[RFC v5 PATCH 0/4] NOT FOR MERGE - ro protection for dynamic data

From: Igor Stoppa
Date: Tue Jun 06 2017 - 14:26:22 EST


This patchset introduces the possibility of protecting memory that has
been allocated dynamically.

The memory is managed in pools: when a pool is made R/O, all the memory
that is part of it, will become R/O.

A R/O pool can be destroyed to recover its memory, but it cannot be
turned back into R/W mode.

This is intentional. This feature is meant for data that doesn't need
further modifications, after initialization.

An example is provided, showing how to turn into a boot-time option the
writable state of the security hooks.
Prior to this patch, it was a compile-time option.

This is made possible, thanks to Tetsuo Handa's rework of the hooks
structure (included in the patchset).

Since the previous version, I have applied fixes for all the issues
discovered that had a clear resolution:

- %p -> pK
- make the feature depend on ARCH_HAS_SET_MEMORY
- fix the range of the page scanning for hardened user copy
- fixed pointer checking for NULL dereferencing


And a couple of issues I found myself:
- return NULL in case someone asks memory from a locked pool
- turn the "protected" flag into atomic type


Still open (at least I didn't get the impression there was a closure):
- need for specific __PMALLOC_ALIGNED ?
- is it really needed to unprotect a pool?
can't it wait for the implementation of write-seldom?


Igor Stoppa (3):
Protectable Memory Allocator
Protectable Memory Allocator - Debug interface
Make LSM Writable Hooks a command line option

Tetsuo Handa (1):
LSM: Convert security_hook_heads into explicit array of struct
list_head

include/linux/lsm_hooks.h | 412 ++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
include/linux/page-flags.h | 2 +
include/linux/pmalloc.h | 20 ++
include/trace/events/mmflags.h | 1 +
init/main.c | 2 +
mm/Kconfig | 11 ++
mm/Makefile | 1 +
mm/pmalloc.c | 340 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
mm/usercopy.c | 24 ++-
security/security.c | 49 +++--
10 files changed, 632 insertions(+), 230 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 include/linux/pmalloc.h
create mode 100644 mm/pmalloc.c

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2.9.3