We have this condition in `check_match' (in elf/dl-lookup.c):
if (__glibc_unlikely ((sym->st_value == 0 /* No value. */
&& stt != STT_TLS)
|| ELF_MACHINE_SYM_NO_MATCH (sym)
|| (type_class & (sym->st_shndx == SHN_UNDEF))))
return NULL;
which causes all !STT_TLS symbols whose value is zero to be silently
ignored in lookup. This may make sense for regular symbols, however not
for absolute (SHN_ABS) ones, where zero is like any value, there's no
special meaning attached to it.
Consequently legitimate programs fail, for example taking the
`elf/tst-absolute-sym' test case, substituting 0 for 0x55aa in
`elf/tst-absolute-sym-lib.lds' and then trying to run the resulting
program we get this:
$ .../elf/tst-absolute-sym
.../elf/tst-absolute-sym: symbol lookup error: .../elf/tst-absolute-sym-lib.so: undefined symbol: absolute
$
even though the symbol clearly is there:
$ readelf --dyn-syms .../elf/tst-absolute-sym-lib.so | grep '\babsolute\b'
7: 00000000 0 NOTYPE GLOBAL DEFAULT ABS absolute
$
The check for the zero value has been there since forever or commit
d66e34cd4234/08162fa88891 ("Implemented runtime dynamic linker to
support ELF shared libraries.") dating back to May 2nd 1995, and the
problem triggers regardless of commit e7feec374c ("elf: Correct
absolute (SHN_ABS) symbol run-time calculation [BZ #19818]") being
present or not.
Fix the issue then, by permitting `sym->st_value' to be 0 for SHN_ABS
symbols in lookup.
[BZ #23307]
* elf/dl-lookup.c (check_match): Do not reject a symbol whose
`st_value' is 0 if `st_shndx' is SHN_ABS.
* elf/tst-absolute-zero.c: New file.
* elf/tst-absolute-zero-lib.c: New file.
* elf/tst-absolute-zero-lib.lds: New file.
* elf/Makefile (tests): Add `tst-absolute-zero'.
(modules-names): Add `tst-absolute-zero-lib'.
(LDLIBS-tst-absolute-zero-lib.so): New variable.
($(objpfx)tst-absolute-zero-lib.so): New dependency.
($(objpfx)tst-absolute-zero: New dependency.
