16 KiB
Android bionic status
This document details libc/libm/libdl additions and behavior changes.
See also Android linker changes for NDK developers for changes related to native code loading in various Android releases.
Bionic function availability
POSIX
You can see the current status with respect to POSIX in the form of tests: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/bionic/+/master/tests/headers/posix/
Some POSIX functionality is not supported by the Linux kernel, and
is guarded with tests for __linux__. Other functionality is not
supported by bionic or glibc, and guarded with tests for __BIONIC__
and __GLIBC__. In other cases historical accidents mean 32-bit
bionic diverged but 64-bit bionic matches POSIX; these are guarded with
__LP64__.
Most bionic-only diversions should be accompanied by an explanatory comment.
Missing functions are either obsolete or explicitly disallowed by SELinux:
a64l/l64aconfstrcrypt/encrypt/setkeygethostidshm_open/shm_unlinksockatmark
Missing functionality:
<aio.h><monetary.h>. See discussion.<wordexp.h>- Thread cancellation (
pthread_cancel). Unlikely to ever be implemented because of the difficulty and cost of implementing it, and the difficulty of using it correctly. See This is why we can't have safe cancellation points for more about thread cancellation. - Robust mutexes. See discussion.
Run ./libc/tools/check-symbols-glibc.py in bionic/ for the current
list of POSIX functions implemented by glibc but not by bionic.
libc
Current libc symbols: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/bionic/+/master/libc/libc.map.txt
New libc functions in R (API level 30):
- Full C11
<threads.h>(available as inlines for older API levels). memfd_createandmlock2(Linux-specific GNU extensions).renameat2andstatx(Linux-specific GNU extensions).pthread_cond_clockwait/pthread_mutex_clocklock/pthread_rwlock_clockrdlock/pthread_rwlock_clockwrlock/sem_clockwait
New libc behavior in R (API level 30):
- fdsan now aborts when it detects common file descriptor errors, rather than just logging.
New libc functions in Q (API level 29):
timespec_get(C11<time.h>addition)reallocarray(BSD/GNU extension in<malloc.h>and<stdlib.h>)res_randomid(in<resolv.h>)pthread_sigqueue(GNU extension)getloadavg(BSD/GNU extension in <stdlib.h>)
New libc behavior in Q (API level 29):
- Whole printf family now supports the GNU
%mextension, rather than a special-case hack insyslog. popennow always usesO_CLOEXEC, not just with theeextension.- Bug fixes to handling of UTF-8 U+fffe/U+ffff and code points above U+10ffff.
aligned_alloccorrectly verifies thatsizeis a multiple ofalignment.- Using
%nwith the printf family is now reported as a FORTIFY failure. Previous versions of Android would ignore the%nbut not consume the corresponding pointer argument, leading to obscure errors. The scanf family is unchanged. - Support in strptime for
%F,%G,%g,%P,%u,%V, and%v. (strftime already supported them all.) - fdsan detects and logs common file descriptor errors at runtime.
New libc functions in P (API level 28):
aligned_alloc__freading/__fwriting(completing <stdio_ext.h>)endhostent/endnetent/endprotoent/getnetent/getprotoent/sethostent/setnetent/setprotoent(completing <netdb.h>)fexecvefflush_unlocked/fgetc_unlocked/fgets_unlocked/fputc_unlocked/fputs_unlocked/fread_unlocked/fwrite_unlockedgetentropy/getrandom(adding <sys/random.h>)getlogin_rglob/globfree(adding <glob.h>)hcreate/hcreate_r/hdestroy/hdestroy_r/hsearch/hsearch_r(completing <search.h>)iconv/iconv_close/iconv_open(adding <iconv.h>)pthread_attr_getinheritsched/pthread_attr_setinheritsched/pthread_setschedpriopthread_mutexattr_getprotocol/pthread_mutexattr_setprotocol(mutex priority inheritance)- <signal.h> support for
sigaction64_tandsigset64_tallowing LP32 access to real-time signals - <spawn.h>
swabsyncfs
New libc behavior in P (API level 28):
%Cand%Ssupport in the printf family (previously only the wprintf family supported these).%mc/%ms/%m[support in the scanf family.%ssupport in strptime (strftime already supported it).- Using a
pthread_mutex_tafter it's been destroyed will be detected at runtime and reported as a FORTIFY failure. - Passing a null
FILE*orDIR*to libc is now detected at runtime and reported as a FORTIFY failure.
New libc functions in O (API level 26):
sendtoFORTIFY support__system_property_read_callback/__system_property_wait- legacy
bsd_signal catclose/catgets/catopen(adding <nl_types.h>)ctermid- all 6 <grp.h>/<pwd.h> (get|set|end)(gr|pw)ent functions
futimes/futimesat/lutimesgetdomainname/setdomainnamegetsubopthasmntoptmalloptmblen- 4 <sys/msg.h>
msg*functions - <langinfo.h>
nl_langinfo/nl_langinfo_l pthread_getname_np- 2 new Linux system calls
quotactlandsync_file_range - 4 <sys/sem.h>
sem*functions - 4 <sys/shm.h>
shm*functions - 5 legacy <signal.h> functions:
sighold/sigignore/sigpause/sigrelse/sigset strtod_l/strtof_l/strtol_l/strtoul_l- <wctype.h>
towctrans/towctrans_l/wctrans/wctrans_l
New libc behavior in O (API level 26):
- Passing an invalid
pthread_tto libc is now detected at runtime and reported as a FORTIFY failure. Most commonly this is a result of confusingpthread_tandpid_t.
New libc functions in N (API level 24):
- more FORTIFY support functions (
fread/fwrite/getcwd/pwrite/write) - all remaining
_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64functions, completing_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64support in bionic (8) - all 7
pthread_barrier*functions - all 5
pthread_spin*functions lockf/preadv/pwritev/scandiratandoff64_tvariantsadjtimex/clock_adjtime- <ifaddrs.h>
getifaddrs/freeifaddrs/if_freenameindex/if_nameindex getgrgid_r/getgrnam_r- GNU extensions
fileno_unlocked/strchrnul - 32-bit
prlimit
New libc behavior in N (API level 24):
sem_waitnow returns EINTR when interrupted by a signal.
New libc functions in M (API level 23):
- <dirent.h>
telldir,seekdir. - <malloc.h>
malloc_info. - <netdb.h>
gethostbyaddr_r,gethostbyname2_r. - <pthread.h>
pthread_rwlockattr_getkind_np/pthread_rwlockattr_setkind_np. - <pty.h>
forkpty,openpty. - <signal.h>
sigqueue,sigtimedwait,sigwaitinfo. - <stdio.h>
fmemopen,open_memstream,feof_unlocked,ferror_unlocked,clearerr_unlocked. - <stdio_ext.h>
__flbf,__freadable,__fsetlocking,__fwritable,__fbufsize,__fpending,_flushlbf,__fpurge. - <stdlib.h>
mkostemp/mkostemps,lcong48. - <string.h>
basename,strerror_l,strerror_r,mempcpy. - <sys/sysinfo.h>
get_nprocs_conf/get_nprocs,get_phys_pages,get_avphys_pages. - <sys/uio.h>
process_vm_readv/process_vm_writev. clock_getcpuclockid,login_tty,mkfifoat,posix_madvise,sethostname,strcasecmp_l/strncasecmp_l.- <wchar.h>
open_wmemstream,wcscasecmp_l/wcsncasecmp_l,wmempcpy. - all of <error.h>.
- re-introduced various <resolv.h> functions:
ns_format_ttl,ns_get16,ns_get32,ns_initparse,ns_makecanon,ns_msg_getflag,ns_name_compress,ns_name_ntol,ns_name_ntop,ns_name_pack,ns_name_pton,ns_name_rollback,ns_name_skip,ns_name_uncompress,ns_name_unpack,ns_parserr,ns_put16,ns_put32,ns_samename,ns_skiprr,ns_sprintrr, andns_sprintrrf.
New libc functions in L (API level 21):
- <android/dlext.h>.
- <android/set_abort_message.h>.
- <arpa/inet.h>
inet_lnaof,inet_netof,inet_network,inet_makeaddr. - <wctype.h>
iswblank. - <ctype.h>
isalnum_l,isalpha_l,isblank_l,icntrl_l,isdigit_l,isgraph_l,islower_l,isprint_l,ispunct_l,isspace_l,isupper_l,isxdigit_l,_tolower,tolower_l,_toupper,toupper_l. - <fcntl.h>
fallocate,posix_fadvise,posix_fallocate,splice,tee,vmsplice. - <inttypes.h>
wcstoimax,wcstoumax. - <link.h>
dl_iterate_phdr. - <mntent.h>
setmntent,endmntent,getmntent_r. - <poll.h>
ppoll. - <pthread.h>
pthread_condattr_getclock,pthread_condattr_setclock,pthread_mutex_timedlock,pthread_gettid_np. - <sched.h>
setns. - <search.h>
insque,remque,lfind,lsearch,twalk. - <stdio.h>
dprintf,vdprintf. - <stdlib.h>
initstate,setstate,getprogname/setprogname,atof/strtof,at_quick_exit/_Exit/quick_exit,grantpt,mbtowc/wctomb,posix_openpt,rand_r/rand/random/srand/srandom,strtold_l/strtoll_l/strtoull_l. - <string.h>
strcoll_l/strxfrm_l,stpcpy/stpncpy. - <sys/resource.h>
prlimit. - <sys/socket.h>
accept4,sendmmsg. - <sys/stat.h>
mkfifo/mknodat. - <time.h>
strftime_l. - <unistd.h>
dup3,execvpe,getpagesize,linkat/symlinkat/readlinkat,truncate. - <wchar.h>
wcstof,vfwscanf/vswscanf/vwscanf,wcstold_l/wcstoll/wcstoll_l/wcstoull/wcstoull_l,mbsnrtowcs/wcsnrtombs,wcscoll_l/wcsxfrm_l. - <wctype.h>
iswalnum_l/iswalpha_l/iswblank_l/iswcntrl_l/iswctype_l/iswdigit_l/iswgraph_l/iswlower_l/iswprint_l/iswpunct_l/iswspace_l/iswupper_l/iswxdigit_l,wctype_l,towlower_l/towupper_l. - all of <fts.h>.
- all of <locale.h>.
- all of <sys/epoll.h>.
- all of <sys/fsuid.h>.
- all of <sys/inotify.h>.
- all of <uchar.h>.
New libc functions in K (API level 19):
- <inttypes.h>
imaxabs,imaxdiv. - <stdlib.h>
abs,labs,llabs. - <sys/stat.h>
futimens. - all of <sys/statvfs.h>.
- all of <sys/swap.h>.
- all of <sys/timerfd.h>.
New libc functions in J-MR2 (API level 18):
- <stdio.h>
getdelimandgetline. - <sys/auxv.h>
getauxval. - <sys/signalfd.h>
signalfd.
New libc functions in J-MR1 (API level 17):
- <ftw.h>.
- <signal.h>
psiginfoandpsignal. getsid,malloc_usable_size,mlockall/munlockall,posix_memalign,unshare.
New libc functions in J (API level 16):
- the <search.h> tree functions
tdelete,tdestroy,tfind, andtsearch. faccessat,readahead,tgkill.- all of <sys/xattr.h>.
libc function count over time:
| OS | API level | Function count |
|---|---|---|
| J | 16 | 842 |
| J MR1 | 17 | 870 |
| J MR2 | 18 | 878 |
| K | 19 | 893 |
| L | 21 | 1118 |
| M | 23 | 1183 |
| N | 24 | 1228 |
| O | 26 | 1280 |
| P | 28 | 1378 |
| Q | 29 | 1394 |
Data collected by:
ndk-r21$ for i in `ls -1v platforms/android-*/arch-arm/usr/lib/libc.so` ; do \
echo $i; nm $i | grep -w T | wc -l ; done
libm
Current libm symbols: https://android.googlesource.com/platform/bionic/+/master/libm/libm.map.txt
0 remaining missing C11/POSIX libm functions.
New libm functions in O (API level 26):
- <complex.h>
clog/clogf,cpow/cpowffunctions.
New libm functions in M (API level 23):
- <complex.h>
cabs,carg,cimag,cacos,cacosh,casin,casinh,catan,catanh,ccos,ccosh,cexp,conj,cproj,csin,csinh,csqrt,ctan,ctanh,creal,cabsf,cargf,cimagf,cacosf,cacoshf,casinf,casinhf,catanf,catanhf,ccosf,ccoshf,cexpf,conjf,cprojf,csinf,csinhf,csqrtf,ctanf,ctanhf,crealf,cabsl,cprojl,csqrtl. - <math.h>
lgammal_r.
New libm functions in L (API level 21):
- <complex.h>
cabsl,cprojl,csqrtl. - <math.h>
isinf,significandl.
New libm functions in J-MR2 (API level 18):
- <math.h>
log2,log2f.
Target API level behavioral differences
Most bionic bug fixes and improvements have been made without checks for
the app's targetSdkVersion. As of O there were exactly two exceptions,
but there are likely to be more in future because of Project Treble.
Invalid pthread_t handling (targetSdkVersion >= O)
As part of a long-term goal to remove the global thread list,
and in an attempt to flush out racy code, we changed how an invalid
pthread_t is handled. For pthread_detach, pthread_getcpuclockid,
pthread_getschedparam/pthread_setschedparam, pthread_join, and
pthread_kill, instead of returning ESRCH when passed an invalid
pthread_t, if you're targeting O or above, they'll abort with the
message "attempt to use invalid pthread_t".
Note that this doesn't change behavior as much as you might think: the
old lookup only held the global thread list lock for the duration of
the lookup, so there was still a race between that and the dereference
in the caller, given that callers actually need the tid to pass to some
syscall or other, and sometimes update fields in the pthread_internal_t
struct too.
We can't check a thread's tid against 0 to see whether a pthread_t
is still valid because a dead thread gets its thread struct unmapped
along with its stack, so the dereference isn't safe.
To fix your code, taking the affected functions one by one:
-
pthread_getcpuclockidandpthread_getschedparam/pthread_setschedparamshould be fine. Unsafe calls to those seem highly unlikely. -
Unsafe
pthread_detachcallers probably want to switch topthread_attr_setdetachstateinstead, or usepthread_detach(pthread_self());from the new thread's start routine rather than calling detach in the parent. -
pthread_joincalls should be safe anyway, because a joinable thread won't actually exit and unmap until it's joined. If you're joining an unjoinable thread, the fix is to stop marking it detached. If you're joining an already-joined thread, you need to rethink your design! -
Unsafe
pthread_killcalls aren't portably fixable. (And are obviously inherently non-portable as-is.) The best alternative on Android is to usepthread_gettid_npat some point that you know the thread to be alive, and then callkill/tgkillwith signal 0 (which checks whether a process exists rather than actually sending a signal). That's still not completely safe because if you're too late the tid may have been reused, but your code is inherently unsafe without a redesign anyway.
Interruptable sem_wait (targetSdkVersion >= N)
POSIX says that sem_wait can be interrupted by delivery of a
signal. This wasn't historically true in Android, and when we fixed this
bug we found that existing code relied on the old behavior. To preserve
compatibility, sem_wait can only return EINTR on Android if the app
targets N or later.
FORTIFY
The _FORTIFY_SOURCE macro can be used to enable extra
automatic bounds checking for common libc functions. If a buffer
overrun is detected, the program is safely aborted as in this
example.
Note that in recent releases Android's FORTIFY has been extended to
cover other issues. It can now detect, for example, passing O_CREAT
to open(2) without specifying a mode. It also performs some checking
regardless of whether the caller was built with FORTIFY enabled. In P,
for example, calling a pthread_mutex_ function on a destroyed mutex,
calling a <dirent.h> function on a null pointer, using %n with the
printf(3) family, or using the scanf(3) m modifier incorrectly will
all result in FORTIFY failures even for code not built with FORTIFY.
More background information is available in our FORTIFY in Android blog post.
The Android platform is built with -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2, but NDK users
need to manually enable FORTIFY by setting that themselves in whatever
build system they're using. The exact subset of FORTIFY available to
NDK users will depend on their target ABI level, because when a FORTIFY
check can't be guaranteed at compile-time, a call to a run-time _chk
function is added.