[PATCH v0] aarch64: silence GCS warnings on shared libraries for -z gcs=implicit

Matthieu Longo matthieu.longo@arm.com
Mon Dec 8 13:39:40 GMT 2025
On 08/12/2025 11:41, Srinath Parvathaneni wrote:
> Hi Matthieu,
> 
> Please find my comments below.
> 
> On 12/5/25 16:33, Matthieu Longo wrote:
>> Dynamic library incompatibilities should not be reported when
>> '-z gcs=implicit' is used and no '-z gcs-report-dynamic' option is
>> provided. However, '-z gcs=always' continues to default to reporting
>> these as warnings.
>>
>> Binary Linux distributions do not rebuild all packages from scratch
>> when rolling out a new feature or creating a new release; only
>> modified packages get rebuilt. In the context of GCS deployment, this
>> meant that some packages were rebuilt with GCS enabled while their
>> dependencies were not yet GCS-compatible, resulting in warnings. These
>> warnings caused build failures for packages that treat linker warnings
>> as errors.
>>
>> This patch preserves the existing inheritance of the value from
>> '-z gcs-report' if the option '-z gcs-report-dynamic' is not set on
>> the command line, but it forces the value of '-z gcs-report-dynamic'
>> to 'none' when '-z gcs=implicit' is used.
>> It also adapts the existing tests for '-z gcs=implicit' to reflect
>> this change, and adds new tests covering cases with no report option
>> provided, or with '-z gcs-report-dynamic' explicitly set.
>> ---
>>   bfd/elfnn-aarch64.c                           | 29 ++++++++++++++++---
>>   ld/ld.texi                                    |  4 ++-
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-a.d  | 15 +++-------
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-b.d  |  6 ++--
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-c.d  |  6 ++--
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-d.d  | 12 ++++++++
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-e.d  | 12 ++++++++
>>   .../ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-f.d  | 12 ++++++++
>>   8 files changed, 74 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
>>   create mode 100644 ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-d.d
>>   create mode 100644 ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-e.d
>>   create mode 100644 ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-f.d
>>
>> diff --git a/bfd/elfnn-aarch64.c b/bfd/elfnn-aarch64.c
>> index b104e40d1ab..6cd96b04908 100644
>> --- a/bfd/elfnn-aarch64.c
>> +++ b/bfd/elfnn-aarch64.c
>> @@ -5061,10 +5061,31 @@ bfd_elfNN_aarch64_set_options (struct bfd *output_bfd,
>>        libraries, '-z gcs-report-dynamic=error' will have to be specified
>>        explicitly.  */
>>     if (sw_protections->gcs_report_dynamic == MARKING_UNSET)
>> -    elf_aarch64_tdata (output_bfd)->sw_protections.gcs_report_dynamic
>> -      = (sw_protections->gcs_report == MARKING_ERROR)
>> -      ? MARKING_WARN
>> -      : sw_protections->gcs_report;
>> +    {
>> +      aarch64_feature_marking_report *gcs_report_dynamic
>> +    = &elf_aarch64_tdata (output_bfd)->sw_protections.gcs_report_dynamic;
> 
> This initialization of gcs_report_dynamic is overwritten by the very next assignment, so the declaration of the pointer itself is sufficient.
> 

This is the assignment of an address to the pointer, not the value pointed by the pointer.
So this line is not superfluous.

>> +
>> +      *gcs_report_dynamic
>> +    = (sw_protections->gcs_report == MARKING_ERROR)
>> +    ? MARKING_WARN
>> +    : sw_protections->gcs_report;
>> +
>> +
>> +      /* Dynamic library incompatibilities must not be reported when
>> +     '-z gcs=implicit' is used and no '-z gcs-report-dynamic' option is
>> +     provided.  Instead this last must default to 'MARKING_NONE'.  However,
>> +     '-z gcs=always' continues to default to reporting these as warnings.
> 
>  > "Instead this last must default to 'MARKING_NONE'."
> For clarity, perhaps replace “this last” with an explicit reference:
> “Instead, -z gcs-report-dynamic must default to MARKING_NONE.”
> 

Fixed in the next revision.

>> +     Binary Linux distributions do not rebuild all packages from scratch
>> +     when rolling out a new feature or creating a new release; only modified
>> +     packages get rebuilt.  In the context of GCS deployment, this meant
>> +     that some packages were rebuilt with GCS enabled while their
>> +     dependencies were not yet GCS-compatible, resulting in warnings.  These
>> +     warnings caused build failures for packages that treat linker warnings
>> +     as errors.  */
>> +      if (sw_protections->gcs_type == GCS_IMPLICIT)
>> +    *gcs_report_dynamic = MARKING_NONE;
> 
> To make the logic clearer and avoid redundant writes, this block could be structured as an if/else statement, e.g:
> 
> if (sw_protections->gcs_type == GCS_IMPLICIT)
>    *gcs_report_dynamic = MARKING_NONE;
> else
>    {
>      *gcs_report_dynamic =
>        (sw_protections->gcs_report == MARKING_ERROR)
>          ? MARKING_WARN
>          : sw_protections->gcs_report;
>    }
> 
> 
> This makes it explicit that only one of the two assignments can occur, and avoids writing a value that is immediately overwritten.
> 

Fixed in the next revision.

>> +    }
>>     elf_aarch64_tdata (output_bfd)->n_bti_issues = 0;
>>     elf_aarch64_tdata (output_bfd)->n_gcs_issues = 0;
>> diff --git a/ld/ld.texi b/ld/ld.texi
>> index 8ff65ec64a7..49a5a95ab9e 100644
>> --- a/ld/ld.texi
>> +++ b/ld/ld.texi
>> @@ -8397,7 +8397,9 @@ omitted, it inherits the value of @samp{-z gcs-report}. However, the inherited
>>   value is capped to @samp{warning} as some user might want to only report errors
>>   in the currently built module, and not the shared dependencies. It is therefore
>>   necessary to use an explicit @samp{-z gcs-report-dynamic=error} option if you
>> -want the linker to error on GCS issues in the shared libraries.
>> +want the linker to error on GCS issues in the shared libraries. Additionally,
>> +if @samp{-z gcs=implicit} is provided and the option is omitted, it will default
>> +to @samp{none}.
>>   @itemize
>>   @item @samp{none} disables any warning messages.
>>   @item @samp{warning} emits warning messages when dynamic objects are missing
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-a.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-a.d
>> index ecdaf526779..dbe77bdad16 100644
>> --- a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-a.d
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-a.d
>> @@ -1,15 +1,8 @@
>> -#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=error' and shared libraries without GCS feature reports warnings.
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=error' and shared libraries without GCS feature report errors.
>>   #source: gcs.s
>>   #source: gcs2.s
>>   #alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>>   #as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> -#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=error -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> -#warning: \A[^\n]*libnogcs-so\.so: warning: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*\n
>> -#warning:   [^\n]*libbti-plt-so\.so: warning: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*
>> -
>> -#readelf: -n
>> -
>> -Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>> -[     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>> -  GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> -      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=error -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#error: \A[^\n]*libnogcs-so\.so: error: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*\n
>> +#error:   [^\n]*libbti-plt-so\.so: error: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-b.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-b.d
>> index 4d32fb6aa54..29d632187fe 100644
>> --- a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-b.d
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-b.d
>> @@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
>> -#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=warning' and shared libraries without GCS feature reports warnings.
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=warning' and shared libraries without GCS feature report warnings.
>>   #source: gcs.s
>>   #source: gcs2.s
>>   #alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>>   #as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> -#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=warning -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=warning -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>>   #warning: \A[^\n]*libnogcs-so\.so: warning: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*\n
>>   #warning:   [^\n]*libbti-plt-so\.so: warning: GCS is required by -z gcs[^\n]*
>>   #readelf: -n
>> @@ -11,4 +11,4 @@
>>   Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>>   [     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>>     GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> -      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> \ No newline at end of file
>> +      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-c.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-c.d
>> index c0da6c1d9c6..9bed95f75e0 100644
>> --- a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-c.d
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-c.d
>> @@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
>> -#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=none' and shared libraries without GCS feature reports no warning.
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=none' and shared libraries without GCS feature report no warning.
>>   #source: gcs.s
>>   #source: gcs2.s
>>   #alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>>   #as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> -#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=none -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report-dynamic=none -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>>   #readelf: -n
>>   Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>>   [     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>>     GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> -      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> \ No newline at end of file
>> +      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-d.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-d.d
>> new file mode 100644
>> index 00000000000..cae27a25b7c
>> --- /dev/null
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-d.d
>> @@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit' without '-z gcs-report' or '-z gcs-report-dynamic' options and shared libraries without GCS feature report no warning.
>> +#source: gcs.s
>> +#source: gcs2.s
>> +#alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>> +#as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#readelf: -n
>> +
>> +Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>> +[     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>> +  GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> +      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-e.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-e.d
>> new file mode 100644
>> index 00000000000..2ad9c3fc5be
>> --- /dev/null
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-e.d
>> @@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=error' and shared libraries without GCS feature report no warning.
>> +#source: gcs.s
>> +#source: gcs2.s
>> +#alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>> +#as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=error -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#readelf: -n
>> +
>> +Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>> +[     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>> +  GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> +      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
>> diff --git a/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-f.d b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-f.d
>> new file mode 100644
>> index 00000000000..97c30e806c4
>> --- /dev/null
>> +++ b/ld/testsuite/ld-aarch64/protections/gcs-dynamic-3-f.d
>> @@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
>> +#name: '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=warning' and shared libraries without GCS feature report no warning.
>> +#source: gcs.s
>> +#source: gcs2.s
>> +#alltargets: [check_shared_lib_support] *linux*
>> +#as: -march=armv9.4-a+gcs  -defsym __property_gcs__=1
>> +#ld: -z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report=warning -L./tmpdir -lnogcs-so -lbti-plt-so -lgcs-so2
>> +#readelf: -n
>> +
>> +Displaying notes found in: .note.gnu.property
>> +[     ]+Owner[     ]+Data size[     ]+Description
>> +  GNU                  0x00000010    NT_GNU_PROPERTY_TYPE_0
>> +      Properties: AArch64 feature: GCS
> 
> Add please add a test for combination of '-z gcs=implicit -z gcs-report ' and shared Libraries without GCS feature report, if not already present.
> > Regards,
> Srinath

I noticed that I had forgotten to add to the commit another test.
For the next revision, I added this test you proposed and the one that I had forgotten to commit.

Regards,
Matthieu



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