GDB shows incorrect arguments of functions for stack frames

Question

Whenever GDB steps in functions, instead of showing correct arguments in frame info, it prints garbage data

gcc (Ubuntu 9.3.0-17ubuntu1~20.04) 9.3.0
$ gcc tc -g #no other flags are used
GNU gdb (Ubuntu 9.2-0ubuntu1~20.04) 9.2

The program (tc):

#include<stdio.h>

void foo(int v){
    printf("  BAR = %d\n", v);
    }

int main(){
    int a = 8;
    foo(a);
    a = 33;
    foo(a);
    foo(85);
    }

GDB output:

Breakpoint 1, main () at t.c:7
7   int main(){
(gdb) step
8       int a = 8;
(gdb) step
9       foo(a);
(gdb) step
foo (v=21845) at t.c:3
3   void foo(int v){
(gdb) finish
Run till exit from #0  foo (v=21845) at t.c:3
  BAR = 8
main () at t.c:10
10      a = 33;
(gdb) s
11      foo(a);
(gdb) 
foo (v=8) at t.c:3
3   void foo(int v){
(gdb) fin
Run till exit from #0  foo (v=8) at t.c:3
  BAR = 33
main () at t.c:12
12      foo(85);
(gdb) s
foo (v=33) at t.c:3
3   void foo(int v){
(gdb) fin
Run till exit from #0  foo (v=33) at t.c:3
  BAR = 85
0x00005555555551a9 in main () at t.c:12
12      foo(85);
(gdb) s
13      }

But after performing a step after stepping in functions, arguments are written with correct data:

Breakpoint 1, main () at t.c:7
7   int main(){
(gdb) s
8       int a = 8;
(gdb) 
9       foo(a);
(gdb) 
foo (v=21845) at t.c:3
3   void foo(int v){
(gdb) info args
v = 21845
(gdb) s
4       printf("  BAR = %d\n", v);
(gdb) info args
v = 8

Is there any way to fix this so GDB show correct arguments of functions?

Answer 1

Looking at the disassembly, gdb is stopped at the first instruction of function foo , before the function prologue (which sets up the stack and frame pointers) has been run:

(gdb) step
9           foo(a);
(gdb) step
foo (v=21845) at t.c:3
3       void foo(int v){
(gdb) disas
Dump of assembler code for function foo:
=> 0x0000555555555149 <+0>:     endbr64
   0x000055555555514d <+4>:     push   %rbp
   0x000055555555514e <+5>:     mov    %rsp,%rbp
   0x0000555555555151 <+8>:     sub    $0x10,%rsp
   0x0000555555555155 <+12>:    mov    %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
   0x0000555555555158 <+15>:    mov    -0x4(%rbp),%eax
   0x000055555555515b <+18>:    mov    %eax,%esi
   0x000055555555515d <+20>:    lea    0xea0(%rip),%rdi        # 0x555555556004
   0x0000555555555164 <+27>:    mov    $0x0,%eax
   0x0000555555555169 <+32>:    callq  0x555555555050 <printf@plt>
   0x000055555555516e <+37>:    nop
   0x000055555555516f <+38>:    leaveq
   0x0000555555555170 <+39>:    retq
End of assembler dump.

Gdb's step command normally steps over a function's prologue , that is, it stops the program after the prologue has run. Here, gdb apparently doesn't recognize the instruction endbr64 as being part of any known prologue.

We can see that &v is beyond the bounds of the current stack frame:

(gdb) p &v
$1 = (int *) 0x7fffffffe3fc
(gdb) i r rbp rsp
rbp            0x7fffffffe420
rsp            0x7fffffffe408

Since the new stack frame hasn't been set up yet, gdb will read a garbage value for v .

Stepping a few more instructions will set up the stack frame and spill v from %edi to -0x4(%rbp) :

(gdb) stepi
=> 0x000055555555514d <foo+4>:  push   %rbp
(gdb) stepi
=> 0x000055555555514e <foo+5>:  mov    %rsp,%rbp
(gdb) stepi
=> 0x0000555555555151 <foo+8>:  sub    $0x10,%rsp
(gdb) stepi
=> 0x0000555555555155 <foo+12>: mov    %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
(gdb) stepi
4           printf("  BAR = %d\n", v);
=> 0x0000555555555158 <foo+15>: mov    -0x4(%rbp),%eax

Verify that &v is now within the stack frame, and examine v 's value:

(gdb) p &v
$2 = (int *) 0x7fffffffe3fc
(gdb) i r rbp rsp
rbp            0x7fffffffe400
rsp            0x7fffffffe3f0
(gdb) p v
$3 = 8

Why did this happen

Gcc emits endbr64 when given the -fcf-protection option, which has been the default in Ubuntu's gcc since version 19.10 .

One workaround

If you compile your program with -fcf-protection=none , gdb can recognize and run the prologue before stopping, and it will show the correct value of v :

(gdb) step
9           foo(a);
(gdb) step
foo (v=8) at t.c:4
4           printf("  BAR = %d\n", v);
(gdb) disas
Dump of assembler code for function foo:
   0x0000555555555139 <+0>:     push   %rbp
   0x000055555555513a <+1>:     mov    %rsp,%rbp
   0x000055555555513d <+4>:     sub    $0x10,%rsp
   0x0000555555555141 <+8>:     mov    %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
=> 0x0000555555555144 <+11>:    mov    -0x4(%rbp),%eax
   0x0000555555555147 <+14>:    mov    %eax,%esi
   0x0000555555555149 <+16>:    lea    0xeb4(%rip),%rdi        # 0x555555556004
   0x0000555555555150 <+23>:    mov    $0x0,%eax
   0x0000555555555155 <+28>:    callq  0x555555555030 <printf@plt>
   0x000055555555515a <+33>:    nop
   0x000055555555515b <+34>:    leaveq
   0x000055555555515c <+35>:    retq
End of assembler dump.

Fixed in the new gdb

It looks like support for the endbr instructions was added to gdb in March 2020 , so things should be fine if you can use gdb 10.1 or later:

$ ~/gdb10.1/bin/gdb -q t
...
(gdb) step
9           foo(a);
(gdb) step
foo (v=8) at t.c:4
4           printf("  BAR = %d\n", v);
(gdb) disas
Dump of assembler code for function foo:
   0x0000555555555149 <+0>:     endbr64
   0x000055555555514d <+4>:     push   %rbp
   0x000055555555514e <+5>:     mov    %rsp,%rbp
   0x0000555555555151 <+8>:     sub    $0x10,%rsp
   0x0000555555555155 <+12>:    mov    %edi,-0x4(%rbp)
=> 0x0000555555555158 <+15>:    mov    -0x4(%rbp),%eax
   0x000055555555515b <+18>:    mov    %eax,%esi
   0x000055555555515d <+20>:    lea    0xea0(%rip),%rdi        # 0x555555556004
   0x0000555555555164 <+27>:    mov    $0x0,%eax
   0x0000555555555169 <+32>:    call   0x555555555050 <printf@plt>
   0x000055555555516e <+37>:    nop
   0x000055555555516f <+38>:    leave
   0x0000555555555170 <+39>:    ret
End of assembler dump.