summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/tools/sanitizer/docs/asan.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to '')
-rw-r--r--tools/sanitizer/docs/asan.rst378
1 files changed, 378 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/tools/sanitizer/docs/asan.rst b/tools/sanitizer/docs/asan.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a241908ced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/sanitizer/docs/asan.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,378 @@
+Address Sanitizer
+=================
+
+What is Address Sanitizer?
+--------------------------
+
+Address Sanitizer (ASan) is a fast memory error detector that detects
+use-after-free and out-of-bound bugs in C/C++ programs. It uses a
+compile-time instrumentation to check all reads and writes during the
+execution. In addition, the runtime part replaces the ``malloc`` and
+``free`` functions to check dynamically allocated memory. More
+information on how ASan works can be found on `the Address Sanitizer
+wiki <https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizer>`__.
+
+A `meta bug called asan-maintenance <https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=asan-maintenance>`__
+is maintained to keep track of all the bugs found with ASan.
+
+Downloading artifact builds
+---------------------------
+
+For Linux and Windows users, the easiest way to get Firefox builds with
+Address Sanitizer is to download a continuous integration asan build of
+mozilla-central (updated at least daily):
+
+- mozilla-central optimized builds:
+ `linux <https://firefox-ci-tc.services.mozilla.com/api/index/v1/task/gecko.v2.mozilla-central.latest.firefox.linux64-asan-opt/artifacts/public/build/target.tar.bz2>`__
+ \|
+ `windows <https://firefox-ci-tc.services.mozilla.com/api/index/v1/task/gecko.v2.mozilla-central.latest.firefox.win64-asan-opt/artifacts/public/build/target.zip>`__
+ (recommended for testing)
+- mozilla-central debug builds:
+ `linux <https://firefox-ci-tc.services.mozilla.com/api/index/v1/task/gecko.v2.mozilla-central.latest.firefox.linux64-asan-debug/artifacts/public/build/target.tar.bz2>`__
+ \|
+ `windows <https://firefox-ci-tc.services.mozilla.com/api/index/v1/task/gecko.v2.mozilla-central.latest.firefox.win64-asan-debug/artifacts/public/build/target.zip>`__
+ (recommended for debugging if the optimized builds don't do the job)
+
+The fuzzing team also offers a tool called ``fuzzfetch`` to download these and many
+other CI builds. It makes downloading and unpacking these builds much easier and
+can be used not just for fuzzing but for all purposes that require a CI build download.
+
+You can install ``fuzzfetch`` from
+`Github <https://github.com/MozillaSecurity/fuzzfetch>`__ or
+`via pip <https://pypi.org/project/fuzzfetch/>`__.
+
+Afterwards, you can run e.g.
+
+::
+
+ $ python -m fuzzfetch --asan -n firefox-asan
+
+to get the optimized Linux ASan build mentioned above unpacked into a directory called ``firefox-asan``.
+The ``--debug`` and ``--os`` switches can be used to get the other variants listed above.
+
+Creating Try builds
+-------------------
+
+If for some reason you can't use the pre-built binaries mentioned in the
+previous section (e.g. you want a non-Linux build or you need to test a
+patch), you can either build Firefox yourself (see the following
+section) or use the :ref:`try server <Pushing to Try>` to
+create the customized build for you. Pushing to try requires L1 commit
+access. If you don't have this access yet you can request access (see
+`Becoming A Mozilla
+Committer <https://www.mozilla.org/about/governance/policies/commit/>`__
+and `Mozilla Commit Access
+Policy <https://www.mozilla.org/about/governance/policies/commit/access-policy/>`__
+for the requirements).
+
+The tree contains `several mozconfig files for creating asan
+builds <https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/search?q=&case=true&path=browser%2Fconfig%2Fmozconfigs%2F*%2F*asan*>`__
+(the "nightly-asan" files create release builds, whereas the
+"debug-asan" files create debug+opt builds). For Linux builds, the
+appropriate configuration file is used by the ``linux64-asan`` target.
+If you want to create a macOS or Windows build, you'll need to copy the
+appropriate configuration file over the regular debug configuration
+before pushing to try. For example:
+
+::
+
+ cp browser/config/mozconfigs/macosx64/debug-asan browser/config/mozconfigs/macosx64/debug
+
+You can then `push to Try in the usual
+way </tools/try/index.html#using-try>`__
+and, once the build is complete, download the appropriate build
+artifact.
+
+Creating local builds on Windows
+--------------------------------
+
+On Windows, ASan is supported only in 64-bit builds.
+
+Run ``mach bootstrap`` to get an updated clang-cl in your
+``~/.mozbuild`` directory, then use the following
+:ref:`mozconfig <Configuring Build Options>`:
+
+::
+
+ ac_add_options --enable-address-sanitizer
+ ac_add_options --disable-jemalloc
+
+ export LDFLAGS="clang_rt.asan_dynamic-x86_64.lib clang_rt.asan_dynamic_runtime_thunk-x86_64.lib"
+ CLANG_LIB_DIR="$(cd ~/.mozbuild/clang/lib/clang/*/lib/windows && pwd)"
+ export MOZ_CLANG_RT_ASAN_LIB_PATH="${CLANG_LIB_DIR}/clang_rt.asan_dynamic-x86_64.dll"
+
+If you launch an ASan build under WinDbg, you may see spurious
+first-chance Access Violation exceptions. These come from ASan creating
+shadow memory pages on demand, and can be ignored. Run ``sxi av`` to
+ignore these exceptions. (You will still catch second-chance Access
+Violation exceptions if you actually crash.)
+
+LeakSanitizer (LSan) is not supported on Windows.
+
+Creating local builds on Linux or Mac
+-------------------------------------
+
+Build prerequisites
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+LLVM/Clang
+^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The ASan instrumentation is implemented as an LLVM pass and integrated
+into Clang. Any clang version that is capable of compiling Firefox has
+everything needed to do an ASAN build.
+
+Building Firefox
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Getting the source
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Using that or any later revision, all you need to do is to :ref:`get yourself
+a clone of mozilla-central <Mercurial overview>`.
+
+Adjusting the build configuration
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Create the build configuration file ``mozconfig`` with the following
+content in your mozilla-central directory:
+
+::
+
+ # Combined .mozconfig file for ASan on Linux+Mac
+
+ mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/objdir-ff-asan
+
+ # Enable ASan specific code and build workarounds
+ ac_add_options --enable-address-sanitizer
+
+ # These three are required by ASan
+ ac_add_options --disable-jemalloc
+ ac_add_options --disable-crashreporter
+ ac_add_options --disable-elf-hack
+
+ # Keep symbols to symbolize ASan traces later
+ export MOZ_DEBUG_SYMBOLS=1
+ ac_add_options --enable-debug-symbols
+ ac_add_options --disable-install-strip
+
+ # Settings for an opt build (preferred)
+ # The -gline-tables-only ensures that all the necessary debug information for ASan
+ # is present, but the rest is stripped so the resulting binaries are smaller.
+ ac_add_options --enable-optimize="-O2 -gline-tables-only"
+ ac_add_options --disable-debug
+
+ # Settings for a debug+opt build
+ #ac_add_options --enable-optimize
+ #ac_add_options --enable-debug
+
+ # MacOSX only: Uncomment and adjust this path to match your SDK
+ # ac_add_options --with-macos-sdk=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.8.sdk
+
+You may also need this, as seen in
+``browser/config/mozconfigs/linux64/nightly-asan`` (the config file used
+for Address Sanitizer builds used for automated testing):
+
+::
+
+ # ASan specific options on Linux
+ ac_add_options --enable-valgrind
+
+Starting the build process
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Now you start the build process using the regular ``./mach build``
+command.
+
+Starting Firefox
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+After the build has completed, ``./mach run`` with the usual options for
+running in a debugger (``gdb``, ``lldb``, ``rr``, etc.) work fine, as do
+the ``--disable-e10s`` and other options.
+
+Building only the JavaScript shell
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you want to build only the JavaScript shell instead of doing a full
+Firefox build, the build script below will probably help you to do so.
+Execute this script in the ``js/src/`` subdirectory and pass a directory
+name as the first parameter. The build will then be created in a new
+subdirectory with that name.
+
+::
+
+ #! /bin/sh
+
+ if [ -z $1 ] ; then
+ echo "usage: $0 <dirname>"
+ elif [ -d $1 ] ; then
+ echo "directory $1 already exists"
+ else
+ autoconf2.13
+ mkdir $1
+ cd $1
+ CC="clang" \
+ CXX="clang++" \
+ CFLAGS="-fsanitize=address" \
+ CXXFLAGS="-fsanitize=address" \
+ LDFLAGS="-fsanitize=address" \
+ ../configure --enable-debug --enable-optimize --enable-address-sanitizer --disable-jemalloc
+ fi
+
+Getting Symbols in Address Sanitizer Traces
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+By default, ASan traces are unsymbolized and only print the
+binary/library and a memory offset instead. In order to get more useful
+traces, containing symbols, there are two approaches.
+
+Using the LLVM Symbolizer (recommended)
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+LLVM ships with a symbolizer binary that ASan will readily use to
+immediately output symbolized traces. To use it, just set the
+environment variable ``ASAN_SYMBOLIZER_PATH`` to reflect the location of
+your ``llvm-symbolizer`` binary, before running the process. This
+program is usually included in an LLVM distribution. Stacks without
+symbols can also be post-processed, see below.
+
+.. warning::
+
+ .. note::
+
+ **Warning:** On OS X, the content sandbox prevents the symbolizer
+ from running. To use llvm-symbolizer on ASan output from a
+ content process, the content sandbox must be disabled. This can be
+ done by setting ``MOZ_DISABLE_CONTENT_SANDBOX=1`` in your run
+ environment. Setting this in .mozconfig has no effect.
+
+
+Post-Processing Traces with asan_symbolize.py
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Instead of using the llvm-symbolizer binary, you can also pipe the
+output through the ``asan_symbolize.py`` script, shipped with LLVM
+(``$LLVM_HOME/projects/compiler-rt/lib/asan/scripts/asan_symbolize.py``),
+often included in LLVM distributions. The disadvantage is that the
+script will need to use ``addr2line`` to get the symbols, which means
+that every library will have to be loaded into memory
+(including``libxul``, which takes a bit).
+
+However, in certain situations it makes sense to use this script. For
+example, if you have/received an unsymbolized trace, then you can still
+use the script to turn it into a symbolized trace, given that you can
+get the original binaries that produced the unsymbolized trace. In order
+for the script to work in such cases, you need to ensure that the paths
+in the trace point to the actual binaries, or change the paths
+accordingly.
+
+Since the output of the ``asan_symbolize.py`` script is still mangled,
+you might want to pipe the output also through ``c++filt`` afterwards.
+
+Troubleshooting / Known problems
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Cannot specify -o when generating multiple output files
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you get the error
+"``cannot specify -o when generating multiple output files"`` from
+clang, disable ``elf-hack`` in your ``mozconfig`` to work around the
+issue:
+
+::
+
+ ac_add_options --disable-elf-hack
+
+Optimized build
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Since `an issue with -O2/-Os and
+ASan <https://github.com/google/sanitizers/issues/20>`__
+has been resolved, the regular optimizations used by Firefox should work
+without any problems. The optimized build has only a barely noticeable
+speed penalty and seems to be even faster than regular debug builds.
+
+No "AddressSanitizer: **libc** interceptors initialized" shows after running ./mach run
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+::
+
+ $ ASAN_OPTIONS=verbosity=2 ./mach run
+
+Use the above command instead
+
+"An admin user name and password" is required to enter Developer Mode
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Please enable **Developer** **mode** by:
+
+::
+
+ $ /usr/sbin/DevToolsSecurity -enable
+ Developer mode is now enabled.
+
+Debugging issues that ASan finds
+--------------------------------
+
+When ASan discovers an issue it will simply print an error message and
+exit the app. To stop the app in a debugger before ASan exits it, set a
+breakpoint on ``__asan::ReportGenericError``. For more info on using
+ASan and debugging issues that it uncovers, see the page `Address
+sanitizer and a
+debugger <https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizerAndDebugger>`__
+page on the upstream wiki.
+
+``__asan_describe_address(pointer)`` issued at the debugger prompt or
+even directly in the code allows outputting lots of information about
+this memory address (thread and stack of allocation, of deallocation,
+whether or not it is a bit outside a known buffer, thread and stack of
+allocation of this buffer, etc.). This can be useful to understand where
+some buffer that is not aligned was allocated, when doing SIMD work, for
+example.
+
+`rr <https://rr-project.org/>`__ (Linux x86 only) works great with ASan
+and combined, this combo allows doing some very powerful debugging
+strategies.
+
+LeakSanitizer
+-------------
+
+LeakSanitizer (LSan) is a special execution mode for regular ASan. It
+takes advantage of how ASan tracks the set of live blocks at any given
+point to print out the allocation stack of any block that is still alive
+at shutdown, but is not reachable from the stack, according to a
+conservative scan. This is very useful for detecting leaks of things
+such as ``char*`` that do not participate in the usual Gecko shutdown
+leak detection. LSan is supported on x86_64 Linux and OS X.
+
+LSan is enabled by default in ASan builds, as of more recent versions of
+Clang. To make an ASan build not run LSan, set the environment variable
+``ASAN_OPTIONS`` to ``detect_leaks=0`` (or add it as an entry to a
+``:``-separated list if it is already set to something). If you want to
+enable it when it is not for some reason, set it to 1 instead of 0. If
+LSan is enabled and you are using a non-debug build, you will also want
+to set the environment variable ``MOZ_CC_RUN_DURING_SHUTDOWN=1``, to
+ensure that we run shutdown GCs and CCs to avoid spurious leaks.
+
+If an object that is reported by LSan is intentionally never freed, a
+symbol can be added to ``build/sanitizers/lsan_suppressions.txt`` to get
+LSan to ignore it.
+
+For some more information on LSan, see the `Leak Sanitizer wiki
+page <https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizerLeakSanitizer>`__.
+
+
+A `meta bug called lsan <https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=lsan>`__
+is maintained to keep track of all the bugs found with LSan.
+
+
+
+Frequently Asked Questions about ASan
+-------------------------------------
+
+How does ASan work exactly?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+More information on how ASan works can be found on `the Address Sanitizer wiki <https://github.com/google/sanitizers/wiki/AddressSanitizer>`__.