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authorNicolai Stange <nicstange@gmail.com>2016-03-22 14:11:14 +0100
committerGreg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>2016-04-12 14:14:21 -0700
commit49d200deaa680501f19a247b1fffb29301e51d2b (patch)
tree3cf2574b0751ddaf8af47d1e1da1aaa232adad99 /Documentation
parent9fd4dcece43a53e5a9e65a973df5693702ee6401 (diff)
debugfs: prevent access to removed files' private data
Upon return of debugfs_remove()/debugfs_remove_recursive(), it might still be attempted to access associated private file data through previously opened struct file objects. If that data has been freed by the caller of debugfs_remove*() in the meanwhile, the reading/writing process would either encounter a fault or, if the memory address in question has been reassigned again, unrelated data structures could get overwritten. However, since debugfs files are seldomly removed, usually from module exit handlers only, the impact is very low. Currently, there are ~1000 call sites of debugfs_create_file() spread throughout the whole tree and touching all of those struct file_operations in order to make them file removal aware by means of checking the result of debugfs_use_file_start() from within their methods is unfeasible. Instead, wrap the struct file_operations by a lifetime managing proxy at file open: - In debugfs_create_file(), the original fops handed in has got stashed away in ->d_fsdata already. - In debugfs_create_file(), install a proxy file_operations factory, debugfs_full_proxy_file_operations, at ->i_fop. This proxy factory has got an ->open() method only. It carries out some lifetime checks and if successful, dynamically allocates and sets up a new struct file_operations proxy at ->f_op. Afterwards, it forwards to the ->open() of the original struct file_operations in ->d_fsdata, if any. The dynamically set up proxy at ->f_op has got a lifetime managing wrapper set for each of the methods defined in the original struct file_operations in ->d_fsdata. Its ->release()er frees the proxy again and forwards to the original ->release(), if any. In order not to mislead the VFS layer, it is strictly necessary to leave those fields blank in the proxy that have been NULL in the original struct file_operations also, i.e. aren't supported. This is why there is a need for dynamically allocated proxies. The choice made not to allocate a proxy instance for every dentry at file creation, but for every struct file object instantiated thereof is justified by the expected usage pattern of debugfs, namely that in general very few files get opened more than once at a time. The wrapper methods set in the struct file_operations implement lifetime managing by means of the SRCU protection facilities already in place for debugfs: They set up a SRCU read side critical section and check whether the dentry is still alive by means of debugfs_use_file_start(). If so, they forward the call to the original struct file_operation stored in ->d_fsdata, still under the protection of the SRCU read side critical section. This SRCU read side critical section prevents any pending debugfs_remove() and friends to return to their callers. Since a file's private data must only be freed after the return of debugfs_remove(), the ongoing proxied call is guarded against any file removal race. If, on the other hand, the initial call to debugfs_use_file_start() detects that the dentry is dead, the wrapper simply returns -EIO and does not forward the call. Note that the ->poll() wrapper is special in that its signature does not allow for the return of arbitrary -EXXX values and thus, POLLHUP is returned here. In order not to pollute debugfs with wrapper definitions that aren't ever needed, I chose not to define a wrapper for every struct file_operations method possible. Instead, a wrapper is defined only for the subset of methods which are actually set by any debugfs users. Currently, these are: ->llseek() ->read() ->write() ->unlocked_ioctl() ->poll() The ->release() wrapper is special in that it does not protect the original ->release() in any way from dead files in order not to leak resources. Thus, any ->release() handed to debugfs must implement file lifetime management manually, if needed. For only 33 out of a total of 434 releasers handed in to debugfs, it could not be verified immediately whether they access data structures that might have been freed upon a debugfs_remove() return in the meanwhile. Export debugfs_use_file_start() and debugfs_use_file_finish() in order to allow any ->release() to manually implement file lifetime management. For a set of common cases of struct file_operations implemented by the debugfs_core itself, future patches will incorporate file lifetime management directly within those in order to allow for their unproxied operation. Rename the original, non-proxying "debugfs_create_file()" to "debugfs_create_file_unsafe()" and keep it for future internal use by debugfs itself. Factor out code common to both into the new __debugfs_create_file(). Signed-off-by: Nicolai Stange <nicstange@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
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