[AllocToken, Clang] Infer type hints from sizeof expressions and casts (#156841)

2025-10-09T07:31:16+00:00

For the AllocToken pass to accurately calculate token ID hints, we
need to attach `!alloc_token` metadata for allocation calls.

Unlike new expressions, untyped allocation calls (like `malloc`,
`calloc`, `::operator new(..)`, `__builtin_operator_new`, etc.) have no
syntactic type associated with them. For -fsanitize=alloc-token, type
hints are sufficient, and we can attempt to infer the type based on
common idioms.

When encountering allocation calls (with `__attribute__((malloc))` or
`__attribute__((alloc_size(..))`), attach `!alloc_token` by inferring
the allocated type from (a) sizeof argument expressions such as
`malloc(sizeof(MyType))`, and (b) casts such as `(MyType*)malloc(4096)`.

Note that non-standard allocation functions with these attributes are
not instrumented by default. Use `-fsanitize-alloc-token-extended` to
instrument them as well.

Link: https://discourse.llvm.org/t/rfc-a-framework-for-allocator-partitioning-hints/87434

---

This change is part of the following series:
  1. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/160131
  2. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156838
  3. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/162098
  4. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/162099
  5. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156839
  6. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156840
  7. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156841
  8. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156842

[Clang] Wire up -fsanitize=alloc-token (#156839)

2025-10-08T18:59:24+00:00

Wire up the `-fsanitize=alloc-token` command-line option, hooking up
the `AllocToken` pass -- it provides allocation tokens to compatible
runtime allocators, enabling different heap organization strategies,
e.g. hardening schemes based on heap partitioning.

The instrumentation rewrites standard allocation calls into variants
that accept an additional `size_t token_id` argument. For example,
calls to `malloc(size)` become `__alloc_token_malloc(size, token_id)`,
and a C++ `new MyType` expression will call
`__alloc_token__Znwm(size, token_id)`.

Currently untyped allocation calls do not yet have `!alloc_token`
metadata, and therefore receive the fallback token only. This will be
fixed in subsequent changes through best-effort type-inference.

One benefit of the instrumentation approach is that it can be applied
transparently to large codebases, and scales in deployment as other
sanitizers.

Similarly to other sanitizers, instrumentation can selectively be
controlled using `__attribute__((no_sanitize("alloc-token")))`. Support
for sanitizer ignorelists to disable instrumentation for specific
functions or source files is implemented.

See clang/docs/AllocToken.rst for more usage instructions.

Link:
https://discourse.llvm.org/t/rfc-a-framework-for-allocator-partitioning-hints/87434

---

This change is part of the following series:
  1. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/160131
  2. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156838
  3. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/162098
  4. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/162099
  5. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156839
  6. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156840
  7. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156841
  8. https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pull/156842

llvm-project.git/clang/test/CodeGen/alloc-token.c, branch main

[AllocToken, Clang] Infer type hints from sizeof expressions and casts (#156841)

[Clang] Wire up -fsanitize=alloc-token (#156839)