Functions with Large Stack Usage

Danny Cox (danscox@mindspring.com)
27 Aug 2002 14:08:24 -0400


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Hi,

After having read of the stack overflow "issues" awhile back, a couple
of ideas gelled, with this script as a result. The script finds
functions that use a large (changeable) amount of stack space. Note:
it's heuristic, it's static, it only looks at compiled-in functions, and
says nothing about the dynamic system. It DOES point out functions that
may (MAY) need to be examined closer.

The functions and their sizes are:

check huft_build (stack 1436)
check inflate_fixed (stack 1168)
check inflate_dynamic (stack 1308)
check pci_sanity_check (stack 804)
check pcibios_fixup_peer_bridges (stack 804)
check elf_core_dump (stack 592)
check xfs_ioctl (stack 752)
check semctl_main (stack 588)
check extract_entropy (stack 708)
check vt_ioctl (stack 756)
check ide_unregister (stack 880)
check cdrom_buffer_sectors (stack 516)
check cdrom_read_intr (stack 532)
check cdrom_slot_status (stack 1040)
check cdrom_number_of_slots (stack 1040)
check cdrom_select_disc (stack 1040)
check cdrom_ioctl (stack 1084)
check pci_do_scan_bus (stack 680)

This is from kernel 2.4.19-xfs (yes, I'm an XFS weenie ;-).

How it works: With Keith Owens' KDB patch, one may compile the kernel
with frame pointers. With the Disassemble::X86 Perl module from CPAN
(http://search.cpan.org/author/BOBMATH/Disassemble-X86-0.12/X86.pm),
it's easy. It requires the vmlinux and System.map files, and for each
function looks at the first 10 instructions for the 'sub esp,N'. The N
is the number of bytes of stack used.

I'm not subscribed to this list. I tried once, but it's much too busy
for me to keep up with, and actually get any work done ;-). So, please
CC: me if you wish me to be included.

I apologize in advance for 1) the C-like Perl code, and 2) for
attaching it. I've tried an in-line paste before, but it wraps, and
makes it even uglier than before.

Comments, bugs, and enhancements are encouraged. Thanks!

Please return to your regularly scheduled discussions.

-- 
kernel, n.: A part of an operating system that preserves the
medieval traditions of sorcery and black art.

Danny

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#!/usr/bin/perl # check_stack --- check for too deep stack depths; it most likely only # only works for the linux kernel....

use 5.006; use strict; use warnings; use Getopt::Std; use lib "blib/lib"; use Disassemble::X86;

use vars qw ( $opt_d ); getopts ("d") and $#ARGV =3D=3D 1 or die <<END_USAGE; usage: $0 [-d] vmlinux System.map -d debug ON END_USAGE

# slurp up the whole object file open OBJ, "<$ARGV[0]" or die "$0: can't read $ARGV[0]: $!\n"; my $slash_save =3D $/; undef $/; my $file =3D <OBJ>; close OBJ; $/ =3D $slash_save;

# init the disassembler my $dis =3D Disassemble::X86->new ( start =3D> 0xc0100000 - 0x1000, # text addr - file offset pos =3D> 0, size =3D> 32, text =3D> $file, );

# you may change these as you see fit

# max_check is the maximum number of instructions to scan for the 'sub esp,= ...' # before giving up my $max_check =3D 10;

# stack_limit is the size that we'll consider worthy of reporting my $stack_limit =3D 512;

# end of changables

# max_stack is the maximum stack size we saw my $max_stack =3D 0;

# open System.map. It contains the address, type, and names of each functi= on # (among other things) open MAP, "<$ARGV[1]" or die "$0: can't read $ARGV[1]: $!\n";

while (<MAP>) { my ($addr, $type, $name) =3D split (' ', $_); next if $name =3D~ /^\./; # we don't want names like '.yadda' if ($type =3D~ /^[Tt]$/) { # we only want text symbols print "looking at $name ($addr)\n" if $opt_d;

$dis->pos (hex ($addr)); for (my $i =3D 0; $i < $max_check && !$dis->at_end; $i++) { my $op =3D $dis->disasm (); printf "%04x %s\n", $dis->op_start (), $op if $opt_d; next if (!defined $op); if ($op =3D~ /sub esp,(0x[[:xdigit:]]+)/) { my $stack =3D hex ($1); $max_stack =3D $stack if $stack > $max_stack; printf "check $name (stack %d)\n", $stack if $stack >=3D $stack_limit; last; } }

} } close MAP;

print "max single stack used is $max_stack\n";

exit 0;

# end check_stack

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