diff --git a/include/linux/bpf.h b/include/linux/bpf.h
index feda0ce90f5a..2556f8043276 100644
--- a/include/linux/bpf.h
+++ b/include/linux/bpf.h
@@ -968,6 +968,7 @@ struct bpf_insn_access_aux {
 		struct {
 			struct btf *btf;
 			u32 btf_id;
+			u32 ref_obj_id;
 		};
 	};
 	struct bpf_verifier_log *log; /* for verbose logs */
@@ -1481,6 +1482,7 @@ struct bpf_ctx_arg_aux {
 	enum bpf_reg_type reg_type;
 	struct btf *btf;
 	u32 btf_id;
+	bool refcounted;
 };
 
 struct btf_mod_pair {
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/bpf_struct_ops.c b/kernel/bpf/bpf_struct_ops.c
index 606efe32485a..d9e0af00580b 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/bpf_struct_ops.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/bpf_struct_ops.c
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ void bpf_struct_ops_image_free(void *image)
 }
 
 #define MAYBE_NULL_SUFFIX "__nullable"
+#define REFCOUNTED_SUFFIX "__ref"
 #define MAX_STUB_NAME 128
 
 /* Return the type info of a stub function, if it exists.
@@ -207,9 +208,11 @@ static int prepare_arg_info(struct btf *btf,
 			    struct bpf_struct_ops_arg_info *arg_info)
 {
 	const struct btf_type *stub_func_proto, *pointed_type;
+	bool is_nullable = false, is_refcounted = false;
 	const struct btf_param *stub_args, *args;
 	struct bpf_ctx_arg_aux *info, *info_buf;
 	u32 nargs, arg_no, info_cnt = 0;
+	const char *suffix;
 	u32 arg_btf_id;
 	int offset;
 
@@ -241,12 +244,19 @@ static int prepare_arg_info(struct btf *btf,
 	info = info_buf;
 	for (arg_no = 0; arg_no < nargs; arg_no++) {
 		/* Skip arguments that is not suffixed with
-		 * "__nullable".
+		 * "__nullable or __ref".
 		 */
-		if (!btf_param_match_suffix(btf, &stub_args[arg_no],
-					    MAYBE_NULL_SUFFIX))
+		is_nullable = btf_param_match_suffix(btf, &stub_args[arg_no],
+						     MAYBE_NULL_SUFFIX);
+		is_refcounted = btf_param_match_suffix(btf, &stub_args[arg_no],
+						       REFCOUNTED_SUFFIX);
+		if (!is_nullable && !is_refcounted)
 			continue;
 
+		if (is_nullable)
+			suffix = MAYBE_NULL_SUFFIX;
+		else if (is_refcounted)
+			suffix = REFCOUNTED_SUFFIX;
 		/* Should be a pointer to struct */
 		pointed_type = btf_type_resolve_ptr(btf,
 						    args[arg_no].type,
@@ -254,7 +264,7 @@ static int prepare_arg_info(struct btf *btf,
 		if (!pointed_type ||
 		    !btf_type_is_struct(pointed_type)) {
 			pr_warn("stub function %s__%s has %s tagging to an unsupported type\n",
-				st_ops_name, member_name, MAYBE_NULL_SUFFIX);
+				st_ops_name, member_name, suffix);
 			goto err_out;
 		}
 
@@ -272,11 +282,15 @@ static int prepare_arg_info(struct btf *btf,
 		}
 
 		/* Fill the information of the new argument */
-		info->reg_type =
-			PTR_TRUSTED | PTR_TO_BTF_ID | PTR_MAYBE_NULL;
 		info->btf_id = arg_btf_id;
 		info->btf = btf;
 		info->offset = offset;
+		if (is_nullable) {
+			info->reg_type = PTR_TRUSTED | PTR_TO_BTF_ID | PTR_MAYBE_NULL;
+		} else if (is_refcounted) {
+			info->reg_type = PTR_TRUSTED | PTR_TO_BTF_ID;
+			info->refcounted = true;
+		}
 
 		info++;
 		info_cnt++;
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/btf.c b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
index 28246c59e12e..c2f4f84e539d 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/btf.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/btf.c
@@ -6546,7 +6546,7 @@ bool btf_ctx_access(int off, int size, enum bpf_access_type type,
 	const struct btf_param *args;
 	bool ptr_err_raw_tp = false;
 	const char *tag_value;
-	u32 nr_args, arg;
+	u32 nr_args, arg, nr_ref_args = 0;
 	int i, ret;
 
 	if (off % 8) {
@@ -6682,6 +6682,7 @@ bool btf_ctx_access(int off, int size, enum bpf_access_type type,
 			info->reg_type = ctx_arg_info->reg_type;
 			info->btf = ctx_arg_info->btf ? : btf_vmlinux;
 			info->btf_id = ctx_arg_info->btf_id;
+			info->ref_obj_id = ctx_arg_info->refcounted ? ++nr_ref_args : 0;
 			return true;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
index f27274e933e5..26305571e377 100644
--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -1542,6 +1542,17 @@ static void release_reference_state(struct bpf_verifier_state *state, int idx)
 	return;
 }
 
+static bool find_reference_state(struct bpf_verifier_state *state, int ptr_id)
+{
+	int i;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < state->acquired_refs; i++)
+		if (state->refs[i].id == ptr_id)
+			return true;
+
+	return false;
+}
+
 static int release_lock_state(struct bpf_verifier_state *state, int type, int id, void *ptr)
 {
 	int i;
@@ -5980,7 +5991,8 @@ static int check_packet_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, u32 regno, int off,
 /* check access to 'struct bpf_context' fields.  Supports fixed offsets only */
 static int check_ctx_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, int off, int size,
 			    enum bpf_access_type t, enum bpf_reg_type *reg_type,
-			    struct btf **btf, u32 *btf_id, bool *is_retval, bool is_ldsx)
+			    struct btf **btf, u32 *btf_id, bool *is_retval, bool is_ldsx,
+			    u32 *ref_obj_id)
 {
 	struct bpf_insn_access_aux info = {
 		.reg_type = *reg_type,
@@ -6002,8 +6014,16 @@ static int check_ctx_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, int off,
 		*is_retval = info.is_retval;
 
 		if (base_type(*reg_type) == PTR_TO_BTF_ID) {
+			if (info.ref_obj_id &&
+			    !find_reference_state(env->cur_state, info.ref_obj_id)) {
+				verbose(env, "invalid bpf_context access off=%d. Reference may already be released\n",
+					off);
+				return -EACCES;
+			}
+
 			*btf = info.btf;
 			*btf_id = info.btf_id;
+			*ref_obj_id = info.ref_obj_id;
 		} else {
 			env->insn_aux_data[insn_idx].ctx_field_size = info.ctx_field_size;
 		}
@@ -7369,7 +7389,7 @@ static int check_mem_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, u32 regn
 		struct bpf_retval_range range;
 		enum bpf_reg_type reg_type = SCALAR_VALUE;
 		struct btf *btf = NULL;
-		u32 btf_id = 0;
+		u32 btf_id = 0, ref_obj_id = 0;
 
 		if (t == BPF_WRITE && value_regno >= 0 &&
 		    is_pointer_value(env, value_regno)) {
@@ -7382,7 +7402,7 @@ static int check_mem_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, u32 regn
 			return err;
 
 		err = check_ctx_access(env, insn_idx, off, size, t, &reg_type, &btf,
-				       &btf_id, &is_retval, is_ldsx);
+				       &btf_id, &is_retval, is_ldsx, &ref_obj_id);
 		if (err)
 			verbose_linfo(env, insn_idx, "; ");
 		if (!err && t == BPF_READ && value_regno >= 0) {
@@ -7413,6 +7433,7 @@ static int check_mem_access(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int insn_idx, u32 regn
 				if (base_type(reg_type) == PTR_TO_BTF_ID) {
 					regs[value_regno].btf = btf;
 					regs[value_regno].btf_id = btf_id;
+					regs[value_regno].ref_obj_id = ref_obj_id;
 				}
 			}
 			regs[value_regno].type = reg_type;
@@ -22161,6 +22182,16 @@ static int do_check_common(struct bpf_verifier_env *env, int subprog)
 		mark_reg_known_zero(env, regs, BPF_REG_1);
 	}
 
+	/* Acquire references for struct_ops program arguments tagged with "__ref".
+	 * These should be the earliest references acquired. btf_ctx_access() will
+	 * assume the ref_obj_id of the n-th __ref-tagged argument to be n.
+	 */
+	if (!subprog && env->prog->type == BPF_PROG_TYPE_STRUCT_OPS) {
+		for (i = 0; i < env->prog->aux->ctx_arg_info_size; i++)
+			if (env->prog->aux->ctx_arg_info[i].refcounted)
+				acquire_reference(env, 0);
+	}
+
 	ret = do_check(env);
 out:
 	/* check for NULL is necessary, since cur_state can be freed inside
