1VDSO(7)                    Linux Programmer's Manual                   VDSO(7)
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3
4

NAME

6       vdso - overview of the virtual ELF dynamic shared object
7

SYNOPSIS

9       #include <sys/auxv.h>
10
11       void *vdso = (uintptr_t) getauxval(AT_SYSINFO_EHDR);
12

DESCRIPTION

14       The  "vDSO"  (virtual  dynamic shared object) is a small shared library
15       that the kernel automatically maps into the address space of all  user-
16       space  applications.  Applications usually do not need to concern them‐
17       selves with these details as the vDSO is most commonly called by the  C
18       library.   This way you can code in the normal way using standard func‐
19       tions and the C library will take care of using any functionality  that
20       is available via the vDSO.
21
22       Why does the vDSO exist at all?  There are some system calls the kernel
23       provides that user-space code ends up using frequently,  to  the  point
24       that  such calls can dominate overall performance.  This is due both to
25       the frequency of the call as well as the context-switch  overhead  that
26       results from exiting user space and entering the kernel.
27
28       The  rest  of  this documentation is geared toward the curious and/or C
29       library writers rather than general developers.  If  you're  trying  to
30       call  the vDSO in your own application rather than using the C library,
31       you're most likely doing it wrong.
32
33   Example background
34       Making system calls can be slow.  In x86 32-bit systems, you can  trig‐
35       ger  a  software  interrupt  (int $0x80) to tell the kernel you wish to
36       make a system call.  However, this instruction is  expensive:  it  goes
37       through  the full interrupt-handling paths in the processor's microcode
38       as well as in the kernel.  Newer processors have faster  (but  backward
39       incompatible)  instructions  to  initiate  system  calls.   Rather than
40       require the C library to figure out if this functionality is  available
41       at  run time, the C library can use functions provided by the kernel in
42       the vDSO.
43
44       Note that the terminology can be confusing.  On x86 systems,  the  vDSO
45       function used to determine the preferred method of making a system call
46       is named "__kernel_vsyscall", but on x86-64, the term  "vsyscall"  also
47       refers to an obsolete way to ask the kernel what time it is or what CPU
48       the caller is on.
49
50       One frequently used system call is gettimeofday(2).  This  system  call
51       is  called  both  directly  by user-space applications as well as indi‐
52       rectly by the C library.  Think timestamps or timing loops or  polling—
53       all  of  these frequently need to know what time it is right now.  This
54       information is also not secret—any application in  any  privilege  mode
55       (root  or  any  unprivileged  user) will get the same answer.  Thus the
56       kernel arranges for the information required to answer this question to
57       be  placed  in memory the process can access.  Now a call to gettimeof‐
58       day(2) changes from a system call to a normal function call and  a  few
59       memory accesses.
60
61   Finding the vDSO
62       The base address of the vDSO (if one exists) is passed by the kernel to
63       each program in the initial auxiliary vector  (see  getauxval(3)),  via
64       the AT_SYSINFO_EHDR tag.
65
66       You  must  not  assume the vDSO is mapped at any particular location in
67       the user's memory map.  The base address will usually be randomized  at
68       run time every time a new process image is created (at execve(2) time).
69       This is done for security reasons, to prevent "return-to-libc" attacks.
70
71       For some architectures, there is also an AT_SYSINFO tag.  This is  used
72       only for locating the vsyscall entry point and is frequently omitted or
73       set to 0 (meaning it's not available).  This tag is a throwback to  the
74       initial vDSO work (see History below) and its use should be avoided.
75
76   File format
77       Since  the  vDSO is a fully formed ELF image, you can do symbol lookups
78       on it.  This allows new symbols to be added with newer kernel releases,
79       and  allows the C library to detect available functionality at run time
80       when running under different kernel versions.  Oftentimes the C library
81       will  do  detection  with  the first call and then cache the result for
82       subsequent calls.
83
84       All symbols are also versioned (using the GNU  version  format).   This
85       allows  the  kernel  to  update the function signature without breaking
86       backward compatibility.  This means changing  the  arguments  that  the
87       function  accepts as well as the return value.  Thus, when looking up a
88       symbol in the vDSO, you must always include the version  to  match  the
89       ABI you expect.
90
91       Typically  the vDSO follows the naming convention of prefixing all sym‐
92       bols with "__vdso_" or "__kernel_" so as to distinguish them from other
93       standard  symbols.   For  example, the "gettimeofday" function is named
94       "__vdso_gettimeofday".
95
96       You use the standard C calling conventions when calling  any  of  these
97       functions.  No need to worry about weird register or stack behavior.
98

NOTES

100   Source
101       When you compile the kernel, it will automatically compile and link the
102       vDSO code for you.  You will frequently find it under the architecture-
103       specific directory:
104
105           find arch/$ARCH/ -name '*vdso*.so*' -o -name '*gate*.so*'
106
107   vDSO names
108       The  name  of the vDSO varies across architectures.  It will often show
109       up in things like glibc's ldd(1) output.  The  exact  name  should  not
110       matter to any code, so do not hardcode it.
111
112       user ABI   vDSO name
113       ─────────────────────────────
114       aarch64    linux-vdso.so.1
115       arm        linux-vdso.so.1
116       ia64       linux-gate.so.1
117       mips       linux-vdso.so.1
118       ppc/32     linux-vdso32.so.1
119       ppc/64     linux-vdso64.so.1
120       s390       linux-vdso32.so.1
121       s390x      linux-vdso64.so.1
122       sh         linux-gate.so.1
123       i386       linux-gate.so.1
124       x86-64     linux-vdso.so.1
125       x86/x32    linux-vdso.so.1
126
127   strace(1) and the vDSO
128       When  tracing systems calls with strace(1), symbols (system calls) that
129       are exported by the vDSO will not appear in the trace output.
130

ARCHITECTURE-SPECIFIC NOTES

132       The subsections below provide architecture-specific notes on the vDSO.
133
134       Note that the vDSO that is used is based on the ABI of your  user-space
135       code and not the ABI of the kernel.  Thus, for example, when you run an
136       i386 32-bit ELF binary, you'll get the same vDSO regardless of  whether
137       you  run  it under an i386 32-bit kernel or under an x86-64 64-bit ker‐
138       nel.  Therefore, the name of the  user-space  ABI  should  be  used  to
139       determine which of the sections below is relevant.
140
141   ARM functions
142       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
143
144       symbol                 version
145       ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
146       __vdso_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 4.1)
147       __vdso_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 4.1)
148
149       Additionally,  the  ARM port has a code page full of utility functions.
150       Since it's just a raw page of code, there is  no  ELF  information  for
151       doing  symbol  lookups or versioning.  It does provide support for dif‐
152       ferent versions though.
153
154       For information on this code page, it's best to  refer  to  the  kernel
155       documentation as it's extremely detailed and covers everything you need
156       to know: Documentation/arm/kernel_user_helpers.txt.
157
158   aarch64 functions
159       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
160
161       symbol                   version
162       ──────────────────────────────────────
163       __kernel_rt_sigreturn    LINUX_2.6.39
164       __kernel_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6.39
165       __kernel_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6.39
166       __kernel_clock_getres    LINUX_2.6.39
167
168   bfin (Blackfin) functions
169       As this CPU lacks a memory management unit (MMU), it doesn't set  up  a
170       vDSO  in  the  normal  sense.   Instead, it maps at boot time a few raw
171       functions into a fixed location  in  memory.   User-space  applications
172       then  call  directly into that region.  There is no provision for back‐
173       ward compatibility beyond sniffing raw  opcodes,  but  as  this  is  an
174       embedded CPU, it can get away with things—some of the object formats it
175       runs aren't even ELF based (they're bFLT/FLAT).
176
177       For information on this code page, it's best to  refer  to  the  public
178       documentation:
179       http://docs.blackfin.uclinux.org/doku.php?id=linux-kernel:fixed-code
180
181   mips functions
182       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
183
184       symbol                   version
185       ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
186       __kernel_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 4.4)
187       __kernel_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 4.4)
188
189   ia64 (Itanium) functions
190       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
191
192       symbol                       version
193       ───────────────────────────────────────
194       __kernel_sigtramp            LINUX_2.5
195       __kernel_syscall_via_break   LINUX_2.5
196       __kernel_syscall_via_epc     LINUX_2.5
197
198       The Itanium port is somewhat tricky.  In addition to the vDSO above, it
199       also has "light-weight system calls" (also known as "fast syscalls"  or
200       "fsys").   You  can  invoke these via the __kernel_syscall_via_epc vDSO
201       helper.  The system calls listed here have the same semantics as if you
202       called  them directly via syscall(2), so refer to the relevant documen‐
203       tation for each.  The table below lists  the  functions  available  via
204       this mechanism.
205
206       function
207       ────────────────
208       clock_gettime
209       getcpu
210       getpid
211       getppid
212       gettimeofday
213       set_tid_address
214
215   parisc (hppa) functions
216       The  parisc  port  has  a  code page full of utility functions called a
217       gateway  page.   Rather  than  use  the  normal  ELF  auxiliary  vector
218       approach,  it passes the address of the page to the process via the SR2
219       register.  The permissions on the page are such that  merely  executing
220       those  addresses  automatically executes with kernel privileges and not
221       in user space.  This is done to match the way HP-UX works.
222
223       Since it's just a raw page of code, there is  no  ELF  information  for
224       doing  symbol  lookups or versioning.  Simply call into the appropriate
225       offset via the branch instruction, for example:
226
227           ble <offset>(%sr2, %r0)
228
229       offset   function
230       ───────────────────────────────────────
231       00b0     lws_entry
232       00e0     set_thread_pointer
233       0100     linux_gateway_entry (syscall)
234       0268     syscall_nosys
235       0274     tracesys
236       0324     tracesys_next
237       0368     tracesys_exit
238       03a0     tracesys_sigexit
239       03b8     lws_start
240       03dc     lws_exit_nosys
241       03e0     lws_exit
242       03e4     lws_compare_and_swap64
243       03e8     lws_compare_and_swap
244       0404     cas_wouldblock
245       0410     cas_action
246
247   ppc/32 functions
248       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.  The  functions
249       marked  with  a  *  are  available  only when the kernel is a PowerPC64
250       (64-bit) kernel.
251
252       symbol                     version
253       ────────────────────────────────────────
254       __kernel_clock_getres      LINUX_2.6.15
255       __kernel_clock_gettime     LINUX_2.6.15
256       __kernel_datapage_offset   LINUX_2.6.15
257       __kernel_get_syscall_map   LINUX_2.6.15
258       __kernel_get_tbfreq        LINUX_2.6.15
259       __kernel_getcpu *          LINUX_2.6.15
260       __kernel_gettimeofday      LINUX_2.6.15
261       __kernel_sigtramp_rt32     LINUX_2.6.15
262       __kernel_sigtramp32        LINUX_2.6.15
263       __kernel_sync_dicache      LINUX_2.6.15
264       __kernel_sync_dicache_p5   LINUX_2.6.15
265
266       The CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE and  CLOCK_MONOTONIC_COARSE  clocks  are  not
267       supported   by  the  __kernel_clock_getres  and  __kernel_clock_gettime
268       interfaces; the kernel falls back to the real system call.
269
270   ppc/64 functions
271       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
272
273       symbol                     version
274       ────────────────────────────────────────
275       __kernel_clock_getres      LINUX_2.6.15
276       __kernel_clock_gettime     LINUX_2.6.15
277       __kernel_datapage_offset   LINUX_2.6.15
278       __kernel_get_syscall_map   LINUX_2.6.15
279       __kernel_get_tbfreq        LINUX_2.6.15
280       __kernel_getcpu            LINUX_2.6.15
281       __kernel_gettimeofday      LINUX_2.6.15
282       __kernel_sigtramp_rt64     LINUX_2.6.15
283       __kernel_sync_dicache      LINUX_2.6.15
284       __kernel_sync_dicache_p5   LINUX_2.6.15
285
286       The CLOCK_REALTIME_COARSE and  CLOCK_MONOTONIC_COARSE  clocks  are  not
287       supported   by  the  __kernel_clock_getres  and  __kernel_clock_gettime
288       interfaces; the kernel falls back to the real system call.
289
290   s390 functions
291       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
292
293       symbol                   version
294       ──────────────────────────────────────
295       __kernel_clock_getres    LINUX_2.6.29
296       __kernel_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6.29
297       __kernel_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6.29
298
299   s390x functions
300       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
301
302       symbol                   version
303       ──────────────────────────────────────
304       __kernel_clock_getres    LINUX_2.6.29
305       __kernel_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6.29
306       __kernel_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6.29
307
308   sh (SuperH) functions
309       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
310
311       symbol                  version
312       ──────────────────────────────────
313       __kernel_rt_sigreturn   LINUX_2.6
314       __kernel_sigreturn      LINUX_2.6
315       __kernel_vsyscall       LINUX_2.6
316
317   i386 functions
318       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
319
320       symbol                  version
321       ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
322       __kernel_sigreturn      LINUX_2.5
323       __kernel_rt_sigreturn   LINUX_2.5
324       __kernel_vsyscall       LINUX_2.5
325       __vdso_clock_gettime    LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 3.15)
326       __vdso_gettimeofday     LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 3.15)
327       __vdso_time             LINUX_2.6 (exported since Linux 3.15)
328
329   x86-64 functions
330       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.  All  of  these
331       symbols are also available without the "__vdso_" prefix, but you should
332       ignore those and stick to the names below.
333
334
335       symbol                 version
336       ─────────────────────────────────
337       __vdso_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6
338       __vdso_getcpu          LINUX_2.6
339       __vdso_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6
340       __vdso_time            LINUX_2.6
341
342   x86/x32 functions
343       The table below lists the symbols exported by the vDSO.
344
345       symbol                 version
346       ─────────────────────────────────
347       __vdso_clock_gettime   LINUX_2.6
348       __vdso_getcpu          LINUX_2.6
349       __vdso_gettimeofday    LINUX_2.6
350       __vdso_time            LINUX_2.6
351
352   History
353       The vDSO was originally just a single function—the vsyscall.  In  older
354       kernels,  you might see that name in a process's memory map rather than
355       "vdso".  Over time, people realized that this mechanism was a great way
356       to  pass  more  functionality to user space, so it was reconceived as a
357       vDSO in the current format.
358

SEE ALSO

360       syscalls(2), getauxval(3), proc(5)
361
362       The documents, examples, and source code in the Linux source code tree:
363
364           Documentation/ABI/stable/vdso
365           Documentation/ia64/fsys.txt
366           Documentation/vDSO/* (includes examples of using the vDSO)
367
368           find arch/ -iname '*vdso*' -o -iname '*gate*'
369

COLOPHON

371       This page is part of release 4.15 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
372       description  of  the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
373       latest    version    of    this    page,    can     be     found     at
374       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
375
376
377
378Linux                             2017-09-15                           VDSO(7)
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