Re: [PATCH v1 1/2] mm: Implement memory-deny-write-execute as a prctl

From: Catalin Marinas
Date: Tue Nov 15 2022 - 10:36:03 EST


On Sat, Nov 12, 2022 at 08:11:24AM +0200, Topi Miettinen wrote:
> On 10.11.2022 14.03, Catalin Marinas wrote:
> > On Thu, Nov 10, 2022 at 11:27:14AM +0000, Joey Gouly wrote:
> > > On Fri, Oct 28, 2022 at 11:51:00AM -0700, Kees Cook wrote:
> > > > On Wed, Oct 26, 2022 at 04:04:56PM +0100, Joey Gouly wrote:
> > > > > diff --git a/mm/mmap.c b/mm/mmap.c
> > > > > index 099468aee4d8..42eaf6683216 100644
> > > > > --- a/mm/mmap.c
> > > > > +++ b/mm/mmap.c
> > > > > @@ -1409,6 +1409,9 @@ unsigned long do_mmap(struct file *file, unsigned long addr,
> > > > > vm_flags |= VM_NORESERVE;
> > > > > }
> > > > > + if (map_deny_write_exec(NULL, vm_flags))
> > > > > + return -EACCES;
> > > > > +
> > > >
> > > > This seems like the wrong place to do the check -- that the vma argument
> > > > is a hard-coded "NULL" is evidence that something is wrong. Shouldn't
> > > > it live in mmap_region()? What happens with MAP_FIXED, when there is
> > > > an underlying vma? i.e. an MAP_FIXED will, I think, bypass the intended
> > > > check. For example, we had "c" above:
> > > >
> > > > c) mmap(PROT_READ);
> > > > mprotect(PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC); // fails
> > > >
> > > > But this would allow another case:
> > > >
> > > > e) addr = mmap(..., PROT_READ, ...);
> > > > mmap(addr, ..., PROT_READ | PROT_EXEC, MAP_FIXED, ...); // passes
> > >
> > > I can move the check into mmap_region() but it won't fix the MAP_FIXED
> > > example that you showed here.
> > >
> > > mmap_region() calls do_mas_munmap(..) which will unmap overlapping regions.
> > > However the `vma` for the 'old' region is not kept around, and a new vma will
> > > be allocated later on "vma = vm_area_alloc(mm);", and the vm_flags are just set
> > > to what is passed into mmap_region(), so map_deny_write_exec(vma, vm_flags)
> > > will just be as good as passing NULL.
> > >
> > > It's possible to save the vm_flags from the region that is unmapped, but Catalin
> > > suggested it might be better if that is part of a later extension, what do you
> > > think?
> >
> > I thought initially we should keep the behaviour close to what systemd
> > achieves via SECCOMP while only relaxing an mprotect(PROT_EXEC) if the
> > vma is already executable (i.e. check actual permission change not just
> > the PROT_* flags).
> >
> > We could pass the old vm_flags for that region (and maybe drop the vma
> > pointer entirely, just check old and new vm_flags). But this feels like
> > tightening slightly systemd's MDWE approach. If user-space doesn't get
> > confused by this, I'm fine to go with it. Otherwise we can add a new
> > flag later for this behaviour
> >
> > I guess that's more of a question for Topi on whether point tightening
> > point (e) is feasible/desirable.
>
> I think we want 1:1 compatibility with seccomp() for the basic version, so
> MAP_FIXED shouldn't change the verdict. Later we can introduce more versions
> (perhaps even less strict, too) when it's requested by configuration, like
> MemoryDenyWriteExecute=[relaxed | strict].

Are you ok with allowing mprotect(PROT_EXEC|PROT_BTI) if the mapping is
already PROT_EXEC? Or you'd rather reject that as well?

--
Catalin