source code to see what really happens. Starting from _dl_random or __libc_start_main are both OK.
As the value of _dl_random is unexpectedly NULL, we need to find how this variable initialize and where it is assigned. With the help of code analysing tools, we can find _dl_random in Glibc is only assigned with meaningful value in function _dl_aux_init, and this function is called by __libc_start_min.
_dl_aux_init iterates on its parameter -- auxvec -- and acts corresponding to auxvec[i].at_type. AT_RANDOM is the case for the assignment of _dl_random. So the problem is that there isn't an AT_RANDOM element to make _dl_random assigned.
As the program runs well in user mode qemu, the root of this problem resides in system environment provider, say, gem5, which has the responsibility to construct auxvec. Having that keyword, we can find that the auxv is constructed in gem5/src/arch/<arch-name>/process.cc.
The current auxv for MIPS is constructed as below:
// Set the system page size
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_PAGESZ, MipsISA::PageBytes));
// Set the frequency at which time() increments
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_CLKTCK, 100));
// For statically linked executables, this is the virtual
// address of the program header tables if they appear in the
// executable image.
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_PHDR, elfObject->programHeaderTable()));
DPRINTF(Loader, "auxv at PHDR %08p\n", elfObject->programHeaderTable());
// This is the size of a program header entry from the elf file.
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_PHENT, elfObject->programHeaderSize()));
// This is the number of program headers from the original elf file.
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_PHNUM, elfObject->programHeaderCount()));
//The entry point to the program
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_ENTRY, objFile->entryPoint()));
//Different user and group IDs
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_UID, uid()));
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_EUID, euid()));
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_GID, gid()));
auxv.push_back(auxv_t(M5_AT_EGID, egid()));
Now we know what to do. We just need to provide an accessible address value to _dl_random tagged by MT_AT_RANDOM. Gem5's ARM arch implements this already (code). Maybe we can take it as an example.

Strange stack overflow?

I'm running into a strange situation with passing a pointer to a structure with a very large array defined in the struct{} definition, a float array around 34MB in size. In a nutshell, the psuedo-code looks like this:
typedef config_t{
...
float values[64000][64];
} CONFIG;
int32_t Create_Structures(CONFIG **the_config)
{
CONFIG *local_config;
int32_t number_nodes;
number_nodes = Find_Nodes();
local_config = (CONFIG *)calloc(number_nodes,sizeof(CONFIG));
*the_config = local_config;
return(number_nodes);
}
int32_t Read_Config_File(CONFIG *the_config)
{
/* do init work here */
return(SUCCESS);
}
main()
{
CONFIG *the_config;
int32_t number_nodes,rc;
number_nodes = Create_Structures(&the_config);
rc = Read_Config_File(the_config);
...
exit(0);
}
The code compiles fine, but when I try to run it, I'll get a SIGSEGV at the { beneath Read_Config_File().
(gdb) run
...
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x0000000000407d0a in Read_Config_File (the_config=Cannot access memory at address 0x7ffffdf45428
) at ../src/config_parsing.c:763
763 {
(gdb) bt
#0 0x0000000000407d0a in Read_Config_File (the_config=Cannot access memory at address 0x7ffffdf45428
) at ../src/config_parsing.c:763
#1 0x00000000004068d2 in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fffffffe448) at ../src/main.c:148
I've done this sort of thing all the time, with smaller arrays. And strangely, 0x7fffffffe448 - 0x7ffffdf45428 = 0x20B8EF8, or about the 34MB of my float array.
Valgrind will give me similar output:
==10894== Warning: client switching stacks? SP change: 0x7ff000290 --> 0x7fcf47398
==10894== to suppress, use: --max-stackframe=34311928 or greater
==10894== Invalid write of size 8
==10894== at 0x407D0A: Read_Config_File (config_parsing.c:763)
==10894== by 0x4068D1: main (main.c:148)
==10894== Address 0x7fcf47398 is on thread 1's stack
The error messages all point to me clobbering the stack pointer, but a) I've never run across one that crashes on entry of the function and b) I'm passing pointers around, not the actual array.
Can someone help me out with this? I'm on a 64-bit CentOS box running kernel 2.6.18 and gcc 4.1.2
Thanks!
Matt
You've blown up the stack by allocating one of these huge config_t structs onto it. The two stack pointers on evidence in the gdb output, 0x7fffffffe448 and 0x7ffffdf45428, are very suggestive of this.
$ gdb
GNU gdb 6.3.50-20050815 ...blahblahblah...
(gdb) p 0x7fffffffe448 - 0x7ffffdf45428
$1 = 34312224
There's your ~34MB constant that matches the size of the config_t struct. Systems don't give you that much stack space by default, so either move the object off the stack or increase your stack space.
The short answer is that there must be a config_t declared as a local variable somewhere, which would put it on the stack. Probably a typo: missing * after a CONFIG declaration somewhere.

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