• Home
  • Line#
  • Scopes#
  • Navigate#
  • Raw
  • Download
1==========================
2UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer
3==========================
4
5.. contents::
6   :local:
7
8Introduction
9============
10
11UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer (UBSan) is a fast undefined behavior detector.
12UBSan modifies the program at compile-time to catch various kinds of undefined
13behavior during program execution, for example:
14
15* Using misaligned or null pointer
16* Signed integer overflow
17* Conversion to, from, or between floating-point types which would
18  overflow the destination
19
20See the full list of available :ref:`checks <ubsan-checks>` below.
21
22UBSan has an optional run-time library which provides better error reporting.
23The checks have small runtime cost and no impact on address space layout or ABI.
24
25How to build
26============
27
28Build LLVM/Clang with `CMake <http://llvm.org/docs/CMake.html>`_.
29
30Usage
31=====
32
33Use ``clang++`` to compile and link your program with ``-fsanitize=undefined``
34flag. Make sure to use ``clang++`` (not ``ld``) as a linker, so that your
35executable is linked with proper UBSan runtime libraries. You can use ``clang``
36instead of ``clang++`` if you're compiling/linking C code.
37
38.. code-block:: console
39
40  % cat test.cc
41  int main(int argc, char **argv) {
42    int k = 0x7fffffff;
43    k += argc;
44    return 0;
45  }
46  % clang++ -fsanitize=undefined test.cc
47  % ./a.out
48  test.cc:3:5: runtime error: signed integer overflow: 2147483647 + 1 cannot be represented in type 'int'
49
50You can enable only a subset of :ref:`checks <ubsan-checks>` offered by UBSan,
51and define the desired behavior for each kind of check:
52
53* print a verbose error report and continue execution (default);
54* print a verbose error report and exit the program;
55* execute a trap instruction (doesn't require UBSan run-time support).
56
57For example if you compile/link your program as:
58
59.. code-block:: console
60
61  % clang++ -fsanitize=signed-integer-overflow,null,alignment -fno-sanitize-recover=null -fsanitize-trap=alignment
62
63the program will continue execution after signed integer overflows, exit after
64the first invalid use of a null pointer, and trap after the first use of misaligned
65pointer.
66
67.. _ubsan-checks:
68
69Availablle checks
70=================
71
72Available checks are:
73
74  -  ``-fsanitize=alignment``: Use of a misaligned pointer or creation
75     of a misaligned reference.
76  -  ``-fsanitize=bool``: Load of a ``bool`` value which is neither
77     ``true`` nor ``false``.
78  -  ``-fsanitize=bounds``: Out of bounds array indexing, in cases
79     where the array bound can be statically determined.
80  -  ``-fsanitize=enum``: Load of a value of an enumerated type which
81     is not in the range of representable values for that enumerated
82     type.
83  -  ``-fsanitize=float-cast-overflow``: Conversion to, from, or
84     between floating-point types which would overflow the
85     destination.
86  -  ``-fsanitize=float-divide-by-zero``: Floating point division by
87     zero.
88  -  ``-fsanitize=function``: Indirect call of a function through a
89     function pointer of the wrong type (Linux, C++ and x86/x86_64 only).
90  -  ``-fsanitize=integer-divide-by-zero``: Integer division by zero.
91  -  ``-fsanitize=nonnull-attribute``: Passing null pointer as a function
92     parameter which is declared to never be null.
93  -  ``-fsanitize=null``: Use of a null pointer or creation of a null
94     reference.
95  -  ``-fsanitize=object-size``: An attempt to potentially use bytes which
96     the optimizer can determine are not part of the object being accessed.
97     This will also detect some types of undefined behavior that may not
98     directly access memory, but are provably incorrect given the size of
99     the objects involved, such as invalid downcasts and calling methods on
100     invalid pointers. These checks are made in terms of
101     ``__builtin_object_size``, and consequently may be able to detect more
102     problems at higher optimization levels.
103  -  ``-fsanitize=return``: In C++, reaching the end of a
104     value-returning function without returning a value.
105  -  ``-fsanitize=returns-nonnull-attribute``: Returning null pointer
106     from a function which is declared to never return null.
107  -  ``-fsanitize=shift``: Shift operators where the amount shifted is
108     greater or equal to the promoted bit-width of the left hand side
109     or less than zero, or where the left hand side is negative. For a
110     signed left shift, also checks for signed overflow in C, and for
111     unsigned overflow in C++. You can use ``-fsanitize=shift-base`` or
112     ``-fsanitize=shift-exponent`` to check only left-hand side or
113     right-hand side of shift operation, respectively.
114  -  ``-fsanitize=signed-integer-overflow``: Signed integer overflow,
115     including all the checks added by ``-ftrapv``, and checking for
116     overflow in signed division (``INT_MIN / -1``).
117  -  ``-fsanitize=unreachable``: If control flow reaches
118     ``__builtin_unreachable``.
119  -  ``-fsanitize=unsigned-integer-overflow``: Unsigned integer
120     overflows.
121  -  ``-fsanitize=vla-bound``: A variable-length array whose bound
122     does not evaluate to a positive value.
123  -  ``-fsanitize=vptr``: Use of an object whose vptr indicates that
124     it is of the wrong dynamic type, or that its lifetime has not
125     begun or has ended. Incompatible with ``-fno-rtti``. Link must
126     be performed by ``clang++``, not ``clang``, to make sure C++-specific
127     parts of the runtime library and C++ standard libraries are present.
128
129You can also use the following check groups:
130  -  ``-fsanitize=undefined``: All of the checks listed above other than
131     ``unsigned-integer-overflow``.
132  -  ``-fsanitize=undefined-trap``: Deprecated alias of
133     ``-fsanitize=undefined``.
134  -  ``-fsanitize=integer``: Checks for undefined or suspicious integer
135     behavior (e.g. unsigned integer overflow).
136
137Stack traces and report symbolization
138=====================================
139If you want UBSan to print symbolized stack trace for each error report, you
140will need to:
141
142#. Compile with ``-g`` and ``-fno-omit-frame-pointer`` to get proper debug
143   information in your binary.
144#. Run your program with environment variable
145   ``UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1``.
146#. Make sure ``llvm-symbolizer`` binary is in ``PATH``.
147
148Issue Suppression
149=================
150
151UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer is not expected to produce false positives.
152If you see one, look again; most likely it is a true positive!
153
154Disabling Instrumentation with ``__attribute__((no_sanitize("undefined")))``
155----------------------------------------------------------------------------
156
157You disable UBSan checks for particular functions with
158``__attribute__((no_sanitize("undefined")))``. You can use all values of
159``-fsanitize=`` flag in this attribute, e.g. if your function deliberately
160contains possible signed integer overflow, you can use
161``__attribute__((no_sanitize("signed-integer-overflow")))``.
162
163This attribute may not be
164supported by other compilers, so consider using it together with
165``#if defined(__clang__)``.
166
167Suppressing Errors in Recompiled Code (Blacklist)
168-------------------------------------------------
169
170UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer supports ``src`` and ``fun`` entity types in
171:doc:`SanitizerSpecialCaseList`, that can be used to suppress error reports
172in the specified source files or functions.
173
174Runtime suppressions
175--------------------
176
177Sometimes you can suppress UBSan error reports for specific files, functions,
178or libraries without recompiling the code. You need to pass a path to
179suppression file in a ``UBSAN_OPTIONS`` environment variable.
180
181.. code-block:: bash
182
183    UBSAN_OPTIONS=suppressions=MyUBSan.supp
184
185You need to specify a :ref:`check <ubsan-checks>` you are suppressing and the
186bug location. For example:
187
188.. code-block:: bash
189
190  signed-integer-overflow:file-with-known-overflow.cpp
191  alignment:function_doing_unaligned_access
192  vptr:shared_object_with_vptr_failures.so
193
194There are several limitations:
195
196* Sometimes your binary must have enough debug info and/or symbol table, so
197  that the runtime could figure out source file or function name to match
198  against the suppression.
199* It is only possible to suppress recoverable checks. For the example above,
200  you can additionally pass
201  ``-fsanitize-recover=signed-integer-overflow,alignment,vptr``, although
202  most of UBSan checks are recoverable by default.
203* Check groups (like ``undefined``) can't be used in suppressions file, only
204  fine-grained checks are supported.
205
206Supported Platforms
207===================
208
209UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer is supported on the following OS:
210
211* Android
212* Linux
213* FreeBSD
214* OS X 10.6 onwards
215
216and for the following architectures:
217
218* i386/x86\_64
219* ARM
220* AArch64
221* PowerPC64
222* MIPS/MIPS64
223
224Current Status
225==============
226
227UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer is available on selected platforms starting from LLVM
2283.3. The test suite is integrated into the CMake build and can be run with
229``check-ubsan`` command.
230
231Additional Configuration
232========================
233
234UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer adds static check data for each check unless it is
235in trap mode. This check data includes the full file name. The option
236``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=N`` can be used to trim this
237information. If ``N`` is positive, file information emitted by
238UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer will drop the first ``N`` components from the file
239path. If ``N`` is negative, the last ``N`` components will be kept.
240
241Example
242-------
243
244For a file called ``/code/library/file.cpp``, here is what would be emitted:
245* Default (No flag, or ``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=0``): ``/code/library/file.cpp``
246* ``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=1``: ``code/library/file.cpp``
247* ``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=2``: ``library/file.cpp``
248* ``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=-1``: ``file.cpp``
249* ``-fsanitize-undefined-strip-path-components=-2``: ``library/file.cpp``
250
251More Information
252================
253
254* From LLVM project blog:
255  `What Every C Programmer Should Know About Undefined Behavior
256  <http://blog.llvm.org/2011/05/what-every-c-programmer-should-know.html>`_
257* From John Regehr's *Embedded in Academia* blog:
258  `A Guide to Undefined Behavior in C and C++
259  <http://blog.regehr.org/archives/213>`_
260