For Linux 3.16, the vdso is heavily stripped.  Specifically, on x86_64, there's a fake section table that contains only one entry of type SHT_DYNSYM (to work around a Go bug).  On i386 and x32, there is no section table at all.  For now, e_shstrndx == 0.

This ought to be fine: things that read ELF files from memory have no business looking at the section table at all.  Unfortunately, symbol_file_add_from_memory (which is the function responsible for digging up the vdso symbols) doesn't ever call any of the section_from_phdr functions, which means that it doesn't try to load the segment table, and it never notices the PT_NOTE segment.  That, in turn, prevents it from detecting the build-id and finding the real symbol file.

I'd be happy to help (a bit) and to make hopefully minimal changes to the kernel to make this better.

I have a prototype patch to add a more complete fake section table, and it works, but this approach sucks.  Not only is it a lie, but it wastes a bunch of space in the vdso image in memory.