What is the format of the x86_64 va_list structure?

Question

Anyone have a reference for the representation of va_list in the x86_64 ABI (the one used on Linux)? I'm trying to debug some code where the stack or arguments seem corrupt and it would really help to understand what I'm supposed to be seeing...

Answer 1

The x86-64 System V ABi doc may help. It's a reference, albeit lightweight.

The Variable Argument List reference starts on page 54, then it goes on, page 56-57 documents va_list:

The va_list Type

The va_list type is an array containing a single element of one structure containing the necessary information to implement the va_arg macro. The C definition of va_list type is given in figure 3.34.

Figure 3.34: va_list Type Declaration

typedef struct {    unsigned int gp_offset;    unsigned int fp_offset;    void *overflow_arg_area;    void *reg_save_area; } va_list[1]; 

The va_start Macro

The va_start macro initializes the structure as follows:

reg_save_area The element points to the start of the register save area.

overflow_arg_area This pointer is used to fetch arguments passed on the stack. It is initialized with the address of the first argument passed on the stack, if any, and then always updated to point to the start of the next argument on the stack.

gp_offset The element holds the offset in bytes from reg_save_area to the place where the next available general purpose argument register is saved. In case all argument registers have been exhausted, it is set to the value 48 (6 * 8).

fp_offset The element holds the offset in bytes from reg_save_area to the place where the next available floating point argument register is saved. In case all argument registers have been exhausted, it is set to the value 304 (6 * 8 + 16 * 16).