summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst111
1 files changed, 111 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aca0e27ca197
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/kcov.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+kcov: code coverage for fuzzing
+===============================
+
+kcov exposes kernel code coverage information in a form suitable for coverage-
+guided fuzzing (randomized testing). Coverage data of a running kernel is
+exported via the "kcov" debugfs file. Coverage collection is enabled on a task
+basis, and thus it can capture precise coverage of a single system call.
+
+Note that kcov does not aim to collect as much coverage as possible. It aims
+to collect more or less stable coverage that is function of syscall inputs.
+To achieve this goal it does not collect coverage in soft/hard interrupts
+and instrumentation of some inherently non-deterministic parts of kernel is
+disbled (e.g. scheduler, locking).
+
+Usage
+-----
+
+Configure the kernel with::
+
+ CONFIG_KCOV=y
+
+CONFIG_KCOV requires gcc built on revision 231296 or later.
+Profiling data will only become accessible once debugfs has been mounted::
+
+ mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
+
+The following program demonstrates kcov usage from within a test program::
+
+ #include <stdio.h>
+ #include <stddef.h>
+ #include <stdint.h>
+ #include <stdlib.h>
+ #include <sys/types.h>
+ #include <sys/stat.h>
+ #include <sys/ioctl.h>
+ #include <sys/mman.h>
+ #include <unistd.h>
+ #include <fcntl.h>
+
+ #define KCOV_INIT_TRACE _IOR('c', 1, unsigned long)
+ #define KCOV_ENABLE _IO('c', 100)
+ #define KCOV_DISABLE _IO('c', 101)
+ #define COVER_SIZE (64<<10)
+
+ int main(int argc, char **argv)
+ {
+ int fd;
+ unsigned long *cover, n, i;
+
+ /* A single fd descriptor allows coverage collection on a single
+ * thread.
+ */
+ fd = open("/sys/kernel/debug/kcov", O_RDWR);
+ if (fd == -1)
+ perror("open"), exit(1);
+ /* Setup trace mode and trace size. */
+ if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_INIT_TRACE, COVER_SIZE))
+ perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
+ /* Mmap buffer shared between kernel- and user-space. */
+ cover = (unsigned long*)mmap(NULL, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long),
+ PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED, fd, 0);
+ if ((void*)cover == MAP_FAILED)
+ perror("mmap"), exit(1);
+ /* Enable coverage collection on the current thread. */
+ if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_ENABLE, 0))
+ perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
+ /* Reset coverage from the tail of the ioctl() call. */
+ __atomic_store_n(&cover[0], 0, __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+ /* That's the target syscal call. */
+ read(-1, NULL, 0);
+ /* Read number of PCs collected. */
+ n = __atomic_load_n(&cover[0], __ATOMIC_RELAXED);
+ for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
+ printf("0x%lx\n", cover[i + 1]);
+ /* Disable coverage collection for the current thread. After this call
+ * coverage can be enabled for a different thread.
+ */
+ if (ioctl(fd, KCOV_DISABLE, 0))
+ perror("ioctl"), exit(1);
+ /* Free resources. */
+ if (munmap(cover, COVER_SIZE * sizeof(unsigned long)))
+ perror("munmap"), exit(1);
+ if (close(fd))
+ perror("close"), exit(1);
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+After piping through addr2line output of the program looks as follows::
+
+ SyS_read
+ fs/read_write.c:562
+ __fdget_pos
+ fs/file.c:774
+ __fget_light
+ fs/file.c:746
+ __fget_light
+ fs/file.c:750
+ __fget_light
+ fs/file.c:760
+ __fdget_pos
+ fs/file.c:784
+ SyS_read
+ fs/read_write.c:562
+
+If a program needs to collect coverage from several threads (independently),
+it needs to open /sys/kernel/debug/kcov in each thread separately.
+
+The interface is fine-grained to allow efficient forking of test processes.
+That is, a parent process opens /sys/kernel/debug/kcov, enables trace mode,
+mmaps coverage buffer and then forks child processes in a loop. Child processes
+only need to enable coverage (disable happens automatically on thread end).