video: fbdev: via: refactor strcpy and viafb_name

PATCH Superseded Ajith P V 2 participants 2 messages Aug 14 – Aug 18

Subsystems (2)

Framebuffer layer Via unichrome(pro)/CHROME9 framebuffer driver

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Ajith P V

author

2026-08-14 07:44 UTC #0 lore raw

PATCH v3 1/1 video: fbdev: via: refactor strcpy and viafb_name

Replace the deprecated and unbounded strcpy() function with the safer strscpy() alternative when setting up the framebuffer fixed screen information [1][2].

It aligns this driver with the ongoing kernel-wide security initiative to eliminate unbounded string copies, hardening the code against future modifications.

Additionally, convert the file-scope viafb_name pointer into a static const char[] array while preserving its original value "Via". This allows the compiler to execute compile-time bounds checking and optimize the string copy operation without breaking userspace ABI backward compatibility.

This is a proactive API cleanup and there is no functional performance or truncation risk.

Link https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#strcpy [1]

Link https://github.com/KSPP/linux/issues/88 [2]

Signed-off-by Ajith P V <[email protected]>

---
v3:
- Restore the original "Via" string value to prevent userspace ABI regressions, while keeping the 'static const char[]' optimization as suggested by Sashiko AI.
v2:
- Keep variable static but change it to a const array
'static const char viafb_name[] = "viafb"' as suggested by Helge Deller to let the compiler leverage compile-time checks.

 drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c +2 -2

index 80f95dac32c8..f6823beb4d7e 100644
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 #define _MASTER_FILE
 #include "global.h"
 
-static char *viafb_name = "Via";
+static const char viafb_name[] = "Via";
 static u32 pseudo_pal[17];
 
 /* video mode */

@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ static void viafb_setup_fixinfo(struct fb_fix_screeninfo *fix,
 	struct viafb_par *viaparinfo)
 {
 	memset(fix, 0, sizeof(struct fb_fix_screeninfo));
-	strcpy(fix->id, viafb_name);
+	strscpy(fix->id, viafb_name, sizeof(fix->id));
 
 	fix->smem_start = viaparinfo->fbmem;
 	fix->smem_len = viaparinfo->fbmem_free;

Signature · 1 line

2.43.0

Helge Deller

maintainer

2026-08-18 08:53 UTC #1 lore raw

Quoted 48 lines · Ajith P V

Replace the deprecated and unbounded strcpy() function with the safer strscpy() alternative when setting up the framebuffer fixed screen information [1][2].
It aligns this driver with the ongoing kernel-wide security initiative to eliminate unbounded string copies, hardening the code against future modifications.
Additionally, convert the file-scope viafb_name pointer into a static const char[] array while preserving its original value "Via". This allows the compiler to execute compile-time bounds checking and optimize the string copy operation without breaking userspace ABI backward compatibility.
This is a proactive API cleanup and there is no functional performance or truncation risk.
Link https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/process/deprecated.html#strcpy [1]
Link https://github.com/KSPP/linux/issues/88 [2]
Signed-off-by Ajith P V <[email protected]>
---
v3:
- Restore the original "Via" string value to prevent userspace ABI regressions, while keeping the 'static const char[]' optimization as suggested by Sashiko AI.
v2:
- Keep variable static but change it to a const array
'static const char viafb_name[] = "viafb"' as suggested by Helge Deller to let the compiler leverage compile-time checks.
  drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c | 4 ++--
  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c +1 -1
index 80f95dac32c8..f6823beb4d7e 100644
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  #define _MASTER_FILE
  #include "global.h"
 
-static char *viafb_name = "Via";
+static const char viafb_name[] = "Via";
  static u32 pseudo_pal[17];
 
  /* video mode */

drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c static void viafb_setup_fixinfo(struct fb_fix_screeninfo *fix, · line 147

Quoted 5 lines

drivers/video/fbdev/via/viafbdev.c +1 -1

@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ static void viafb_setup_fixinfo(struct fb_fix_screeninfo *fix,
  	struct viafb_par *viaparinfo)
  {
  	memset(fix, 0, sizeof(struct fb_fix_screeninfo));
-	strcpy(fix->id, viafb_name);
+	strscpy(fix->id, viafb_name, sizeof(fix->id));

Please make it simple:

	strcpy(fix->id, "Via");

Helge