diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/kfuncs.rst b/Documentation/bpf/kfuncs.rst
index 7d7c1144372a..49c5cb6f46e7 100644
--- a/Documentation/bpf/kfuncs.rst
+++ b/Documentation/bpf/kfuncs.rst
@@ -232,11 +232,12 @@ added later.
 2.4.8 KF_RCU flag
 -----------------
 
-The KF_RCU flag is used for kfuncs which have a rcu ptr as its argument.
-When used together with KF_ACQUIRE, it indicates the kfunc should have a
-single argument which must be a trusted argument or a MEM_RCU pointer.
-The argument may have reference count of 0 and the kfunc must take this
-into consideration.
+The KF_RCU flag is a weaker version of KF_TRUSTED_ARGS. The kfuncs marked with
+KF_RCU expect either PTR_TRUSTED or MEM_RCU arguments. The verifier guarantees
+that the objects are valid and there is no use-after-free, but the pointers
+maybe NULL and pointee object's reference count could have reached zero, hence
+kfuncs must do != NULL check and consider refcnt==0 case when accessing such
+arguments.
 
 .. _KF_deprecated_flag:
 
diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h
index 520b238abd5a..d4b5faa0a777 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpf.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpf.h
@@ -178,11 +178,12 @@ enum btf_field_type {
 	BPF_TIMER      = (1 << 1),
 	BPF_KPTR_UNREF = (1 << 2),
 	BPF_KPTR_REF   = (1 << 3),
-	BPF_KPTR       = BPF_KPTR_UNREF | BPF_KPTR_REF,
-	BPF_LIST_HEAD  = (1 << 4),
-	BPF_LIST_NODE  = (1 << 5),
-	BPF_RB_ROOT    = (1 << 6),
-	BPF_RB_NODE    = (1 << 7),
+	BPF_KPTR_RCU   = (1 << 4), /* kernel internal. not exposed to bpf prog */
+	BPF_KPTR       = BPF_KPTR_UNREF | BPF_KPTR_REF | BPF_KPTR_RCU,
+	BPF_LIST_HEAD  = (1 << 5),
+	BPF_LIST_NODE  = (1 << 6),
+	BPF_RB_ROOT    = (1 << 7),
+	BPF_RB_NODE    = (1 << 8),
 	BPF_GRAPH_NODE_OR_ROOT = BPF_LIST_NODE | BPF_LIST_HEAD |
 				 BPF_RB_NODE | BPF_RB_ROOT,
 };
@@ -284,6 +285,8 @@ static inline const char *btf_field_type_name(enum btf_field_type type)
 	case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 	case BPF_KPTR_REF:
 		return "kptr";
+	case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
+		return "kptr_rcu";
 	case BPF_LIST_HEAD:
 		return "bpf_list_head";
 	case BPF_LIST_NODE:
@@ -307,6 +310,7 @@ static inline u32 btf_field_type_size(enum btf_field_type type)
 		return sizeof(struct bpf_timer);
 	case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 	case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+	case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 		return sizeof(u64);
 	case BPF_LIST_HEAD:
 		return sizeof(struct bpf_list_head);
@@ -331,6 +335,7 @@ static inline u32 btf_field_type_align(enum btf_field_type type)
 		return __alignof__(struct bpf_timer);
 	case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 	case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+	case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 		return __alignof__(u64);
 	case BPF_LIST_HEAD:
 		return __alignof__(struct bpf_list_head);
diff --git a/include/linux/btf.h b/include/linux/btf.h
index 49e0fe6d8274..556b3e2e7471 100644
--- a/include/linux/btf.h
+++ b/include/linux/btf.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 #define KF_TRUSTED_ARGS (1 << 4) /* kfunc only takes trusted pointer arguments */
 #define KF_SLEEPABLE    (1 << 5) /* kfunc may sleep */
 #define KF_DESTRUCTIVE  (1 << 6) /* kfunc performs destructive actions */
-#define KF_RCU          (1 << 7) /* kfunc only takes rcu pointer arguments */
+#define KF_RCU          (1 << 7) /* kfunc takes either rcu or trusted pointer arguments */
 
 /*
  * Tag marking a kernel function as a kfunc. This is meant to minimize the
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/btf.c b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
index 01dee7d48e6d..a44ea1f6164b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
@@ -3552,6 +3552,18 @@ static int btf_find_field(const struct btf *btf, const struct btf_type *t,
 	return -EINVAL;
 }
 
+BTF_SET_START(rcu_protected_types)
+BTF_ID(struct, prog_test_ref_kfunc)
+BTF_ID(struct, cgroup)
+BTF_SET_END(rcu_protected_types)
+
+static bool rcu_protected_object(const struct btf *btf, u32 btf_id)
+{
+	if (!btf_is_kernel(btf))
+		return false;
+	return btf_id_set_contains(&rcu_protected_types, btf_id);
+}
+
 static int btf_parse_kptr(const struct btf *btf, struct btf_field *field,
 			  struct btf_field_info *info)
 {
@@ -3615,6 +3627,10 @@ static int btf_parse_kptr(const struct btf *btf, struct btf_field *field,
 		field->kptr.dtor = (void *)addr;
 	}
 
+	if (info->type == BPF_KPTR_REF && rcu_protected_object(kernel_btf, id))
+		/* rcu dereference of this field will return MEM_RCU instead of PTR_UNTRUSTED */
+		field->type = BPF_KPTR_RCU;
+
 	field->kptr.btf_id = id;
 	field->kptr.btf = kernel_btf;
 	field->kptr.module = mod;
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/helpers.c b/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
index a784be6f8bac..fed74afd45d1 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/helpers.c
@@ -2094,11 +2094,12 @@ __bpf_kfunc struct cgroup *bpf_cgroup_ancestor(struct cgroup *cgrp, int level)
 {
 	struct cgroup *ancestor;
 
-	if (level > cgrp->level || level < 0)
+	if (!cgrp || level > cgrp->level || level < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
 	ancestor = cgrp->ancestors[level];
-	cgroup_get(ancestor);
+	if (!cgroup_tryget(ancestor))
+		return NULL;
 	return ancestor;
 }
 
@@ -2183,7 +2184,7 @@ BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_rbtree_first, KF_RET_NULL)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_acquire, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_TRUSTED_ARGS)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_kptr_get, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_KPTR_GET | KF_RET_NULL)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_release, KF_RELEASE)
-BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_ancestor, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_TRUSTED_ARGS | KF_RET_NULL)
+BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_ancestor, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_RCU | KF_RET_NULL)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_cgroup_from_id, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_RET_NULL)
 #endif
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_task_from_pid, KF_ACQUIRE | KF_RET_NULL)
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
index e3fcdc9836a6..2e730918911c 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/syscall.c
@@ -539,6 +539,7 @@ void btf_record_free(struct btf_record *rec)
 		switch (rec->fields[i].type) {
 		case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 		case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+		case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 			if (rec->fields[i].kptr.module)
 				module_put(rec->fields[i].kptr.module);
 			btf_put(rec->fields[i].kptr.btf);
@@ -584,6 +585,7 @@ struct btf_record *btf_record_dup(const struct btf_record *rec)
 		switch (fields[i].type) {
 		case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 		case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+		case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 			btf_get(fields[i].kptr.btf);
 			if (fields[i].kptr.module && !try_module_get(fields[i].kptr.module)) {
 				ret = -ENXIO;
@@ -669,6 +671,7 @@ void bpf_obj_free_fields(const struct btf_record *rec, void *obj)
 			WRITE_ONCE(*(u64 *)field_ptr, 0);
 			break;
 		case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+		case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 			field->kptr.dtor((void *)xchg((unsigned long *)field_ptr, 0));
 			break;
 		case BPF_LIST_HEAD:
@@ -1058,6 +1061,7 @@ static int map_check_btf(struct bpf_map *map, const struct btf *btf,
 				break;
 			case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 			case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+			case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 				if (map->map_type != BPF_MAP_TYPE_HASH &&
 				    map->map_type != BPF_MAP_TYPE_LRU_HASH &&
 				    map->map_type != BPF_MAP_TYPE_ARRAY &&
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index e4234266e76d..0b728ce0dde9 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -4183,7 +4183,7 @@ static int map_kptr_match_type(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 			       struct bpf_reg_state *reg, u32 regno)
 {
 	const char *targ_name = kernel_type_name(kptr_field->kptr.btf, kptr_field->kptr.btf_id);
-	int perm_flags = PTR_MAYBE_NULL | PTR_TRUSTED;
+	int perm_flags = PTR_MAYBE_NULL | PTR_TRUSTED | MEM_RCU;
 	const char *reg_name = "";
 
 	/* Only unreferenced case accepts untrusted pointers */
@@ -4230,12 +4230,12 @@ static int map_kptr_match_type(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 	 * In the kptr_ref case, check_func_arg_reg_off already ensures reg->off
 	 * is zero. We must also ensure that btf_struct_ids_match does not walk
 	 * the struct to match type against first member of struct, i.e. reject
-	 * second case from above. Hence, when type is BPF_KPTR_REF, we set
+	 * second case from above. Hence, when type is BPF_KPTR_REF | BPF_KPTR_RCU, we set
 	 * strict mode to true for type match.
 	 */
 	if (!btf_struct_ids_match(&env->log, reg->btf, reg->btf_id, reg->off,
 				  kptr_field->kptr.btf, kptr_field->kptr.btf_id,
-				  kptr_field->type == BPF_KPTR_REF))
+				  kptr_field->type == BPF_KPTR_REF || kptr_field->type == BPF_KPTR_RCU))
 		goto bad_type;
 	return 0;
 bad_type:
@@ -4250,6 +4250,14 @@ static int map_kptr_match_type(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 	return -EINVAL;
 }
 
+/* The non-sleepable programs and sleepable programs with explicit bpf_rcu_read_lock()
+ * can dereference RCU protected pointers and result is PTR_TRUSTED.
+ */
+static bool in_rcu_cs(struct bpf_verifier_env *env)
+{
+	return env->cur_state->active_rcu_lock || !env->prog->aux->sleepable;
+}
+
 static int check_map_kptr_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, u32 regno,
 				 int value_regno, int insn_idx,
 				 struct btf_field *kptr_field)
@@ -4273,7 +4281,7 @@ static int check_map_kptr_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, u32 regno,
 	/* We only allow loading referenced kptr, since it will be marked as
 	 * untrusted, similar to unreferenced kptr.
 	 */
-	if (class != BPF_LDX && kptr_field->type == BPF_KPTR_REF) {
+	if (class != BPF_LDX && kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_UNREF) {
 		verbose(env, "store to referenced kptr disallowed\n");
 		return -EACCES;
 	}
@@ -4284,7 +4292,10 @@ static int check_map_kptr_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, u32 regno,
 		 * value from map as PTR_TO_BTF_ID, with the correct type.
 		 */
 		mark_btf_ld_reg(env, cur_regs(env), value_regno, PTR_TO_BTF_ID, kptr_field->kptr.btf,
-				kptr_field->kptr.btf_id, PTR_MAYBE_NULL | PTR_UNTRUSTED);
+				kptr_field->kptr.btf_id,
+				kptr_field->type == BPF_KPTR_RCU && in_rcu_cs(env) ?
+				PTR_MAYBE_NULL | MEM_RCU :
+				PTR_MAYBE_NULL | PTR_UNTRUSTED);
 		/* For mark_ptr_or_null_reg */
 		val_reg->id = ++env->id_gen;
 	} else if (class == BPF_STX) {
@@ -4338,6 +4349,7 @@ static int check_map_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, u32 regno,
 			switch (field->type) {
 			case BPF_KPTR_UNREF:
 			case BPF_KPTR_REF:
+			case BPF_KPTR_RCU:
 				if (src != ACCESS_DIRECT) {
 					verbose(env, "kptr cannot be accessed indirectly by helper\n");
 					return -EACCES;
@@ -5139,11 +5151,10 @@ static int check_ptr_to_btf_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 		 * read lock region. Also mark rcu pointer as PTR_MAYBE_NULL since
 		 * it could be null in some cases.
 		 */
-		if (!env->cur_state->active_rcu_lock ||
-		    !(is_trusted_reg(reg) || is_rcu_reg(reg)))
-			flag &= ~MEM_RCU;
-		else
+		if (in_rcu_cs(env) && (is_trusted_reg(reg) || is_rcu_reg(reg)))
 			flag |= PTR_MAYBE_NULL;
+		else
+			flag &= ~MEM_RCU;
 	} else if (reg->type & MEM_RCU) {
 		/* ptr (reg) is marked as MEM_RCU, but the struct field is not tagged
 		 * with __rcu. Mark the flag as PTR_UNTRUSTED conservatively.
@@ -6187,7 +6198,7 @@ static int process_kptr_func(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int regno,
 		verbose(env, "off=%d doesn't point to kptr\n", kptr_off);
 		return -EACCES;
 	}
-	if (kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_REF) {
+	if (kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_REF && kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_RCU) {
 		verbose(env, "off=%d kptr isn't referenced kptr\n", kptr_off);
 		return -EACCES;
 	}
@@ -9111,7 +9122,7 @@ static int process_kf_arg_ptr_to_kptr(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 	}
 
 	kptr_field = btf_record_find(reg->map_ptr->record, reg->off + reg->var_off.value, BPF_KPTR);
-	if (!kptr_field || kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_REF) {
+	if (!kptr_field || (kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_REF && kptr_field->type != BPF_KPTR_RCU)) {
 		verbose(env, "arg#0 no referenced kptr at map value offset=%llu\n",
 			reg->off + reg->var_off.value);
 		return -EINVAL;
diff --git a/net/bpf/test_run.c b/net/bpf/test_run.c
index 6f3d654b3339..73e5029ab5c9 100644
--- a/net/bpf/test_run.c
+++ b/net/bpf/test_run.c
@@ -737,6 +737,7 @@ __bpf_kfunc void bpf_kfunc_call_test_mem_len_fail2(u64 *mem, int len)
 
 __bpf_kfunc void bpf_kfunc_call_test_ref(struct prog_test_ref_kfunc *p)
 {
+	/* p could be NULL and p->cnt could be 0 */
 }
 
 __bpf_kfunc void bpf_kfunc_call_test_destructive(void)
@@ -784,7 +785,7 @@ BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_fail3)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_mem_len_pass1)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_mem_len_fail1)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_mem_len_fail2)
-BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_ref, KF_TRUSTED_ARGS)
+BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_ref, KF_TRUSTED_ARGS | KF_RCU)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_destructive, KF_DESTRUCTIVE)
 BTF_ID_FLAGS(func, bpf_kfunc_call_test_static_unused_arg)
 BTF_SET8_END(test_sk_check_kfunc_ids)
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/map_kptr_fail.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/map_kptr_fail.c
index e19e2a5f38cf..08f9ec18c345 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/map_kptr_fail.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/progs/map_kptr_fail.c
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ int reject_kptr_get_bad_type_match(struct __sk_buff *ctx)
 }
 
 SEC("?tc")
-__failure __msg("R1 type=untrusted_ptr_or_null_ expected=percpu_ptr_")
+__failure __msg("R1 type=rcu_ptr_or_null_ expected=percpu_ptr_")
 int mark_ref_as_untrusted_or_null(struct __sk_buff *ctx)
 {
 	struct map_value *v;
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ int reject_untrusted_store_to_ref(struct __sk_buff *ctx)
 }
 
 SEC("?tc")
-__failure __msg("R2 type=untrusted_ptr_ expected=ptr_")
+__failure __msg("R2 must be referenced")
 int reject_untrusted_xchg(struct __sk_buff *ctx)
 {
 	struct prog_test_ref_kfunc *p;
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/calls.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/calls.c
index 289ed202ec66..9a326a800e5c 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/calls.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/calls.c
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@
 	},
 	.result_unpriv = REJECT,
 	.result = REJECT,
-	.errstr = "R1 must be referenced",
+	.errstr = "R1 must be",
 },
 {
 	"calls: valid kfunc call: referenced arg needs refcounted PTR_TO_BTF_ID",
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/map_kptr.c b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/map_kptr.c
index 6914904344c0..d775ccb01989 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/map_kptr.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/bpf/verifier/map_kptr.c
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
 	.prog_type = BPF_PROG_TYPE_SCHED_CLS,
 	.fixup_map_kptr = { 1 },
 	.result = REJECT,
-	.errstr = "R1 type=untrusted_ptr_or_null_ expected=percpu_ptr_",
+	.errstr = "R1 type=rcu_ptr_or_null_ expected=percpu_ptr_",
 },
 {
 	"map_kptr: ref: reject off != 0",
