Re: [PATCH bpf-next v2 2/3] bpf/verifier: Use kmalloc_size_roundup() to match ksize() usage

[Kees Cook]

On Tue, Nov 01, 2022 at 02:52:16PM +0100, Daniel Borkmann wrote:
> On 10/29/22 4:54 AM, Kees Cook wrote:
> > Round up allocations with kmalloc_size_roundup() so that the verifier's
> > use of ksize() is always accurate and no special handling of the memory
> > is needed by KASAN, UBSAN_BOUNDS, nor FORTIFY_SOURCE. Pass the new size
> > information back up to callers so they can use the space immediately,
> > so array resizing to happen less frequently as well.
> > 
> [...]
> 
> The commit message is a bit cryptic here without further context. Is this
> a bug fix or improvement? I read the latter, but it would be good to have

It's an improvement -- e.g. it depends on the recently added
kmalloc_size_roundup() helper.

> more context here for reviewers (maybe Link tag pointing to some discussion
> or the like). Also, why is the kmalloc_size_roundup() not hidden for kmalloc
> callers, isn't this a tree-wide issue?

The main issue is that _most_ allocation callers want an explicitly sized
allocation (and not "more"), and that dynamic runtime analysis tools
(e.g. KASAN, UBSAN_BOUNDS, FORTIFY_SOURCE, etc) are looking for precise
bounds checking (i.e. not something that is rounded up). A tiny handful
of allocations were doing an implicit alloc/realloc loop that actually
depended on ksize(), and didn't actually always call realloc. This has
created a long series of bugs and problems over many years related to the
runtime bounds checking, so these callers are finally being adjusted to
_not_ depend on the ksize() side-effect, by doing one of several things:

- tracking the allocation size precisely and just never calling ksize()
  at all[1].

- always calling realloc and not using ksize() at all. (This solution
  ends up actually be a subset of the next solution.)

- using kmalloc_size_roundup() to explicitly round up the desired
  allocation size immediately[2].

The bpf/verifier case is this another of this latter case.

Because some of the dynamic bounds checking depends on the size being an
_argument_ to an allocator function (i.e. see the __alloc_size attribute),
the ksize() users are rare, and it could waste local variables, it
was been deemed better to explicitly separate the rounding up from the
allocation itself[3].

Hopefully that helps clarify! :)

-Kees

[1] e.g.:
    https://git.kernel.org/linus/712f210a457d
    https://git.kernel.org/linus/72c08d9f4c72

[2] e.g.:
    https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net-next/c/12d6c1d3a2ad
    https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net-next/c/ab3f7828c979
    https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net-next/c/d6dd508080a3

[3] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/0ea1fc165a6c6117f982f4f135093e69cb884930.camel@xxxxxxxxxx/

-- 
Kees Cook