+.. contents::
+.. sectnum::
+
+========================================
+eBPF Instruction Set Specification, v1.0
+========================================
+
+This document specifies version 1.0 of the eBPF instruction set.
-====================
-eBPF Instruction Set
-====================
Registers and calling convention
================================
The eBPF calling convention is defined as:
- * R0: return value from function calls, and exit value for eBPF programs
- * R1 - R5: arguments for function calls
- * R6 - R9: callee saved registers that function calls will preserve
- * R10: read-only frame pointer to access stack
+* R0: return value from function calls, and exit value for eBPF programs
+* R1 - R5: arguments for function calls
+* R6 - R9: callee saved registers that function calls will preserve
+* R10: read-only frame pointer to access stack
R0 - R5 are scratch registers and eBPF programs needs to spill/fill them if
necessary across calls.
eBPF has two instruction encodings:
- * the basic instruction encoding, which uses 64 bits to encode an instruction
- * the wide instruction encoding, which appends a second 64-bit immediate value
- (imm64) after the basic instruction for a total of 128 bits.
+* the basic instruction encoding, which uses 64 bits to encode an instruction
+* the wide instruction encoding, which appends a second 64-bit immediate value
+ (imm64) after the basic instruction for a total of 128 bits.
The basic instruction encoding looks as follows:
- ============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
- 32 bits (MSB) 16 bits 4 bits 4 bits 8 bits (LSB)
- ============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
- immediate offset source register destination register opcode
- ============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
+============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
+32 bits (MSB) 16 bits 4 bits 4 bits 8 bits (LSB)
+============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
+immediate offset source register destination register opcode
+============= ======= =============== ==================== ============
Note that most instructions do not use all of the fields.
Unused fields shall be cleared to zero.
The three LSB bits of the 'opcode' field store the instruction class:
- ========= ===== ===============================
- class value description
- ========= ===== ===============================
- BPF_LD 0x00 non-standard load operations
- BPF_LDX 0x01 load into register operations
- BPF_ST 0x02 store from immediate operations
- BPF_STX 0x03 store from register operations
- BPF_ALU 0x04 32-bit arithmetic operations
- BPF_JMP 0x05 64-bit jump operations
- BPF_JMP32 0x06 32-bit jump operations
- BPF_ALU64 0x07 64-bit arithmetic operations
- ========= ===== ===============================
+========= ===== =============================== ===================================
+class value description reference
+========= ===== =============================== ===================================
+BPF_LD 0x00 non-standard load operations `Load and store instructions`_
+BPF_LDX 0x01 load into register operations `Load and store instructions`_
+BPF_ST 0x02 store from immediate operations `Load and store instructions`_
+BPF_STX 0x03 store from register operations `Load and store instructions`_
+BPF_ALU 0x04 32-bit arithmetic operations `Arithmetic and jump instructions`_
+BPF_JMP 0x05 64-bit jump operations `Arithmetic and jump instructions`_
+BPF_JMP32 0x06 32-bit jump operations `Arithmetic and jump instructions`_
+BPF_ALU64 0x07 64-bit arithmetic operations `Arithmetic and jump instructions`_
+========= ===== =============================== ===================================
Arithmetic and jump instructions
================================
-For arithmetic and jump instructions (BPF_ALU, BPF_ALU64, BPF_JMP and
-BPF_JMP32), the 8-bit 'opcode' field is divided into three parts:
+For arithmetic and jump instructions (``BPF_ALU``, ``BPF_ALU64``, ``BPF_JMP`` and
+``BPF_JMP32``), the 8-bit 'opcode' field is divided into three parts:
- ============== ====== =================
- 4 bits (MSB) 1 bit 3 bits (LSB)
- ============== ====== =================
- operation code source instruction class
- ============== ====== =================
+============== ====== =================
+4 bits (MSB) 1 bit 3 bits (LSB)
+============== ====== =================
+operation code source instruction class
+============== ====== =================
The 4th bit encodes the source operand:
Arithmetic instructions
-----------------------
-BPF_ALU uses 32-bit wide operands while BPF_ALU64 uses 64-bit wide operands for
+``BPF_ALU`` uses 32-bit wide operands while ``BPF_ALU64`` uses 64-bit wide operands for
otherwise identical operations.
-The code field encodes the operation as below:
-
- ======== ===== =================================================
- code value description
- ======== ===== =================================================
- BPF_ADD 0x00 dst += src
- BPF_SUB 0x10 dst -= src
- BPF_MUL 0x20 dst \*= src
- BPF_DIV 0x30 dst /= src
- BPF_OR 0x40 dst \|= src
- BPF_AND 0x50 dst &= src
- BPF_LSH 0x60 dst <<= src
- BPF_RSH 0x70 dst >>= src
- BPF_NEG 0x80 dst = ~src
- BPF_MOD 0x90 dst %= src
- BPF_XOR 0xa0 dst ^= src
- BPF_MOV 0xb0 dst = src
- BPF_ARSH 0xc0 sign extending shift right
- BPF_END 0xd0 byte swap operations (see separate section below)
- ======== ===== =================================================
-
-BPF_ADD | BPF_X | BPF_ALU means::
+The 'code' field encodes the operation as below:
+
+======== ===== ==========================================================
+code value description
+======== ===== ==========================================================
+BPF_ADD 0x00 dst += src
+BPF_SUB 0x10 dst -= src
+BPF_MUL 0x20 dst \*= src
+BPF_DIV 0x30 dst /= src
+BPF_OR 0x40 dst \|= src
+BPF_AND 0x50 dst &= src
+BPF_LSH 0x60 dst <<= src
+BPF_RSH 0x70 dst >>= src
+BPF_NEG 0x80 dst = ~src
+BPF_MOD 0x90 dst %= src
+BPF_XOR 0xa0 dst ^= src
+BPF_MOV 0xb0 dst = src
+BPF_ARSH 0xc0 sign extending shift right
+BPF_END 0xd0 byte swap operations (see `Byte swap instructions`_ below)
+======== ===== ==========================================================
+
+``BPF_ADD | BPF_X | BPF_ALU`` means::
dst_reg = (u32) dst_reg + (u32) src_reg;
-BPF_ADD | BPF_X | BPF_ALU64 means::
+``BPF_ADD | BPF_X | BPF_ALU64`` means::
dst_reg = dst_reg + src_reg
-BPF_XOR | BPF_K | BPF_ALU means::
+``BPF_XOR | BPF_K | BPF_ALU`` means::
src_reg = (u32) src_reg ^ (u32) imm32
-BPF_XOR | BPF_K | BPF_ALU64 means::
+``BPF_XOR | BPF_K | BPF_ALU64`` means::
src_reg = src_reg ^ imm32
Byte swap instructions
-----------------------
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The byte swap instructions use an instruction class of ``BPF_ALU`` and a 4-bit
-code field of ``BPF_END``.
+'code' field of ``BPF_END``.
The byte swap instructions operate on the destination register
only and do not use a separate source register or immediate value.
The 1-bit source operand field in the opcode is used to to select what byte
order the operation convert from or to:
- ========= ===== =================================================
- source value description
- ========= ===== =================================================
- BPF_TO_LE 0x00 convert between host byte order and little endian
- BPF_TO_BE 0x08 convert between host byte order and big endian
- ========= ===== =================================================
+========= ===== =================================================
+source value description
+========= ===== =================================================
+BPF_TO_LE 0x00 convert between host byte order and little endian
+BPF_TO_BE 0x08 convert between host byte order and big endian
+========= ===== =================================================
-The imm field encodes the width of the swap operations. The following widths
+The 'imm' field encodes the width of the swap operations. The following widths
are supported: 16, 32 and 64.
Examples:
Jump instructions
-----------------
-BPF_JMP32 uses 32-bit wide operands while BPF_JMP uses 64-bit wide operands for
+``BPF_JMP32`` uses 32-bit wide operands while ``BPF_JMP`` uses 64-bit wide operands for
otherwise identical operations.
-The code field encodes the operation as below:
-
- ======== ===== ========================= ============
- code value description notes
- ======== ===== ========================= ============
- BPF_JA 0x00 PC += off BPF_JMP only
- BPF_JEQ 0x10 PC += off if dst == src
- BPF_JGT 0x20 PC += off if dst > src unsigned
- BPF_JGE 0x30 PC += off if dst >= src unsigned
- BPF_JSET 0x40 PC += off if dst & src
- BPF_JNE 0x50 PC += off if dst != src
- BPF_JSGT 0x60 PC += off if dst > src signed
- BPF_JSGE 0x70 PC += off if dst >= src signed
- BPF_CALL 0x80 function call
- BPF_EXIT 0x90 function / program return BPF_JMP only
- BPF_JLT 0xa0 PC += off if dst < src unsigned
- BPF_JLE 0xb0 PC += off if dst <= src unsigned
- BPF_JSLT 0xc0 PC += off if dst < src signed
- BPF_JSLE 0xd0 PC += off if dst <= src signed
- ======== ===== ========================= ============
+The 'code' field encodes the operation as below:
+
+======== ===== ========================= ============
+code value description notes
+======== ===== ========================= ============
+BPF_JA 0x00 PC += off BPF_JMP only
+BPF_JEQ 0x10 PC += off if dst == src
+BPF_JGT 0x20 PC += off if dst > src unsigned
+BPF_JGE 0x30 PC += off if dst >= src unsigned
+BPF_JSET 0x40 PC += off if dst & src
+BPF_JNE 0x50 PC += off if dst != src
+BPF_JSGT 0x60 PC += off if dst > src signed
+BPF_JSGE 0x70 PC += off if dst >= src signed
+BPF_CALL 0x80 function call
+BPF_EXIT 0x90 function / program return BPF_JMP only
+BPF_JLT 0xa0 PC += off if dst < src unsigned
+BPF_JLE 0xb0 PC += off if dst <= src unsigned
+BPF_JSLT 0xc0 PC += off if dst < src signed
+BPF_JSLE 0xd0 PC += off if dst <= src signed
+======== ===== ========================= ============
The eBPF program needs to store the return value into register R0 before doing a
BPF_EXIT.
Load and store instructions
===========================
-For load and store instructions (BPF_LD, BPF_LDX, BPF_ST and BPF_STX), the
+For load and store instructions (``BPF_LD``, ``BPF_LDX``, ``BPF_ST``, and ``BPF_STX``), the
8-bit 'opcode' field is divided as:
- ============ ====== =================
- 3 bits (MSB) 2 bits 3 bits (LSB)
- ============ ====== =================
- mode size instruction class
- ============ ====== =================
+============ ====== =================
+3 bits (MSB) 2 bits 3 bits (LSB)
+============ ====== =================
+mode size instruction class
+============ ====== =================
+
+The mode modifier is one of:
+
+ ============= ===== ==================================== =============
+ mode modifier value description reference
+ ============= ===== ==================================== =============
+ BPF_IMM 0x00 64-bit immediate instructions `64-bit immediate instructions`_
+ BPF_ABS 0x20 legacy BPF packet access (absolute) `Legacy BPF Packet access instructions`_
+ BPF_IND 0x40 legacy BPF packet access (indirect) `Legacy BPF Packet access instructions`_
+ BPF_MEM 0x60 regular load and store operations `Regular load and store operations`_
+ BPF_ATOMIC 0xc0 atomic operations `Atomic operations`_
+ ============= ===== ==================================== =============
The size modifier is one of:
BPF_DW 0x18 double word (8 bytes)
============= ===== =====================
-The mode modifier is one of:
-
- ============= ===== ====================================
- mode modifier value description
- ============= ===== ====================================
- BPF_IMM 0x00 64-bit immediate instructions
- BPF_ABS 0x20 legacy BPF packet access (absolute)
- BPF_IND 0x40 legacy BPF packet access (indirect)
- BPF_MEM 0x60 regular load and store operations
- BPF_ATOMIC 0xc0 atomic operations
- ============= ===== ====================================
-
-
Regular load and store operations
---------------------------------
All atomic operations supported by eBPF are encoded as store operations
that use the ``BPF_ATOMIC`` mode modifier as follows:
- * ``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_W | BPF_STX`` for 32-bit operations
- * ``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_DW | BPF_STX`` for 64-bit operations
- * 8-bit and 16-bit wide atomic operations are not supported.
+* ``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_W | BPF_STX`` for 32-bit operations
+* ``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_DW | BPF_STX`` for 64-bit operations
+* 8-bit and 16-bit wide atomic operations are not supported.
-The imm field is used to encode the actual atomic operation.
+The 'imm' field is used to encode the actual atomic operation.
Simple atomic operation use a subset of the values defined to encode
-arithmetic operations in the imm field to encode the atomic operation:
+arithmetic operations in the 'imm' field to encode the atomic operation:
- ======== ===== ===========
- imm value description
- ======== ===== ===========
- BPF_ADD 0x00 atomic add
- BPF_OR 0x40 atomic or
- BPF_AND 0x50 atomic and
- BPF_XOR 0xa0 atomic xor
- ======== ===== ===========
+======== ===== ===========
+imm value description
+======== ===== ===========
+BPF_ADD 0x00 atomic add
+BPF_OR 0x40 atomic or
+BPF_AND 0x50 atomic and
+BPF_XOR 0xa0 atomic xor
+======== ===== ===========
-``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_W | BPF_STX`` with imm = BPF_ADD means::
+``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_W | BPF_STX`` with 'imm' = BPF_ADD means::
*(u32 *)(dst_reg + off16) += src_reg
-``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_DW | BPF_STX`` with imm = BPF ADD means::
+``BPF_ATOMIC | BPF_DW | BPF_STX`` with 'imm' = BPF ADD means::
*(u64 *)(dst_reg + off16) += src_reg
In addition to the simple atomic operations, there also is a modifier and
two complex atomic operations:
- =========== ================ ===========================
- imm value description
- =========== ================ ===========================
- BPF_FETCH 0x01 modifier: return old value
- BPF_XCHG 0xe0 | BPF_FETCH atomic exchange
- BPF_CMPXCHG 0xf0 | BPF_FETCH atomic compare and exchange
- =========== ================ ===========================
+=========== ================ ===========================
+imm value description
+=========== ================ ===========================
+BPF_FETCH 0x01 modifier: return old value
+BPF_XCHG 0xe0 | BPF_FETCH atomic exchange
+BPF_CMPXCHG 0xf0 | BPF_FETCH atomic compare and exchange
+=========== ================ ===========================
The ``BPF_FETCH`` modifier is optional for simple atomic operations, and
always set for the complex atomic operations. If the ``BPF_FETCH`` flag
64-bit immediate instructions
-----------------------------
-Instructions with the ``BPF_IMM`` mode modifier use the wide instruction
+Instructions with the ``BPF_IMM`` 'mode' modifier use the wide instruction
encoding for an extra imm64 value.
There is currently only one such instruction.