2023Q3
Date of Issue: 6th October 2023
This document describes the System V Application Binary Interface (ABI) for the Arm 64-bit architecture.
Code Model
Please check Application Binary Interface for the Arm® Architecture for the latest release of this document.
Please report defects in this specification to the issue tracker page on GitHub.
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The following support level definitions are used by the Arm ABI specifications:
- Release
Arm considers this specification to have enough implementations, which have received sufficient testing, to verify that it is correct. The details of these criteria are dependent on the scale and complexity of the change over previous versions: small, simple changes might only require one implementation, but more complex changes require multiple independent implementations, which have been rigorously tested for cross-compatibility. Arm anticipates that future changes to this specification will be limited to typographical corrections, clarifications and compatible extensions.
- Beta
Arm considers this specification to be complete, but existing implementations do not meet the requirements for confidence in its release quality. Arm may need to make incompatible changes if issues emerge from its implementation.
- Alpha
The content of this specification is a draft, and Arm considers the likelihood of future incompatible changes to be significant.
This document is at Alpha release quality.
| Issue | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 00Alpha | 1st November 2021 | Alpha release containing Code Model only |
| 01Alpha | 20th October 2022 | Add Program Loading and Dynamic Linking section. |
| 02Alpha | 6th April 2023 | Define the processor specific interpretation for DT_PLTGOT |
| 2023Q4 | 22nd November 2023 | Added Program Property, Program Loading and Dynamic Linking contents from AAELF64 Added Dynamic linking content for GCS including GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_GCS Feature Bit |
| 2024Q1 | 15th March 2024 |
|
This document refers to, or is referred to by, the following documents.
| Ref | External reference or URL | Title |
|---|---|---|
| SYSVABI | Source for this document | System V Application Binary Interface (ABI) for the Arm 64-bit architecture |
| ARMARM | DDI 0487 | Arm Architecture Reference Manual Armv8 for Armv8-A architecture profile |
| AAPCS64 | IHI 0055 | Procedure Call Standard for the Arm 64-bit Architecture |
| AAELF64 | IHI 0056 | ELF for the Arm 64-bit Architecture (AArch64). |
| CPPABI64 | IHI 0059 | C++ ABI for the Arm 64-bit Architecture |
| GCABI | https://itanium-cxx-abi.github.io/cxx-abi/abi.html | Generic C++ ABI |
| HWCAP | https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/arm64/elf_hwcaps.html | Linux Kernel HWCAPs interface |
| LINUX_ABI | https://github.com/hjl-tools/linux-abi/wiki | Linux Extensions to gABI |
| LSB | https://refspecs.linuxbase.org/lsb.shtml | Linux Standards Base Core Functional Area |
| MemTagABIELF64 | memtagabielf64 | MemTag Extension to ELF for the Arm 64-bit Architecture |
| PAuthABIELF64 | pauthabielf64 | PAuth Extension to ELF for the Arm 64-bit Architecture |
| SCO-ELF | http://www.sco.com/developers/gabi/ | System V Application Binary Interface – DRAFT |
| SYM-VER | http://people.redhat.com/drepper/symbol-versioning | GNU Symbol Versioning |
- A32
The instruction set named Arm in the Armv7 architecture; A32 uses 32-bit fixed-length instructions.
- A64
The instruction set available when in AArch64 state.
- AAPCS64
Procedure Call Standard for the Arm 64-bit Architecture (AArch64)
- AArch32
The 32-bit general-purpose register width state of the Armv8 architecture, broadly compatible with the Armv7-A architecture.
- AArch64
The 64-bit general-purpose register width state of the Armv8 architecture.
- ABI
Application Binary Interface:
- The specifications to which an executable must conform in order to execute in a specific execution environment. For example, the Linux ABI for the Arm Architecture.
- A particular aspect of the specifications to which independently produced relocatable files must conform in order to be statically linkable and executable. For example, the CPPABI64
- Arm-based
... based on the Arm architecture ...
- Floating point
Depending on context floating point means or qualifies: (a) floating-point arithmetic conforming to IEEE 754 2008; (b) the Armv8 floating point instruction set; (c) the register set shared by (b) and the Armv8 SIMD instruction set.
- Q-o-I
Quality of Implementation – a quality, behavior, functionality, or mechanism not required by this standard, but which might be provided by systems conforming to it. Q-o-I is often used to describe the toolchain-specific means by which a standard requirement is met.
- SIMD
Single Instruction Multiple Data – A term denoting or qualifying: (a) processing several data items in parallel under the control of one instruction; (b) the Arm v8 SIMD instruction set: (c) the register set shared by (b) and the Armv8 floating point instruction set.
- SIMD and floating point
The Arm architecture’s SIMD and Floating Point architecture comprising the floating point instruction set, the SIMD instruction set and the register set shared by them.
- SVE
The Arm architecture's Scalable Vector Extension.
- T32
The instruction set named Thumb in the Armv7 architecture; T32 uses 16-bit and 32-bit instructions.
- VG
The number of 64-bit “vector granules” in an SVE vector; in other words, the number of bits in an SVE vector register divided by 64.
- ILP32
SysV-like data model where int, long int and pointer are 32-bit
- LP64
SysV-like data model where int is 32-bit, but long int and pointer are 64-bit.
- LLP64
Windows-like data model where int and long int are 32-bit, but long long int and pointer are 64-bit.
- SysV
Unix System V. A variant of the Unix Operating System. Although this specification refers to SysV, many other operating systems, such as Linux or BSD use similar conventions.
- Platform
A program execution environment such as that defined by an operating system or run- time environment. A platform defines the specific variant of the ABI and may impose additional constraints. Linux is a platform in this sense.
More specific terminology is defined when it is first used.
Except where otherwise stated the AArch64 System V ABI follows the base ABI documents in ABI for the Arm 64 bit architecture. The AArch64 System V ABI documents the places where divergence exists with respect to the base ABI and attempts to act as a unifying document to cover information in a variety of places that is of relevance to a System V implementation.
This document does not describe the software installation on an AArch64 system.
Not available for this Alpha release.
The AArch64 architecture does not allow for instructions to encode arbitrary 64 bit constants in a single instructions. Immediates or constants need to be constructed by a sequence of instructions that are defined in the Arm Architecture Reference Manual Armv8, for Armv8-A architecture profile [ARMARM]. Most instructions accept restricted immediate forms, the details of which are beyond the scope of this document. Given the range of immediates and offsets accepted by various instructions, programming on this architecture lends itself to a set of code models that define a set of constraints to allow an efficient mapping of a program to a set of machine instructions. In the following section we document the code sequences for memory addressing; and in effect document the various memory models produced for the architecture.
Absolute addressing means that the virtual addresses of instructions and statically allocated data are known at static link time. To execute properly the object must be loaded at the virtual address specified by the static linker. Critically this means that the static linker can embed these fixed, absolute addresses into the read-only, shareable code, rather than requiring run-time relocation via a Global Offset Table (GOT). Absolute addressing does not mean that PC-relative addressing cannot be used, if that is the most efficient way to generate an absolute address within the limits supported by the model.
Absolute addressing is suitable for most bare-metal code, including the Linux kernel, as well as for normal GNU/Linux executables which – while dynamically linked – are loaded at a fixed address.
In position-independent code (PIC) the virtual addresses of instructions and static data are not known until dynamic link time.
The PIC model depends on an offset, known at static link time between a read-only dynamic relocation free executable segment and a read-write segment containing dynamic relocations. Code in the executable segment accesses data in the read-write segment via PC-relative addressing modes. PIC is typically used when building dynamic shared objects, where references to external variables must use indirect references via a static linker created global offset table (GOT).
A GOT generating relocation is used to inform the static linker to create the GOT entry. The address of symbol definitions that cannot be pre-empted at dynamic link time can have their address taken so no GOT generating relocation is required.
PIC can also be used to build position-independent executables. A variant of PIC called PIE (position-independent executable) can be used to build an executable. PIE assumes that global symbols cannot be pre-empted, which means that an indirection via the GOT is not needed.
The assembler examples in this document make use of operators to modify the addressing mode used to form the immediate value of the instruction.
The tables below describe the assembler operators that can be used to alter the relocation directive emitted by the assembler. The typical syntax is of the form #:<operator>:<symbol name>
| Operator | Instruction | Relocation |
|---|---|---|
lo12 |
add |
R_AARCH64_ADD_ABS_LO12_NC |
lo12 |
ldr,str |
R_AARCH64_LDST_ABS_LO12_NC |
abs_g0 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G0 |
abs_g0_s |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_SABS_G0 |
abs_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G0_NC |
abs_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G1 |
abs_g1_s |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_SABS_G1 |
abs_g1_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G1_NC |
abs_g2 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G2 |
abs_g2_s |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_SABS_G2 |
abs_g2_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G2_NC |
abs_g3 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_UABS_G3 |
| Operator | Instruction | Relocation |
|---|---|---|
| (no operator) | adrp |
R_AARCH64_ADR_PREL_PG_HI21 |
pg_hi21 |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_ADR_PREL_PG_HI21 |
pg_hi21_nc |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_ADR_PREL_PG_HI21_NC |
| (no operator) | adr |
R_AARCH64_ADR_PREL_LO21 |
prel_g0 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G0 |
prel_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G0_NC |
prel_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G1 |
prel_g1_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G1_NC |
prel_g2 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G2 |
prel_g2_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G2_NC |
prel_g3 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_PREL_G3 |
| Operator | Instruction | Relocation |
|---|---|---|
got |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_ADR_GOT_PAGE |
got_lo12 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_LD64_GOT_LO12_NC |
gotoff_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_GOTOFF_G0_NC |
gotoff_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_MOVW_GOTOFF_G1 |
gotoff_lo15 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_LD64_GOTOFF_LO15 |
gotpage_lo15 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_LD64_GOTPAGE_LO15 |
Note
#:got:src refers to the GOT slot for the symbol src
#:got_lo12:src refers to the lower 12 bits of the address of the GOT slot for the symbol src.
The assembler instruction adrp xn, __GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE__ finds the address of the 4KiB page containing the start of the .got section. More details can be found in Global Offset Table (GOT).
#:gotpage_lo15:src is a 15-bit offset into the page containing the GOT entry for src.
#:gotoff_lo15:src - This refers to the 15 bit offset from the start of the GOT.
| Operator | Instruction | Relocation |
|---|---|---|
gottprel_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSIE_MOVW_GOTTPREL_G0_NC |
gottprel_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSIE_MOVW_GOTTPREL_G1 |
tlsgd |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_TLSGD_ADR_PAGE21 |
tlsgd |
adr |
R_AARCH64_TLSGD_ADR_PREL21 |
tlsgd_lo12 |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSGD_ADD_LO12_NC |
tlsgd_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSGD_MOVW_G0_NC |
tlsgd_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSGD_MOVW_G1 |
tlsdesc |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_TLSDESC_ADR_PAGE21 |
tlsdesc |
adr |
R_AARCH64_TLSDESC_ADR_PREL21 |
tlsdesc_lo12 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSDESC_LD64_LO12 |
tlsldm |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_ADR_PAGE21 |
tlsldm |
adr |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_ADR_PREL21 |
tlsldm_lo12_nc |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_ADD_LO12_NC |
dtprel_lo12 |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_ADD_DTPREL_LO12 |
dtprel_lo12 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_LDST64_DTPREL_LO12 |
dtprel_lo12_nc |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_ADD_DTPREL_LO12_NC |
dtprel_lo12_nc |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_LDST64_DTPREL_LO12_NC |
dtprel_g0 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_MOVW_DTPREL_G0 |
dtprel_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_MOVW_DTPREL_G0_NC |
dtprel_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_MOVW_DTPREL_G1 |
dtprel_g1_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_MOVW_DTPREL_G1_NC |
dtprel_g2 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLD_MOVW_DTPREL_G2 |
tlsdesc_off_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSDESC_OFF_G0_NC |
tlsdesc_off_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSDESC_OFF_G1 |
gottprel |
adrp |
R_AARCH64_TLSIE_ADR_GOTTPREL_PAGE21 |
gottprel_lo12 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSIE_LD64_GOTTPREL_LO12_NC |
tprel |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_ADD_TPREL_LO12 |
tprel_lo12 |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_ADD_TPREL_LO12 |
tprel_lo12 |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_LDST64_TPREL_LO12 |
tprel_hi12 |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_ADD_TPREL_HI12 |
tprel_lo12_nc |
add |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_ADD_TPREL_LO12_NC |
tprel_lo12_nc |
ldr |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_LDST64_TPREL_LO12_NC |
tprel_g2 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_MOVW_TPREL_G2 |
tprel_g1 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_MOVW_TPREL_G1 |
tprel_g1_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_MOVW_TPREL_G1_NC |
tprel_g0 |
mov[nz] |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_MOVW_TPREL_G0 |
tprel_g0_nc |
movk |
R_AARCH64_TLSLE_MOVW_TPREL_G0_NC |
Note
Relocations are defined in AAELF64.
The AArch64 A64 instruction set has a number of features and constraints which make it desirable to use different code models for different sizes of executable or dynamic shared object, to improve performance and reduce static code size. The relevant constraints are:
- The LDR (literal) and ADR instructions generate a PC-relative address with a range of +/- 1MiB.
- The ADRP instruction generates a PC-relative, page aligned address with a range of +/- 4GiB (where page = 4KiB).
- The LDR and STR instructions accept a 12-bit unsigned immediate offset, scaled by the access size.
- The B and BL instructiond have a range of +/-128MiB. This is typically used for function / procedure calls.
- A series of MOVZ and up to 3 MOVK instructions can be used to construct a 64-bit value.
- Static linkers may insert a veneer (a sequence of instructions) to implement a relocated B or BL to a destination further away than the +/-128MiB range. The size of executable sections must be limited to 127 MiB to leave space for veneers to be inserted after the section.
- The relative data relocations R_AARCH64_PLT32 and R_AARCH64_PREL32 have a range of +/-2GiB.
The code models assume that an executable or shared library use an ELF file layout similar to the diagram below.
Illustrative ELF file layout
The table below identifies the code models that have been defined, along with the assumptions that the code model may make.
Code Models| Code Model | Max text segment size | Max combined span of text and data segments | Additional GOT restrictions |
|---|---|---|---|
| tiny | 1 MiB | 1 Mib | none |
| small | 2GiB |
|
|
| medium | 2GiB |
|
|
| large | 2GiB | no restriction | max distance from text to GOT < 4 GiB |
Note
1. The max segment size columns describes the total span of the statically allocated content. It says nothing about the base address of the program or shared object, which may be located anywhere within the AArch64 virtual address space.
2. The definition of the text segment includes the shareable PLT, code and read-only data sections. If the components of text segment are in separate consecutive ELF segments then the text segment is the maximum combined span of the ELF segments.
3. The data segment contains the statically defined, writable, per-process data sections. In all models dynamically allocated data and stack can make use of the full virtual address space, dependent on operating system addressing limits. If the components are in separate ELF segments, the data segment is the maximum combined span of the ELF segments.
4. The code models assume the text and data segments are consecutive in virtual memory with only padding for segment alignment between them. Programs that have significant separation between the code and data segments must take this extra distance into account in the max combined span of text and data segments.
5. The text segment maximum size is limited to 2GiB by R_AARCH64_PLT32 relocations from .eh_frame sections.
6. While designing the code models it was estimated that only 2.6% of load modules (executables and dynamic shared objects) have a max text segment size greater than 1MiB; the rest would all fit into the tiny model. However to avoid build option changes, it is recommended that the small model should be the default, with an explicit option to select the tiny model.
7. Executables and shared objects may be linked dynamically with other shared objects which use a different code model.
8. Linking of relocatable objects of different code models is possible as is linking of PIC/PIE and non-PIC relocatable objects. The result of the combination is always the most limited model. For example the combination of a tiny code model PIC object and small code model non-PIC object is a tiny non-PIC executable.
9. The large code model is aimed at programs with large amounts of read-write data, not large amounts or sparsely placed code.
The convention for command-line option to select code model is -mcmodel=<model> where code model is one of tiny, small, medium or large.
The convention for command-line option to select position-independent code is -fpic for pic -fPIC for PIC. When compiling for an executable -fpie and -fPIE have the same GOT size limitations as -fpic and -fPIC respectively.
Not all compilers will implement all of the code models. The table below describes the implementation status of code models for two open-source compilers.
Code Model Support| Code Model | GCC 11 | Clang 12.0 |
|---|---|---|
| tiny | yes | yes |
| small | pic and PIC implemented | pic and PIC accepted but PIC used |
| medium | pic and PIC proposed | pic and PIC proposed |
| large | no-pic support | no-pic support |
The medium code model is suitable for programs that do not have large amounts of executable code, but do contain large static data objects. The medium code model separates data into small data and large data. Small data is addressed in the same way as the small code model, with the same maximum size restrictions as the small code model. Large data is addressed via the GOT and does not have a maximum size limit.
Data is defined as large data if any of the following are true:
- The data is >= 64 KiB in size.
- The data is of unknown size.
- The data will be represented by an unallocated common block, described by a
SHN_COMMONsymbol.
All other data is small data.
Large data is placed in sections with an l prefix, for example .lbss, .ldata and .lrodata. Both small and large RELRO data are placed in .data.rel.ro as many loaders only support one PT_GNU_RELRO program header. At static link time the large data sections must be placed after all small data sections. If it is the last small data section, the static linker allocates storage for SHN_COMMON symbols at the end of the bss section. Otherwise they are allocated in lbss.
The following section provide some sample code sequences for addressing static data. The samples are provided to illustrate the effects on code-generation of the code-models.
Code that is not position-independent may use the absolute address of the symbol. Code that is position-independent may use a pc-relative offset to the symbol if the definition of the symbol is not pre-emptible. If the symbol is pre-emptible the address must be loaded from the GOT.
PC-relative offset of +/- 1 MiB. Suitable for tiny code model.
adr x0, varPC-relative offset of +/- 4 GiB. Suitable for small/medium code model.
adrp x0, var
add x0, x0, #:lo12: varPC-relative offset not within +/- 4 GiB. Suitable for large symbols in the medium code model.
adrp x0, :got: var
ldr x0, [x0, :got_lo12: var]Absolute load of a literal, where the literal is within 1 MiB. Suitable for large code model if the literal is defined within the same section as the code.
ldr x0, .L0
- .L0
.xword var
Absolute using a load of a literal where the literal is within 4 GiB. Suitable for the large code model.
adrp x0, .L0
ldr x0, [x0, #:lo12: .L0]
- .L0
.xword var
Absolute using 4 instructions. Suitable for the large code model.
movz x0, # :abs_g0_nc: var
movk x1, # :abs_g1_nc: var
movk x2, # :abs_g2_nc: var
movk x3, # :abs_g3: varIn the general case one of the sequences above is used to get the address. A load instruction can then be used to obtain the value. In some cases the add can be folded into the load.
PC-relative offset of +/- 4 GiB. Suitable for the small/medium code model.
adrp x0, var
ldr x0, [x0, #:lo12:var]All of GOT is within 1 MiB. Suitable for the tiny code model.
ldr x0, :got: varBase of GOT is within 4 GiB, GOT size is < 32 KiB. Suitable for pic.
adrp x0, :got: __GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE__
ldr x0, [x0, # :gotpage_lo15: var]All of GOT is within 4 GiB, GOT size is >= 32 KiB. Suitable for PIC.
adrp x0, :got: var
ldr x0, [x0, # :got_lo12: var]An undefined weak reference resolves to 0. In the general case it is not possible to give an offset that when added to the PC will result in 0. To get the address of a weak reference the compiler can use a load from literal or acccess the address via a GOT entry, which will evaluate to 0 if the symbol is undefined.
These follow the AAELF64 base definition from Arm.
The system works on creating a program/process image by logically copying or mapping the program image from storage into a virtual memory segment. In most systems with demand paging, when the actual page is mapped into physical memory depends on the execution behaviour of the program and the working set that it requires for its correct execution. To minimize the number of such reads from the physical medium containing the program, executables and shared objects must have loadable program segments whose file offsets and virtual addresses are congruent modulo the page size.
Since the architecture supports a maximum page size of 64KiB the page size should be set to 64KiB for compatibility with systems that use 64KiB pages. There are a number of optimizations that can be applied to save space.
- The first page of text contains the ELF header, program header information and other information from the ELF file.
- The last page of text contains parts of the first page of data.
- The first data page has a copy of the last page of text.
- The last data page may contain file information not relevant to the current process.
The underlying operating system typically adjusts access permissions to these regions as if each segment were complete and separate. Typically the regions of the file holding the last page of the text segment and the first page of the data segment will be mapped twice at two different virtual addresses, one for mapping as code and the other for mapping as data.
Shared objects are always built with a base virtual address of 0, while executables with an ELF e_type of ET_EXEC are built with a fixed virtual address. The underlying operating system maps shared objects at different virtual addresses, utilizing the fact that the code and data addressing within such a shared object is position-independent. The position independence relies on the principle that the offset between loadable program segments is fixed at static link time. This permits code to access data in another loadable program segment using a pc-relative offset that will not change at run time.
Program segments for executables built with a fixed virtual address have to be mapped identically to the virtual addresses used to create the executable file.
Position-independent executables are mapped in the same way as shared objects. They have an ELF e_type of ET_DYN.
The dynamic section entries allow information to be passed between the static linker and the dynamic linker. There are a number of entries that help locate various dynamic relocation tables and other aspects that are architecture independent.
The generic dynamic tags are defined in SCO-ELF Dynamic Section.
The AArch64 specific dynamic tags are defined in AAELF64 Dynamic Section.
The generic tag DT_PLTGOT has a processor specific implementation. On AArch64 it is defined to be the address of the .got.plt section.
Position-independent code cannot, in general, contain absolute (fixed) virtual addresses. Global offset tables hold absolute addresses in private data, thus making the addresses available without compromising the position-independence and shareability of a program's text segment. A program references its global offset table using position-independent addressing and extracts the absolute values from it, thereby redirecting position-independent references to their actual locations.
The global offset table (GOT) is created by the static linker in response to GOT generating relocations. See AAELF64 Relocation operations for more information.
AArch64 splits the global offset table (GOT) into two sections:
.got.pltfor code addresses accessed only from the Procedure Linkage Table (PLT)..gotall other addresses and offsets.
Both the .got and .got.plt sections are aligned to a minimum of 8 bytes. They both contain 8-byte sized entries.
If a position-independent program requires direct access to the absolute address of a symbol, that symbol will have a GOT entry. Because the executable and shared objects have their own independent GOTs, a symbol's address may appear in several tables. The dynamic linker processes all of the relocations in the .got section before giving control to any code in the process image, thus ensuring the absolute addresses are available during execution. Code in the process that runs as part of a GNU indirect function resolver is an exception to this rule. See GNU Indirect Functions for the restrictions on what addresses can be accessed from a resolver function.
In some dynamic linkers the .got section's first entry (number zero) is reserved to hold the address of the dynamic structure, referenced with the linker defined symbol _DYNAMIC. The dynamic linker in versions of glibc prior to version 2.35 use this address to find its own dynamic structure without having yet processed their own relocation entries. Static linkers wishing to build versions of glibc older than 2.35 will need to define _DYNAMIC.
AArch64 entries one and two in the .got.plt are reserved for the dynamic linker.
For AArch64 the linker defined _GLOBAL_OFFSET_TABLE_ symbol should be the address of the first global offset table entry in the .got section.
See Sample code sequences for code models for code model for examples of how to access the .got.
Direct function calls are those where the name of the called function is known at compile time. The PC-relative direct branch instructions may be used for all direct function calls, whether absolute or position-independent.
Indirect function calls are those where the address of the function is in a pointer. Appropriate code is used to load the value of the pointer into a register, as for other data, and then an indirect branch instruction is used with the register as an operand to the instruction.
In statically linked code the address of a function is always its real address. However in dynamically linked environments references to the address of a function from an executable file and its shared objects might not resolve to the same value.
References from within shared objects to a function address will normally be resolved by the dynamic linker to the virtual address of the function itself.
References from within a non-position-independent executable file to a function address defined in a shared object will normally be resolved by the static linker to the address of the Procedure Linkage Table (PLT) entry for that function within the executable file. If the address is in a writable location the linker may use a dynamic relocation instead.
When both shared objects and a non-position-independent executable use the address of a function both the shared library and the application must use the same address for the functions in order for address comparisons to work as expected. If the static linker uses a PLT entry for a function as the address for a function then it must place the address of the PLT for the function in the dynamic symbols table entry for the function. This will result in a dynamic symbol table entry with a section index of SHN_UNDEF, a type STT_FUNC and a non-zero st_value. A reference to this symbol will be resolved by the dynamic linker to the address PLT for the function in the executable.
The R_<CLS>_JUMP_SLOT relocations defined in AAELF64 are associated with PLT entries. These entries are used for direct function calls rather than for references to function addresses. These relocations do not use the special symbol value described above. Otherwise a very tight endless loop would result.
In a position-independent executable all non-local function addresses are accessed via the GOT so no indirection via the PLT entry is necessary.
Shared objects may implement direct function calls to non-pre-emptable symbols using a direct branch instruction. A static linker will consider a symbol not pre-emptable if:
- The symbol has
STB_LOCALbinding.- The symbol has a symbol visibility that is not
STV_DEFAULT.- The symbol has been given the
localsymbol version, defined in SYM-VER.- The static linker adds the dynamic tag
DT_FLAGSwith theDF_SYMBOLICflag set. This makes all symbols non-pre-emptable.- Some other implementation defined linker feature such as
--dynamic-listis used.
Shared objects must indirect all function calls to pre-emptable symbols through the static linker created Procedure Linkage Table.
Much as the global offset table (GOT) redirects position-independent address calculations to absolute locations, the Procedure Linkage Table (PLT) redirects position-independent function calls to absolute locations. The static linker cannot resolve execution transfers (such as function calls) from one executable or shared object to another. Consequently, the static linker arranges to have the program transfer control to entries in the PLT. In the AArch64 architecture, PLTs reside in the shared text segment, but they in turn use addresses in the per-process global offset table section .got.plt. The dynamic linker determines the destinations' absolute addresses and modifies the global offset table entry accordingly. The dynamic linker can thus redirect the entries without compromising the position-independence and shareability of the program's text. Executable files and shared objects have their own separate procedure linkage tables. The same procedure linkage table format is used for both executables and shared objects.
Following the steps below, the dynamic linker and the program cooperate to resolve symbolic references to functions through the procedure linkage table and the global offset table.
- When first creating the memory image of the program, the dynamic linker sets the second and the third entries in the
.got.plttable to special values. The steps below explain more about these values.- Each shared object file in the process image has its own PLT, and control transfers to a PLT entry only from within the same ELF module.
- For illustration, assume the program calls
name1, which transfers control to the Nth PLT entry inPLT[N]. If the order of the non-reserved entries in the.got.pltmatch the order of the entries in the PLT thenPLT[N]will be.got.plt[N + 3]as there are 3 reserved entries.- The
PLT[N]entry loads the address of the.got.pltentry forname1into registerip0, and then loads and jumps to the address held in that table entry using aBRinstruction. Initially the.got.pltentry holds the address of thePLT[0] entry, the first entry in the PLT, not the real address ofname1.- Now the
PLT[0]entry pushes theip0andlrregisters onto the stack. The dynamic linker will later use the stacked value ofip0to compute a relocation index by subtracting the base of the.got.pltThe index will be used to select an entry from the table of relocation entries addressed by theDT_JMPRELdynamic section entry. The designated relocation entry must have typeR_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOT, and itsr_offsetfield will specify the.got.plttable entry used by the PLT entry inPLT[N], ther_infoencodes a symbol table index that references the appropriate symbol, i.e.name1in this example.- The
PLT[0]entry then loads the address of the third.got.pltentry intoip0, and then loads and jumps to the address in the third table entry, which transfers control to the dynamic linker's lazy resolver function.- The value in
ip0is used by the dynamic linker's entrypoint to load the second.got.pltentry using[ip0,#-8], which gives it one 64-bit word of private information with which to identify the calling module.- The dynamic linker unwinds the stack, looks at the designated relocation entry, finds the symbol's value, stores the actual address of
name1in the.got.pltentry forname1, then transfers control to the desired destination. Subsequent executions ofPLT[N]will transfer control directly toname1, without calling the dynamic linker a second time. That is theBRinstruction inPLT[N]will transfer toname1, instead ofPLT[0].
The steps above assume that the dynamic linker resolves R_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOT relocations in the .got.plt lazily. The DF_BIND_NOW flag in the DT_FLAGS dynamic tag can be used to instruct the dynamic linker to resolve R_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOT for the ELF file containing the tag prior to transferring control to the program. When lazy loading is not required the static linker can make the .got.plt relocation-read-only (RELRO).
At run-time the LD_BIND_NOW environment variable can change the dynamic linking behavior. If its value is non-null, the dynamic linker evaluates all procedure linkage table entries before transferring control to the program. That is, the dynamic linker processes relocation entries of type R_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOT during process initialization. Otherwise, the dynamic linker evaluates procedure linkage table entries lazily, delaying symbol resolution and relocation until the first call to a table entry.
The PLT[0] entry calls the dynamic linker's entrypoint, stored in .got.plt[2], with the following calling convention:
| Location | Contents |
|---|---|
ip0 |
address of DL Resolver entry point &.got.plt[2] |
ip1 |
DL Resolver Entry point |
[sp, #0] |
address of .got.plt entry for PLT[N] typically &.got.plt[N + 3] |
[sp, #8] |
lr |
The following section shows some examples of PLT sequences. The sequences assume that the .got.plt section is within +- 4 GiB from the .plt section.
In the code samples below we assume that the entries in the .got.plt are in the same order as the entries in the PLT so that code in PLT[N] loads from .got.plt[N + 3] where the + 3 accounts for the 3 reserved entries.
This can be used on all Arm platforms when there are no additional security features enabled.
PLT header PLT[0]
stp x16, x30, [sp,#-16]!
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[2]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]
br x17Nth PLT entry PLT[N]
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[N + 3]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]]
br x17An executable or shared library that supports BTI must have a bti c instruction at the start of any entry that might be called indirectly. This is always true for the lazy resolver in .got.plt[0].
The static linker must set the dynamic tag DT_AARCH64_BTI_PLT as defined in AAELF64 when a BTI compliant PLT has been generated.
PLT header PLT[0]
bti c
stp x16, x30, [sp,#-16]!
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[2]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]
br x17Nth PLT entry PLT[N]
bti c
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[N + 3]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]
br x17The .got.plt entries can be signed by the dynamic linker and authenticated by the code in the PLT entry. Note that when these PLT sequences are used the dynamic linker must sign the non reserved entries in .got.plt. When lazy binding is disabled, on platforms that support Relocation Read Only (RELRO) the .got.plt can be made read-only after dynamic relocation, which already provides good protection.
The static linker must set the dynamic tag DT_AARCH64_PAC_PLT as defined in AAELF64 when signed .got.plt[N] entries are required.
There is no change to the PLT header PLT[0]
Nth PLT entry PLT[N]
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[N + 3]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]
autia1716
br x17The PAC PLT requires the dynamic linker to sign the entry for .got.plt[N] with the address of .got.plt[N] as the modifier.
This is a combination of the PAC and the BTI PLT entries. The static linker must set both DT_AARCH64_BTI_PLT and DT_AARCH64_PAC_PLT when BTI compliant PLT entries requiring signed .got.plt entries are used.
PLT header PLT[0]
bti c
stp x16, x30, [sp,#-16]!
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[2]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[2]
br x17Nth PLT entry PLT[N]
bti c
adrp x16, :page: &.got.plt[N + 3]
ldr x17, [x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]]
add x16, x16, :lo12: &.got.plt[N + 3]
autia1716
br x17A GNU Indirect Function (IFUNC) is a feature that permits a single implementation of a function to be chosen from multiple candidates, with the choice taken by an IFUNC resolver function.
GNU Indirect Functions require static and dynamic linker support. They are known to be supported on GNU/Linux, Android, and many of the BSD operating systems.
GNU Indirect Functions are called via a PLT entry that loads the function address. The function address is chosen by an IFUNC resolver function.
The source code interface to an IFUNC resolver is platform dependent. The GNU/Linux interface via the GNU C Library is documented below.
The GNU C Library (glibc) sys/ifunc.h header provides the necessary type definitions for defining IFUNC resolvers. The resolver is passed at least one, and at most 2 parameters dependent on the glibc IFUNC ABI version. A flag is set in the first parameter if a second parameter is available. The parameters provide access to the HWCAP flags.
/* A second argument is passed to the ifunc resolver. */
#define _IFUNC_ARG_HWCAP (1ULL << 62)
/* Function prototype for an IFUNC resolver.
ElfW(Addr) ifunc_resolver (uint64_t, const __ifunc_arg_t *);
/* Second argument to an ifunc resolver. */
struct __ifunc_arg_t
{
unsigned long _size; /* Size of the struct, so it can grow. */
unsigned long _hwcap;
unsigned long _hwcap2;
};
typedef struct __ifunc_arg_t __ifunc_arg_t;IFUNC resolver functions must have a type of STT_GNU_IFUNC. With the GCC and Clang compilers an attribute can be used to achieve this.
/* Implementation alternative 1 */
static int implementation1(void) { ... }
/* Implementation alternative 2 */
static int implementation2(void) { ... }
/* Resolver function */
static void* resolver(uint64_t, const __ifunc_arg_t *) { ... }
/* Make symbol ifunc type STT_GNU_IFUNC using resolver as the IFUNC resolver. */
int ifunc(void) __attribute__((ifunc("resolver")));The first uint64_t parameter is AT_HWCAP. If the _IFUNC_ARG_HWCAP flag is set, the second parameter is present. The second parameter is a structure __ifunc_arg_t defined in sys/ifunc.h, it provides access to all of the flags in HWCAP via fields of the structure.
The IFUNC resolver function returns the address of the function implementation.
IFUNC resolvers may be run when the dynamic linker is resolving relocations. additional restrictions on what they can contain.
- IFUNC resolvers must not be compiled with security features like stack-protection, which requires a guard variable to be initialized. Or instrumentation like ASAN that requires a shadow map to be set up.
- IFUNC resolvers must not have a symbol binding of
STB_WEAK.
The order of dynamic relocation resolution across an executable and all its shared libraries is platform specific. The following recommendations for writing IFUNC resolvers apply to the GNU glibc dynamic loader. Other dynamic linkers may have fewer requirements.
- An IFUNC resolver function must not call a function that may itself require IFUNC initialization. If the IFUNC initialization for the called function has not occurred then undefined behavior results.
- In position-independent code an IFUNC resolver functions must not call a function that requires a PLT entry. If the IFUNC resolver runs as a result of a relocation in
.rela.dynthen the relocations in.rela.pltwill not have been resolved. This means that addresses in the.got.pltwill be unchanged from their static link time value.- The IFUNC resolver function for a given function must be defined in the same translation unit as the implementations of the function.
- IFUNC resolver functions must be idempotent. There can be relocations in both
.rela.dynand.rela.pltto the same IFUNC resolver function.
Relocations to pre-emptable symbols of type STT_GNU_IFUNC are handled in the same way as symbols of type STT_FUNC. The symbol type STT_GNU_IFUNC is propagated into the dynamic symbol table.
Relocations to non-pre-empatable symbols of type STT_GNU_IFUNC are resolved to a PLT entry that loads the value of:
- A
.got.pltentry for a non-branch relocation such asR_AARCH64_ABS64. The entry has anR_AARCH64_IRELATIVEdynamic relocation in.rela.dyn.- A
.got.pltentry for a branch relocation such asR_AARCH64_CALL. AR_AARCH64_IRELATIVEdynamic relocation is added to.rela.dynorrela.plt.
Due to the ordering requirements on IFUNC resolvers the PLT entry and associated .got.plt entry are often implemented in a separate .iplt and .iplt.got sections so that they are placed after the .plt and .got.plt sections respectively.
Like R_AARCH64_RELATIVE the R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocation does not require a symbol and may be given a symbol index of 0. For RELA type relocations the addend of the R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocation contains the address of the IFUNC resolver function.
To make address equivalence of functions with IFUNC resolvers work, if the address of a non-preemptable STT_GNU_IFUNC symbol is taken in a non-position-independent executable. The static linker must use the address of the corresponding PLT entry for the address of the function. If the symbol is exported to the dynamic symbol table the st_value of the symbol must be set to the address of the PLT entry and the dynamic symbol table type must be set to STT_FUNC.
Relocations of type R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocation must be sorted after all other relocation types. This means that for a given executable or shared-library the following ordering can be relied on:
- All non
R_AARCH64_IRELATIVErelocations in.rela.dynwill be resolved before anyR_AARCH64_IRELATIVErelocations.- ALL IFUNC resolvers with
R_AARCH64_IRELATIVErelocations in.rela.dynwill be run before the.rela.pltrelocations are resolved.- All
R_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOTrelocations in.rela.pltwill be resolved before anyR_AARCH64_IRELATIVErelocations in.rela.plt. When lazy binding is in use resolution is limited to adjusting the address in the.got.pltfor any load bias caused by position-independence.- All IFUNC resolvers with
R_AARCH64_IRELATIVErelocations in.rela.pltwill be run after allR_AARCH64_JUMP_SLOTrelocations have been resolved.
When static linking, the dynamic relocation section containing R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocations are output as if dynamic linking. For non-position-independent executable the static linker must define the symbols __rela_iplt_start and __rela_iplt_end at the start and end of the dynamic relocations so that startup code can find and resolve the R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocations. These linker defined symbols should not be defined if there are any dynamic tags present. For static position-independent executables the startup code finds the relocations via the dynamic section.
To resolve an R_AARCH64_IRELATIVE relocation the dynamic linker performs the calculation described in AAELF64 Dynamic Relocations.
The implementation is responsible for executing the initialization functions specified by DT_INIT , DT_INIT_ARRAY , and DT_PREINIT_ARRAY entries in the executable file and shared object files for a process, and the termination (or finalization) functions specified by DT_FINI and DT_FINI_ARRAY.
Several sections in an executable or shared-library are logically read-only but they require dynamic relocation which forces them to be writable. Relocation Read Only (RELRO) is a GNU extension to ELF that permits a dynamic linker to remap the pages described by the RELRO program segment as read-only after relocation.
The RELRO program segment is described by a program header with type PT_GNU_RELRO, defined in LSB. The number of supported RELRO segments is a contract between the static and dynamic linker. The GNU C library only supports one RELRO segment per ELF file.
RELRO sections in relocatable objects are identified by a combination of section flags and naming convention. Platforms may extend the definition given below. RELRO sections must have at least the SHF_WRITE and SHF_ALLOC flags. If at least one of the following conditions holds the section is considered RELRO:
- The section has the
SHF_TLSflag.- The section has type
SHT_INIT_ARRAY,SHT_FINI_ARRAYorSHT_PREINIT_ARRAY.- The linker created
.dynamicsection.- The linker created
.gotsection.- The linker created
.got.pltsection if the dynamic sectionDT_FLAGStable entry containsDF_BIND_NOW.- The section in the output file has a name that matches one of
.data.rel.ro,.bss.rel.ro,.ctors,.dtors,.jcr,.eh_frame,.fini_array,.init_array,.preinit_array.
The size of the RELRO segment should be extended so that it is a multiple of the page size.
The following processor-specific program property types [LINUX_ABI] are defined:
Program Property Type| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_AND | 0xc0000000 |
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_AND describes a set of processor features with which an ELF object or executable image is compatible, but does not require in order to execute correctly. It has a single 32-bit value for the pr_data field. Each bit represents a separate feature.
Static linkers processing ELF relocatable objects must set the feature bit in the output object or image only if all the input objects have the corresponding feature bit set. For each feature bit set in an ELF executable or shared library, a loader may enable the corresponding processor feature for that ELF file.
The following bits are defined for GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_AND:
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_AND Bit Flags| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI | 1U << 0 |
| GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_PAC | 1U << 1 |
| GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_GCS | 1U << 2 |
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI This indicates that all executable sections are compatible with Branch Target Identification mechanism. An executable or shared object with this bit set is required to generate Custom PLTs with BTI instruction.
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_PAC This indicates that all executable sections have been protected with Return Address Signing. Its use is optional, meaning that an ELF file where this feature bit is unset can still have Return Address signing enabled in some or all of its executable sections.
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_GCS This indicates that all executable sections are compatible with the Guarded control stack (GCS) mechanism. Minimum requirements for setting this feature bit include:
- Each function that is called using a BL instruction (or other instruction that is a GCS
procedure return address push operation) returns using a RET instruction (or other instruction that is a GCSprocedure return address pop operation). This means that RET instructions are only used for function returns, and never as an indirect branch. - Any functions used by the program that manipulate the stack such as
setjmpandlongjmp, must be aware of GCS.
If Branch Target Identification mechanism is enabled on a processor then the Guard Page (GP) bit must be disabled on the memory image of loaded executable segments of executables and shared objects that do not have GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTI set, before execution is transferred to them.
For the Guarded control stack mechanism to be enabled for a process. The feature bit GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_GCS must be set on the executable and all shared libraries loaded by the program.
In a program that is running with the Guarded control stack mechanism enabled, the action taken when dlopen is used to load a shared library without the feature bit GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_GCS set is defined by the platform.
- To support Branch Target Identification mechanism, in the presence of a
GNU_PROPERTY_AARCH64_FEATURE_1_BTIall PLT entries generated by the linker that can be called indirectly must have a BTI instruction as the first instruction. The linker must add theDT_AARCH64_BTI_PLT(AArch64 specific dynamic array tags) tag to the dynamic section. - To support Pointer Authentication, PLT entries generated by the linker can have an authenticating instruction as the final instruction before branching back. The linker must add the
DT_AARCH64_PAC_PLT(AArch64 specific dynamic array tags) tag to the dynamic section. - If the linker generates custom PLT entries with both BTI and PAC instructions, it must add both
DT_AARCH64_BTI_PLTandDT_AARCH64_PAC_PLTtags to the dynamic section.
AArch64 specifies the following processor-specific dynamic array tags.
DT_AARCH64_BTI_PLT indicates PLTs enabled with Branch Target Identification mechanism.
DT_AARCH64_PAC_PLT indicates PLTs enabled with Pointer Authentication.
The presence of both DT_AARCH64_BTI_PLT and DT_AARCH64_PAC_PLT indicates PLTs enabled with both Branch Target Identification mechanism and Pointer Authentication.
DT_AARCH64_VARIANT_PCS must be present if there are R_<CLS>_JUMP_SLOT relocations that reference symbols marked with the STO_AARCH64_VARIANT_PCS flag set in their st_other field.
See MemTagABIELF64 and PAuthABIELF64 for details of reserved tags.
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Refer to CPPABI64
Not available for this Alpha release.