A NULL pointer dereference occurs in map_kptr_match_type() when a BPF program attempts to store a scalar value (non-pointer register) into a map slot annotated as a kptr (kernel pointer). Call chain: check_store_reg() -> check_mem_access() -> check_map_kptr_access() -> map_kptr_match_type() -> btf_is_kernel(reg->btf) <-- NULL deref For scalar registers reg->btf is NULL. map_kptr_match_type() passes this directly to btf_is_kernel(), which performs a container_of()-based offset access and triggers a general protection fault: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x00000000000000e8-0x00000000000000ef] RIP: 0010:btf_is_kernel+0x2a/0x50 Fix: add an early NULL guard on reg->btf at the top of map_kptr_match_type(). If reg->btf is NULL, emit a verifier log message and return -EACCES so the program is rejected cleanly instead of crashing the kernel. Reproducer: store a scalar into a kptr-annotated BPF_MAP_TYPE_LRU_HASH slot via a kprobe program — verifier crashes during bpf_prog_load(). Reported-by: Le Chen Link: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=221372 Signed-off-by: Avinash Pal --- kernel/bpf/verifier.c | 12 ++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+) diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c index 69d75515ed..15b8f71074 100644 --- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c +++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c @@ -4545,6 +4545,18 @@ static int map_kptr_match_type(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, struct btf_field *kptr_field, struct bpf_reg_state *reg, u32 regno) { + /* + * If the source register has no BTF type (e.g. it is a scalar), + * it cannot possibly match a kptr slot. Reject early to avoid + * passing a NULL reg->btf to btf_is_kernel(), which would cause + * a NULL pointer dereference inside that function. + */ + if (!reg->btf) { + verbose(env, "R%d is not a pointer, cannot store into kptr slot\n", + regno); + return -EACCES; + } + const char *targ_name = btf_type_name(kptr_field->kptr.btf, kptr_field->kptr.btf_id); int perm_flags; const char *reg_name = ""; -- 2.53.0