symver: added notes on elf symbol versioning

2 files changed, 224 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/src/development/README.md b/src/development/README.md
index 29a0c11..4a6ed0d 100644
--- a/src/development/README.md
+++ b/src/development/README.md
@@ -6,4 +6,5 @@
 - [gcc](./gcc.md)
 - [make] (./make.md)
 - [ld.so](./ld.so.md)
+- [symbol versioning](./symbolver.md)
 - [python](./python.md)
diff --git a/src/development/symbolver.md b/src/development/symbolver.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e1ac71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/development/symbolver.md
@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+# ELF Symbol Versioning
+
+The [ELF symbol versioning][lsb-symver] mechanism allows to attach version
+information to symbols.
+This can be used to express symbol version requirements or to provide certain
+symbols multiple times in the same ELF file with different versions (eg for
+backwards compatibility).
+
+The `libpthread.so` library is an example which provides the
+`pthread_cond_wait` symbol multiple times but in different versions.
+With readelf the version of the symbol can be seen after the `@`.
+```bash
+> readelf -W --dyn-syms /lib/libpthread.so
+
+Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 342 entries:
+   Num:    Value  Size Type    Bind   Vis      Ndx Name
+   ...
+   141: 0000f080   696 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   16 pthread_cond_wait@@GLIBC_2.3.2
+   142: 00010000   111 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   16 pthread_cond_wait@GLIBC_2.2.5
+```
+
+The `@@` denotes the **default symbol version** which will be used during
+static linking against the library.
+The following dump shows that the `tmp` program linked against `lpthread` will
+depend on the symbol version `GLIBC_2.3.2`, which is the default version.
+```bash
+> echo "#include <pthread.h>
+        int main() {
+          return pthread_cond_wait(0,0);
+        }" | gcc -o tmp -xc - -lpthread;
+  readelf -W --dyn-syms tmp | grep pthread_cond_wait;
+
+Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 7 entries:
+   Num:    Value  Size Type    Bind   Vis      Ndx Name
+   ...
+     2: 00000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND pthread_cond_wait@GLIBC_2.3.2 (2)
+```
+> Only **one** symbol can be annotated as the `@@` default version.
+
+Using the `--version-info` flag with readelf, more details on the symbol
+version info compiled into the `tmp` ELF file can be obtained.
+- The `.gnu.version` section contains the version definition for each symbol in
+  the `.dynsym` section. `pthread_cond_wait` is at index `2` in the `.dynsym`
+  section, the corresponding symbol version is at index `2` in the
+  `.gnu.version` section.
+- The `.gnu.version_r` section contains symbol version requirements per shared
+  library dependency (`DT_NEEDED` dynamic entry).
+```bash
+> readelf -W --version-info --dyn-syms tmp
+
+Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 7 entries:
+   Num:    Value          Size Type    Bind   Vis      Ndx Name
+     0: 0000000000000000     0 NOTYPE  LOCAL  DEFAULT  UND 
+     1: 0000000000000000     0 NOTYPE  WEAK   DEFAULT  UND _ITM_deregisterTMCloneTable
+     2: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND pthread_cond_wait@GLIBC_2.3.2 (2)
+     3: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND __libc_start_main@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
+     4: 0000000000000000     0 NOTYPE  WEAK   DEFAULT  UND __gmon_start__
+     5: 0000000000000000     0 NOTYPE  WEAK   DEFAULT  UND _ITM_registerTMCloneTable
+     6: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    WEAK   DEFAULT  UND __cxa_finalize@GLIBC_2.2.5 (3)
+
+Version symbols section '.gnu.version' contains 7 entries:
+ Addr: 0x0000000000000534  Offset: 0x000534  Link: 6 (.dynsym)
+  000:   0 (*local*)       0 (*local*)       2 (GLIBC_2.3.2)   3 (GLIBC_2.2.5)
+  004:   0 (*local*)       0 (*local*)       3 (GLIBC_2.2.5)
+
+Version needs section '.gnu.version_r' contains 2 entries:
+ Addr: 0x0000000000000548  Offset: 0x000548  Link: 7 (.dynstr)
+  000000: Version: 1  File: libc.so.6  Cnt: 1
+  0x0010:   Name: GLIBC_2.2.5  Flags: none  Version: 3
+  0x0020: Version: 1  File: libpthread.so.0  Cnt: 1
+  0x0030:   Name: GLIBC_2.3.2  Flags: none  Version: 2
+```
+
+The gnu dynamic linker allows to inspect the version processing during runtime
+by setting the `LD_DEBUG` environment variable accordingly.
+```text
+# version: Display version dependencies.
+> LD_DEBUG=versions ./tmp
+    717904: checking for version `GLIBC_2.2.5' in file /usr/lib/libc.so.6 [0] required by file ./tmp [0]
+    717904: checking for version `GLIBC_2.3.2' in file /usr/lib/libpthread.so.0 [0] required by file ./tmp [0]
+    ...
+
+#  symbols : Display symbol table processing.
+#  bindings: Display information about symbol binding.
+> LD_DEBUG=symbols,bindings ./tmp
+    ...
+    718123: symbol=pthread_cond_wait;  lookup in file=./tmp [0]
+    718123: symbol=pthread_cond_wait;  lookup in file=/usr/lib/libpthread.so.0 [0]
+    718123: binding file ./tmp [0] to /usr/lib/libpthread.so.0 [0]: normal symbol `pthread_cond_wait' [GLIBC_2.3.2]
+```
+
+## Example: version script
+
+The following shows an example C++ library `libfoo` which provides the same
+symbol multiple times but in different versions.
+```cpp
+// file: libfoo.cc
+#include<stdio.h>
+
+// Bind function symbols to version nodes.
+//
+// ..@       -> Is the unversioned symbol.
+// ..@@..    -> Is the default symbol.
+
+__asm__(".symver func_v0,func@");
+__asm__(".symver func_v1,func@LIB_V1");
+__asm__(".symver func_v2,func@@LIB_V2");
+
+extern "C" {
+    void func_v0() { puts("func_v0"); }
+    void func_v1() { puts("func_v1"); }
+    void func_v2() { puts("func_v2"); }
+}
+
+__asm__(".symver _Z11func_cpp_v1i,_Z8func_cppi@LIB_V1");
+__asm__(".symver _Z11func_cpp_v2i,_Z8func_cppi@@LIB_V2");
+
+void func_cpp_v1(int) { puts("func_cpp_v1"); }
+void func_cpp_v2(int) { puts("func_cpp_v2"); }
+
+void func_cpp(int) { puts("func_cpp_v2"); }
+```
+
+Version script for `libfoo` which defines which symbols for which versions are
+exported from the ELF file.
+```ld
+# file: libfoo.ver
+LIB_V1 {
+    global:
+        func;
+        extern "C++" {
+            "func_cpp(int)";
+        };
+    local:
+        *;
+};
+
+LIB_V2 {
+    global:
+        func;
+        extern "C++" {
+            "func_cpp(int)";
+        };
+} LIB_V1;
+```
+> The **local:** section in `LIB_V1` is a catch all, that matches any symbol
+> not explicitly specified, and defines that the symbol is local and therefore
+> not exported from the ELF file.
+
+The library `libfoo` can be linked with the version definitions in `libfoo.ver`
+by passing the version script to the linker with the `--version-script` flag.
+```bash
+> g++ -shared -fPIC -o libfoo.so libfoo.cc -Wl,--version-script=libfoo.ver
+> readelf -W --dyn-syms libfoo.so | c++filt
+
+Symbol table '.dynsym' contains 14 entries:
+   Num:    Value          Size Type    Bind   Vis      Ndx Name
+   ...
+     6: 0000000000000000     0 OBJECT  GLOBAL DEFAULT  ABS LIB_V1
+     7: 000000000000114b    29 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func_cpp(int)@LIB_V1
+     8: 0000000000001168    29 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func_cpp(int)@@LIB_V2
+     9: 0000000000001185    29 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func_cpp(int)@@LIB_V1
+    10: 0000000000000000     0 OBJECT  GLOBAL DEFAULT  ABS LIB_V2
+    11: 0000000000001109    22 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func
+    12: 000000000000111f    22 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func@LIB_V1
+    13: 0000000000001135    22 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   13 func@@LIB_V2
+```
+
+The following program demonstrates how to make use of the different versions:
+```cpp
+// file: main.cc
+#include <dlfcn.h>
+#include <assert.h>
+
+// Links against default symbol in the lib.so.
+extern "C" void func();
+
+int main() {
+    // Call the default version.
+    func();
+
+#ifdef _GNU_SOURCE
+    typedef void (*fnptr)();
+
+    // Unversioned lookup.
+    fnptr fn_v0 = (fnptr)dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "func");
+    // Version lookup.
+    fnptr fn_v1 = (fnptr)dlvsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "func", "LIB_V1");
+    fnptr fn_v2 = (fnptr)dlvsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "func", "LIB_V2");
+
+    assert(fn_v0 != 0);
+    assert(fn_v1 != 0);
+    assert(fn_v2 != 0);
+
+    fn_v0();
+    fn_v1();
+    fn_v2();
+#endif
+
+    return 0;
+}
+```
+
+Compiling and running results in:
+```bash
+> g++ -o main main.cc -ldl ./libfoo.so && ./main
+func_v2
+func_v0
+func_v1
+func_v2
+```
+
+## References
+- [ELF Symbol Versioning][elfsymver]
+- [Binutils ld: Symbol Versioning][ld-version]
+- [LSB: Symbol Versioning][lsb-symver]
+- [How To Write Shared Libraries][dsohowto]
+
+[dsohowto]: https://akkadia.org/drepper/dsohowto.pdf
+[elfsymver]: https://akkadia.org/drepper/symbol-versioning
+
+[ld-version]: https://sourceware.org/binutils/docs/ld/VERSION.html
+[lsb-symver]: https://refspecs.linuxbase.org/LSB_5.0.0/LSB-Core-generic/LSB-Core-generic/symversion.html