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x86/acpi: check rsdp address received via bootparams to be valid

PATCH In review Juergen Gross 3 participants 11 messages Jan 16, 2018 – Feb 13, 2018

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#0 lore raw

PATCH 1/1 x86/acpi: check rsdp address received via bootparams to be valid

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

---
To be applied on top of my RSDP series currently in tip.git x86/boot Mike Galbraith has tested this patch to repair his broken boot

---
 drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 drivers/acpi/osl.c             |  2 +-
 include/acpi/acpixf.h          |  5 +++++
 3 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +36 -0
index f9f9a7da2cad..9edc71780a38 100644
@@ -249,6 +249,42 @@ ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_find_root_pointer)
 
 /*******************************************************************************
  *
+ * FUNCTION:    acpi_verify_root_pointer
+ *
+ *
+ * PARAMETERS:  rsdp_address        - Pointer to suspected RSDP
+ *
+ * RETURN:      AE_OK if rsdp_address really points to a RSDP, AE_NOT_FOUND
+ *              else
+ *
+ * DESCRIPTION: Verify a physical address being a valid RSDP
+ *
+ ******************************************************************************/
+
+acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
+acpi_verify_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address rsdp_address)
+{
+	acpi_status status;
+	struct acpi_table_rsdp *rsdp;
+
+	ACPI_FUNCTION_TRACE(acpi_verify_root_pointer);
+
+	rsdp = acpi_os_map_memory(rsdp_address, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+	if (!rsdp)
+		return_ACPI_STATUS(AE_NO_MEMORY);
+
+	status = acpi_tb_validate_rsdp(rsdp);
+
+	acpi_os_unmap_memory(rsdp, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+	return_ACPI_STATUS(status);
+}
+
+ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_verify_root_pointer)
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ *
  * FUNCTION:    acpi_tb_scan_memory_for_rsdp
  *
  * PARAMETERS:  start_address       - Starting pointer for search
drivers/acpi/osl.c +1 -1
index 2b77db914752..facff5c11f32 100644
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ acpi_physical_address __init acpi_os_get_root_pointer(void)
 		return acpi_rsdp;
 #endif
 	pa = acpi_arch_get_root_pointer();
-	if (pa)
+	if (pa && acpi_verify_root_pointer(pa) == AE_OK)
 		return pa;
 
 	if (efi_enabled(EFI_CONFIG_TABLES)) {
include/acpi/acpixf.h +5 -0
index e1dd1a8d42b6..1edc47bd13c1 100644
@@ -505,6 +505,11 @@ ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
 ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
 			    acpi_find_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address
 						   *rsdp_address))
+
+ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_OK(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
+			acpi_verify_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address
+						 rsdp_address))
+
 ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status
 			     acpi_get_table_header(acpi_string signature,
 						   u32 instance,
Signature · 1 line
2.13.6
#1 lore raw
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

Thanks,

Ingo

#2 lore raw
Quoted 11 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Looks like random noise. On Mike's system it was 0x000000000151.

Quoted 2 lines

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

It validates the RSDP has the correct 8 byte eye catcher in it and the checksum of the structure is correct. Searching the RSDP by scanning memory is using the same checks, so I guess this ought to be okay. Odds are about 1 : 2^80 for false positives.

Juergen

#3 lore raw
Quoted 15 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 11 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Looks like random noise. On Mike's system it was 0x000000000151.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 2 lines

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

It validates the RSDP has the correct 8 byte eye catcher in it and the checksum of the structure is correct. Searching the RSDP by scanning memory is using the same checks, so I guess this ought to be okay. Odds are about 1 : 2^80 for false positives.

Ok, this should work - but only because the RSDP is defined in such a robust fashion.

The boot protocol extension is still fragile: what I worry about is that if we start relying on the extended boot protocol with widespread installed base of out of spec Grub2 loaders, other extensions (which cannot be sanity checked) would be less robust.

Is there a way to detect the broken Grub2 versions somehow and just limit the boot protocol for them?

The other solution would be to just discontinue this boot protocol extension and define a new one.

Thanks,

Ingo

#4 lore raw
Quoted 34 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 15 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 11 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Looks like random noise. On Mike's system it was 0x000000000151.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 2 lines

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

It validates the RSDP has the correct 8 byte eye catcher in it and the checksum of the structure is correct. Searching the RSDP by scanning memory is using the same checks, so I guess this ought to be okay. Odds are about 1 : 2^80 for false positives.

Ok, this should work - but only because the RSDP is defined in such a robust fashion.

The boot protocol extension is still fragile: what I worry about is that if we start relying on the extended boot protocol with widespread installed base of out of spec Grub2 loaders, other extensions (which cannot be sanity checked) would be less robust.

Quoted 5 lines

Is there a way to detect the broken Grub2 versions somehow and just limit the boot protocol for them?

The other solution would be to just discontinue this boot protocol extension and define a new one.

I think the best way to do it would be to let grub2 report the version of the protocol it is honoring. This reported version should not be higher than that of the kernel. The kernel would then know which fields of setup_header are known by grub2 and thus can be trusted to be correct.

I can modify my patch series to add the grub2 version information before the new rsdp_address field so this band-aid patch won't be required.

What do you think?

Juergen

#5 lore raw
Quoted 47 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 34 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 15 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 11 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Looks like random noise. On Mike's system it was 0x000000000151.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 2 lines

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

It validates the RSDP has the correct 8 byte eye catcher in it and the checksum of the structure is correct. Searching the RSDP by scanning memory is using the same checks, so I guess this ought to be okay. Odds are about 1 : 2^80 for false positives.

Ok, this should work - but only because the RSDP is defined in such a robust fashion.

The boot protocol extension is still fragile: what I worry about is that if we start relying on the extended boot protocol with widespread installed base of out of spec Grub2 loaders, other extensions (which cannot be sanity checked) would be less robust.

Quoted 5 lines

Is there a way to detect the broken Grub2 versions somehow and just limit the boot protocol for them?

The other solution would be to just discontinue this boot protocol extension and define a new one.

I think the best way to do it would be to let grub2 report the version of the protocol it is honoring. This reported version should not be higher than that of the kernel. The kernel would then know which fields of setup_header are known by grub2 and thus can be trusted to be correct.

Quoted 4 lines

I can modify my patch series to add the grub2 version information before the new rsdp_address field so this band-aid patch won't be required.

What do you think?

Such an approach would be a lot more future proof I think - except that I don't think the ABI should be 'version' based but 'size' based, like sys_sched_getattr().

The idea is that we introduce a 'size' field in the existing boot params, which would be zero for old bootloaders. (Is such a free field available?)

The boot loader puts the boot parameter structure size it currently supports, and the kernel reads it and acts accordingly.

This is flexible in a both forwards and backwards ABI-compatible manner, i.e. old kernel could run with new boot loader and old bootloader could run with new kernel, while having the maximum common set of boot protocol features supported.

If such an interface would be possible to create, that is.

Thanks,

Ingo

#6 lore raw
Quoted 50 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 47 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 34 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 15 lines · Juergen Gross
Quoted 11 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 5 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

Exactly what kind of values do those Grub2 versions put into that field? Pointer to something, or random noise?

Looks like random noise. On Mike's system it was 0x000000000151.

Quoted 7 lines
Quoted 2 lines

Also, what exactly does 'validation' mean, how robustly does it filter out of spec uses of the boot protocol?

It validates the RSDP has the correct 8 byte eye catcher in it and the checksum of the structure is correct. Searching the RSDP by scanning memory is using the same checks, so I guess this ought to be okay. Odds are about 1 : 2^80 for false positives.

Ok, this should work - but only because the RSDP is defined in such a robust fashion.

The boot protocol extension is still fragile: what I worry about is that if we start relying on the extended boot protocol with widespread installed base of out of spec Grub2 loaders, other extensions (which cannot be sanity checked) would be less robust.

Quoted 5 lines

Is there a way to detect the broken Grub2 versions somehow and just limit the boot protocol for them?

The other solution would be to just discontinue this boot protocol extension and define a new one.

I think the best way to do it would be to let grub2 report the version of the protocol it is honoring. This reported version should not be higher than that of the kernel. The kernel would then know which fields of setup_header are known by grub2 and thus can be trusted to be correct.

Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 4 lines

I can modify my patch series to add the grub2 version information before the new rsdp_address field so this band-aid patch won't be required.

What do you think?

Such an approach would be a lot more future proof I think - except that I don't think the ABI should be 'version' based but 'size' based, like sys_sched_getattr().

Hmm, the interface from the kernel to the bootloader already has the version in it. So it would be more natural to use the same kind of information in the other direction, too.

Quoted 2 lines

The idea is that we introduce a 'size' field in the existing boot params, which would be zero for old bootloaders. (Is such a free field available?)

No. Look in arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/bootparam.h for struct setup_header.

Quoted 2 lines

The boot loader puts the boot parameter structure size it currently supports, and the kernel reads it and acts accordingly.

And here the problems begin: lets say current kernel knows about setup_header size of 200 bytes. The boot loader is writing 300 into the size field. Does this mean the boot loader is very new, or did it just write garbage into the size field?

Quoted 5 lines

This is flexible in a both forwards and backwards ABI-compatible manner, i.e. old kernel could run with new boot loader and old bootloader could run with new kernel, while having the maximum common set of boot protocol features supported.

If such an interface would be possible to create, that is.

What I suggested (adding the boot loader version after the current end) won't work. We need some kind of feedback in the current header, as otherwise we can never be sure whether the feedback is garbage or real.

So what about the following:

Quoted 1 line

From version 0x020e on (current version without my patches is 0x020d)

the boot loader will write its supported version or'ed with 0x8000 into the same version field. So we can be sure any added fields are filled with real data or the information has been evaluated by the boot loader, if the returned version included that field. If the boot loader finds the kernel supports a version < 0x020e it won't return its supported version.

Juergen

#7 lore raw
Quoted 9 lines · Juergen Gross

So what about the following:

From version 0x020e on (current version without my patches is 0x020d) the boot loader will write its supported version or'ed with 0x8000 into the same version field. So we can be sure any added fields are filled with real data or the information has been evaluated by the boot loader, if the returned version included that field. If the boot loader finds the kernel supports a version < 0x020e it won't return its supported version.

This seems like a usable workaround to me, as long as everyone involved agrees with it.

I've removed the patches for the time being.

Thanks,

Ingo

#8 lore raw
Quoted 13 lines · Ingo Molnar
Quoted 9 lines · Juergen Gross

So what about the following:

From version 0x020e on (current version without my patches is 0x020d) the boot loader will write its supported version or'ed with 0x8000 into the same version field. So we can be sure any added fields are filled with real data or the information has been evaluated by the boot loader, if the returned version included that field. If the boot loader finds the kernel supports a version < 0x020e it won't return its supported version.

Quoted 2 lines

This seems like a usable workaround to me, as long as everyone involved agrees with it.

Okay, thanks for the feedback.

I'll go that route.

Quoted 1 line

I've removed the patches for the time being.

Seems a sensible thing to do.

Juergen

#9 lore raw
In reply to Juergen Gross
Quoted 21 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

---
To be applied on top of my RSDP series currently in tip.git x86/boot Mike Galbraith has tested this patch to repair his broken boot

---
 drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 drivers/acpi/osl.c             |  2 +-
 include/acpi/acpixf.h          |  5 +++++
 3 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +0 -0
index f9f9a7da2cad..9edc71780a38 100644

drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_find_root_pointer) · line 252

Quoted 4 lines
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +1 -0
@@ -249,6 +249,42 @@ ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_find_root_pointer)
 
 /*******************************************************************************
  *
+ * FUNCTION:    acpi_verify_root_pointer

Why do you want this to go into ACPICA?

Quoted 43 lines
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +35 -0
+ *
+ *
+ * PARAMETERS:  rsdp_address        - Pointer to suspected RSDP
+ *
+ * RETURN:      AE_OK if rsdp_address really points to a RSDP, AE_NOT_FOUND
+ *              else
+ *
+ * DESCRIPTION: Verify a physical address being a valid RSDP
+ *
+ ******************************************************************************/
+
+acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
+acpi_verify_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address rsdp_address)
+{
+       acpi_status status;
+       struct acpi_table_rsdp *rsdp;
+
+       ACPI_FUNCTION_TRACE(acpi_verify_root_pointer);
+
+       rsdp = acpi_os_map_memory(rsdp_address, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+       if (!rsdp)
+               return_ACPI_STATUS(AE_NO_MEMORY);
+
+       status = acpi_tb_validate_rsdp(rsdp);
+
+       acpi_os_unmap_memory(rsdp, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+       return_ACPI_STATUS(status);
+}
+
+ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_verify_root_pointer)
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ *
  * FUNCTION:    acpi_tb_scan_memory_for_rsdp
  *
  * PARAMETERS:  start_address       - Starting pointer for search
drivers/acpi/osl.c +0 -0
index 2b77db914752..facff5c11f32 100644

drivers/acpi/osl.c acpi_physical_address __init acpi_os_get_root_pointer(void) · line 204

Quoted 5 lines
drivers/acpi/osl.c +1 -1
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ acpi_physical_address __init acpi_os_get_root_pointer(void)
                return acpi_rsdp;
 #endif
        pa = acpi_arch_get_root_pointer();
-       if (pa)
+       if (pa && acpi_verify_root_pointer(pa) == AE_OK)

All things needed could just be done locally in this file.

Quoted 20 lines
drivers/acpi/osl.c +0 -0
                return pa;
 
        if (efi_enabled(EFI_CONFIG_TABLES)) {
include/acpi/acpixf.h +5 -1
index e1dd1a8d42b6..1edc47bd13c1 100644
@@ -505,6 +505,11 @@ ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
 ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
                            acpi_find_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address
                                                   *rsdp_address))
+
+ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_OK(acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
+                       acpi_verify_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address
+                                                rsdp_address))
+
 ACPI_EXTERNAL_RETURN_STATUS(acpi_status
                             acpi_get_table_header(acpi_string signature,
                                                   u32 instance,
--
#10 lore raw
Quoted 23 lines · Rafael J. Wysocki
Quoted 22 lines · Juergen Gross

There seem to exist several grub2 versions trashing boot_params.hdr.acpi_rsdp_addr.

So don't just believe this address to be valid, but verify it pointing to a valid RSDP table.

---
To be applied on top of my RSDP series currently in tip.git x86/boot Mike Galbraith has tested this patch to repair his broken boot

---
 drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 drivers/acpi/osl.c             |  2 +-
 include/acpi/acpixf.h          |  5 +++++
 3 files changed, 42 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +0 -0
index f9f9a7da2cad..9edc71780a38 100644
@@ -249,6 +249,42 @@ ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_find_root_pointer)
 
Quoted 5 lines

drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_find_root_pointer) · line 252

Quoted 3 lines
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +1 -0
 /*******************************************************************************
  *
+ * FUNCTION:    acpi_verify_root_pointer

Why do you want this to go into ACPICA?

It seemed to fit in here.

Quoted 42 lines
Quoted 42 lines
drivers/acpi/acpica/tbxfroot.c +35 -0
+ *
+ *
+ * PARAMETERS:  rsdp_address        - Pointer to suspected RSDP
+ *
+ * RETURN:      AE_OK if rsdp_address really points to a RSDP, AE_NOT_FOUND
+ *              else
+ *
+ * DESCRIPTION: Verify a physical address being a valid RSDP
+ *
+ ******************************************************************************/
+
+acpi_status ACPI_INIT_FUNCTION
+acpi_verify_root_pointer(acpi_physical_address rsdp_address)
+{
+       acpi_status status;
+       struct acpi_table_rsdp *rsdp;
+
+       ACPI_FUNCTION_TRACE(acpi_verify_root_pointer);
+
+       rsdp = acpi_os_map_memory(rsdp_address, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+       if (!rsdp)
+               return_ACPI_STATUS(AE_NO_MEMORY);
+
+       status = acpi_tb_validate_rsdp(rsdp);
+
+       acpi_os_unmap_memory(rsdp, sizeof(*rsdp));
+
+       return_ACPI_STATUS(status);
+}
+
+ACPI_EXPORT_SYMBOL_INIT(acpi_verify_root_pointer)
+
+/*******************************************************************************
+ *
  * FUNCTION:    acpi_tb_scan_memory_for_rsdp
  *
  * PARAMETERS:  start_address       - Starting pointer for search
drivers/acpi/osl.c +0 -0
index 2b77db914752..facff5c11f32 100644
Quoted 8 lines

drivers/acpi/osl.c acpi_physical_address __init acpi_os_get_root_pointer(void) · line 204

Quoted 6 lines
drivers/acpi/osl.c +1 -1
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ acpi_physical_address __init acpi_os_get_root_pointer(void)
                return acpi_rsdp;
 #endif
        pa = acpi_arch_get_root_pointer();
-       if (pa)
+       if (pa && acpi_verify_root_pointer(pa) == AE_OK)

All things needed could just be done locally in this file.

Okay, if you prefer it this way I can move acpi_verify_root_pointer() to osl.c.

Juergen