GCC's -fanalyzer and the Linux Kernel

Explore GCC's -fanalyzer feature and its application to the Linux kernel in this 45-minute conference talk by David Malcolm at the Linux Plumbers Conference. Delve into the intricacies of -f analyzer and -f warnings, understanding how they work to track memory state and detect issues. Learn about detecting uninitialized fields, taint analysis, and handling attacker-controlled indexes. Discover special cases, alternative approaches, and the use of attributes like access, readonly, and tintedargs. Examine trust boundaries, address spaces, and custom address spaces, along with the untrusted attribute. Gain insights into smart checkers, address space casting, GCC's annual release cycle, and GCC plugins. Engage in a discussion on the practical implications of these tools for kernel development and security.