CVE-2022-49851

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

riscv: fix reserved memory setup

Currently, RISC-V sets up reserved memory using the early copy of the device tree. As a result, when trying to get a reserved memory region using of_reserved_mem_lookup(), the pointer to reserved memory regions is using the early, pre-virtual-memory address which causes a kernel panic when trying to use the buffers name:

Unable to handle kernel paging request at virtual address 00000000401c31ac Oops [#1] Modules linked in: CPU: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper Not tainted 6.0.0-rc1-00001-g0d9d6953d834 #1 Hardware name: Microchip PolarFire-SoC Icicle Kit (DT) epc : string+0x4a/0xea ra : vsnprintf+0x1e4/0x336 epc : ffffffff80335ea0 ra : ffffffff80338936 sp : ffffffff81203be0 gp : ffffffff812e0a98 tp : ffffffff8120de40 t0 : 0000000000000000 t1 : ffffffff81203e28 t2 : 7265736572203a46 s0 : ffffffff81203c20 s1 : ffffffff81203e28 a0 : ffffffff81203d22 a1 : 0000000000000000 a2 : ffffffff81203d08 a3 : 0000000081203d21 a4 : ffffffffffffffff a5 : 00000000401c31ac a6 : ffff0a00ffffff04 a7 : ffffffffffffffff s2 : ffffffff81203d08 s3 : ffffffff81203d00 s4 : 0000000000000008 s5 : ffffffff000000ff s6 : 0000000000ffffff s7 : 00000000ffffff00 s8 : ffffffff80d9821a s9 : ffffffff81203d22 s10: 0000000000000002 s11: ffffffff80d9821c t3 : ffffffff812f3617 t4 : ffffffff812f3617 t5 : ffffffff812f3618 t6 : ffffffff81203d08 status: 0000000200000100 badaddr: 00000000401c31ac cause: 000000000000000d [] vsnprintf+0x1e4/0x336 [] vprintk_store+0xf6/0x344 [] vprintk_emit+0x56/0x192 [] vprintk_default+0x16/0x1e [] vprintk+0x72/0x80 [] _printk+0x36/0x50 [] print_reserved_mem+0x1c/0x24 [] paging_init+0x528/0x5bc [] setup_arch+0xd0/0x592 [] start_kernel+0x82/0x73c

early_init_fdt_scan_reserved_mem() takes no arguments as it operates on initial_boot_params, which is populated by early_init_dt_verify(). On RISC-V, early_init_dt_verify() is called twice. Once, directly, in setup_arch() if CONFIG_BUILTIN_DTB is not enabled and once indirectly, very early in the boot process, by parse_dtb() when it calls early_init_dt_scan_nodes().

This first call uses dtb_early_va to set initial_boot_params, which is not usable later in the boot process when early_init_fdt_scan_reserved_mem() is called. On arm64 for example, the corresponding call to early_init_dt_scan_nodes() uses fixmap addresses and doesnt suffer the same fate.

Move early_init_fdt_scan_reserved_mem() further along the boot sequence, after the direct call to early_init_dt_verify() in setup_arch() so that the names use the correct virtual memory addresses. The above supposed that CONFIG_BUILTIN_DTB was not set, but should work equally in the case where it is - unflatted_and_copy_device_tree() also updates initial_boot_params.

Weakness

The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Assume all input is malicious. Use an “accept known good” input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
• When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, “boat” may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as “red” or “blue.”
• Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code’s environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
• To reduce the likelihood of introducing an out-of-bounds read, ensure that you validate and ensure correct calculations for any length argument, buffer size calculation, or offset. Be especially careful of relying on a sentinel (i.e. special character such as NUL) in untrusted inputs.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/540.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/50e63dd8ed92045eb70a72d7ec725488320fb68b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/518e49f0590de66555503aabe199ba8d3f2e24ac
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/93598deb101540c4f9e7de15099ea8255b965fc2
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/94ab8f88feb75e3b1486102c0c9c550f37d9d137