Re: [PATCH v4] mm/vmalloc: randomize vmalloc() allocations

[Uladzislau Rezki <urezki@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 09:16:26AM -0700, Kees Cook wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 01:24:10PM +0100, Uladzislau Rezki wrote:
> > On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 11:04:42AM +0200, Topi Miettinen wrote:
> > > What's the problem with that? It seems to me that nothing relies on specific
> > > addresses of the chunks, so it should be possible to randomize these too.
> > > Also the alignment is honored.
> > > 
> > My concern are:
> > 
> > - it is not a vmalloc allocator;
> > - per-cpu allocator allocates chunks, thus it might be it happens only once. It does not allocate it often;
> 
> That's actually the reason to randomize it: if it always ends up in the
> same place at every boot, it becomes a stable target for attackers.
> 
Probably we can randomize a base address only once when pcpu-allocator
allocates a fist chunk during the boot.

> > - changing it will likely introduce issues you are not aware of;
> > - it is not supposed to be interacting with vmalloc allocator. Read the
> >   comment under pcpu_get_vm_areas();
> > 
> > Therefore i propose just not touch it.
> 
> How about splitting it from this patch instead? Then it can get separate
> testing, etc.
> 
It should be split as well as tested.

--
Vlad Rezki