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kptr_restrict for hiding kernel pointers from unprivileged users
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Add the %pK printk format specifier and the /proc/sys/kernel/kptr_restrict
sysctl.

The %pK format specifier is designed to hide exposed kernel pointers,
specifically via /proc interfaces.  Exposing these pointers provides an
easy target for kernel write vulnerabilities, since they reveal the
locations of writable structures containing easily triggerable function
pointers.  The behavior of %pK depends on the kptr_restrict sysctl.

If kptr_restrict is set to 0, no deviation from the standard %p behavior
occurs.  If kptr_restrict is set to 1, the default, if the current user
(intended to be a reader via seq_printf(), etc.) does not have CAP_SYSLOG
(currently in the LSM tree), kernel pointers using %pK are printed as 0's.
 If kptr_restrict is set to 2, kernel pointers using %pK are printed as
0's regardless of privileges.  Replacing with 0's was chosen over the
default "(null)", which cannot be parsed by userland %p, which expects
"(nil)".

[[email protected]: check for IRQ context when !kptr_restrict, save an indent level, s/WARN/WARN_ONCE/]
[[email protected]: coding-style fixup]
[[email protected]: fix kernel/sysctl.c warning]
Signed-off-by: Dan Rosenberg <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Randy Dunlap <[email protected]>
Cc: James Morris <[email protected]>
Cc: Eric Dumazet <[email protected]>
Cc: Thomas Graf <[email protected]>
Cc: Eugene Teo <[email protected]>
Cc: Kees Cook <[email protected]>
Cc: Ingo Molnar <[email protected]>
Cc: David S. Miller <[email protected]>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <[email protected]>
Cc: Eric Paris <[email protected]>

Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <[email protected]>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <[email protected]>
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Dan Rosenberg authored and torvalds committed Jan 13, 2011
1 parent 351f8f8 commit 455cd5a
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14 changes: 14 additions & 0 deletions Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ show up in /proc/sys/kernel:
- hotplug
- java-appletviewer [ binfmt_java, obsolete ]
- java-interpreter [ binfmt_java, obsolete ]
- kptr_restrict
- kstack_depth_to_print [ X86 only ]
- l2cr [ PPC only ]
- modprobe ==> Documentation/debugging-modules.txt
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -261,6 +262,19 @@ This flag controls the L2 cache of G3 processor boards. If

==============================================================

kptr_restrict:

This toggle indicates whether restrictions are placed on
exposing kernel addresses via /proc and other interfaces. When
kptr_restrict is set to (0), there are no restrictions. When
kptr_restrict is set to (1), the default, kernel pointers
printed using the %pK format specifier will be replaced with 0's
unless the user has CAP_SYSLOG. When kptr_restrict is set to
(2), kernel pointers printed using %pK will be replaced with 0's
regardless of privileges.

==============================================================

kstack_depth_to_print: (X86 only)

Controls the number of words to print when dumping the raw
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions include/linux/printk.h
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ extern bool printk_timed_ratelimit(unsigned long *caller_jiffies,

extern int printk_delay_msec;
extern int dmesg_restrict;
extern int kptr_restrict;

/*
* Print a one-time message (analogous to WARN_ONCE() et al):
Expand Down
10 changes: 10 additions & 0 deletions kernel/sysctl.c
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
#include <linux/slab.h>
#include <linux/sysctl.h>
#include <linux/signal.h>
#include <linux/printk.h>
#include <linux/proc_fs.h>
#include <linux/security.h>
#include <linux/ctype.h>
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -710,6 +711,15 @@ static struct ctl_table kern_table[] = {
.extra1 = &zero,
.extra2 = &one,
},
{
.procname = "kptr_restrict",
.data = &kptr_restrict,
.maxlen = sizeof(int),
.mode = 0644,
.proc_handler = proc_dointvec_minmax,
.extra1 = &zero,
.extra2 = &two,
},
#endif
{
.procname = "ngroups_max",
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22 changes: 22 additions & 0 deletions lib/vsprintf.c
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -936,6 +936,8 @@ char *uuid_string(char *buf, char *end, const u8 *addr,
return string(buf, end, uuid, spec);
}

int kptr_restrict = 1;

/*
* Show a '%p' thing. A kernel extension is that the '%p' is followed
* by an extra set of alphanumeric characters that are extended format
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -979,6 +981,7 @@ char *uuid_string(char *buf, char *end, const u8 *addr,
* Implements a "recursive vsnprintf".
* Do not use this feature without some mechanism to verify the
* correctness of the format string and va_list arguments.
* - 'K' For a kernel pointer that should be hidden from unprivileged users
*
* Note: The difference between 'S' and 'F' is that on ia64 and ppc64
* function pointers are really function descriptors, which contain a
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -1035,6 +1038,25 @@ char *pointer(const char *fmt, char *buf, char *end, void *ptr,
return buf + vsnprintf(buf, end - buf,
((struct va_format *)ptr)->fmt,
*(((struct va_format *)ptr)->va));
case 'K':
/*
* %pK cannot be used in IRQ context because its test
* for CAP_SYSLOG would be meaningless.
*/
if (in_irq() || in_serving_softirq() || in_nmi()) {
if (spec.field_width == -1)
spec.field_width = 2 * sizeof(void *);
return string(buf, end, "pK-error", spec);
} else if ((kptr_restrict == 0) ||
(kptr_restrict == 1 &&
has_capability_noaudit(current, CAP_SYSLOG)))
break;

if (spec.field_width == -1) {
spec.field_width = 2 * sizeof(void *);
spec.flags |= ZEROPAD;
}
return number(buf, end, 0, spec);
}
spec.flags |= SMALL;
if (spec.field_width == -1) {
Expand Down

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