Re: [PATCH] ARM: mm: add testcases for RODATA

Russell King - ARM Linux
2017-01-18T22:36:30Z

On Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 11:20:54AM -0800, Laura Abbott wrote:
> On 01/18/2017 05:53 AM, Jinbum Park wrote:
> > diff --git a/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h b/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
> > index bdd283b..741e2e8 100644
> > --- a/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
> > +++ b/arch/arm/include/asm/cacheflush.h
> > @@ -498,6 +498,16 @@ static inline void set_kernel_text_rw(void) { }
> > static inline void set_kernel_text_ro(void) { }
> > #endif
> >
> > +#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA_TEST
> > +extern const int rodata_test_data;
> > +int rodata_test(void);
> > +#else
> > +static inline int rodata_test(void)
> > +{
> > + return 0;
> > +}
> > +#endif
> > +

I don't see why this needs to be in cacheflush.h - it doesn't seem to
have anything to do with cache flushing, and placing it in here means
that if you change the state of CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA_TEST, most likely
the entire kernel gets rebuilt. Please put it in a separate header
file.

> > diff --git a/arch/arm/mm/init.c b/arch/arm/mm/init.c
> > index 4127f57..3c15f3b 100644
> > --- a/arch/arm/mm/init.c
> > +++ b/arch/arm/mm/init.c
> > @@ -716,6 +716,7 @@ void fix_kernmem_perms(void)
> > int __mark_rodata_ro(void *unused)
> > {
> > update_sections_early(ro_perms, ARRAY_SIZE(ro_perms));
> > + rodata_test();
>
> We don't do anything with this return value, should we at least
> spit out a warning?
>
> > return 0;
> > }
> >
> > @@ -740,6 +741,11 @@ void set_kernel_text_ro(void)
> > static inline void fix_kernmem_perms(void) { }
> > #endif /* CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA */
> >
> > +#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_RODATA_TEST
> > +const int rodata_test_data = 0xC3;
>
> This isn't accessed outside of test_rodata.c, it can just
> be moved there.

I think the intention was to place it in some .c file which gets built
into the kernel, rather than a module, so testing whether read-only
data in the kernel image is read-only.

If it's placed in a module, then you're only checking that read-only
data in the module is read-only (which is another test which should
be done!)

In any case, placing it in arch/arm/mm/init.c seems unnecessary, I'd
rather it went in its own separate file.

> > diff --git a/arch/arm/mm/test_rodata.c b/arch/arm/mm/test_rodata.c
> > new file mode 100644
> > index 0000000..133d092
> > --- /dev/null
> > +++ b/arch/arm/mm/test_rodata.c
> > @@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
> > +/*
> > + * test_rodata.c: functional test for mark_rodata_ro function
> > + *
> > + * (C) Copyright 2017 Jinbum Park <jinb.park7@gmail.com>
> > + *
> > + * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
> > + * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
> > + * as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2
> > + * of the License.
> > + */
> > +#include <asm/cacheflush.h>
> > +#include <asm/sections.h>
> > +
> > +int rodata_test(void)
> > +{
> > + unsigned long result;
> > + unsigned long start, end;
> > +
> > + /* test 1: read the value */
> > + /* If this test fails, some previous testrun has clobbered the state */
> > +
> > + if (!rodata_test_data) {
> > + pr_err("rodata_test: test 1 fails (start data)\n");
> > + return -ENODEV;
> > + }
> > +
> > + /* test 2: write to the variable; this should fault */
> > + /*
> > + * If this test fails, we managed to overwrite the data
> > + *
> > + * This is written in assembly to be able to catch the
> > + * exception that is supposed to happen in the correct
> > + * case
> > + */
> > +
> > + result = 1;
> > + asm volatile(
> > + "0: str %[zero], [%[rodata_test]]\n"
> > + " mov %[rslt], %[zero]\n"
> > + "1:\n"
> > + ".pushsection .text.fixup,\"ax\"\n"
> > + ".align 2\n"
> > + "2:\n"
> > + "b 1b\n"
> > + ".popsection\n"
> > + ".pushsection __ex_table,\"a\"\n"
> > + ".align 3\n"
> > + ".long 0b, 2b\n"
> > + ".popsection\n"
> > + : [rslt] "=r" (result)
> > + : [zero] "r" (0UL), [rodata_test] "r" (&rodata_test_data)
> > + );
> > +
> > + if (!result) {
> > + pr_err("rodata_test: test data was not read only\n");
> > + return -ENODEV;
> > + }
> > +
> > + /* test 3: check the value hasn't changed */
> > + /* If this test fails, we managed to overwrite the data */
> > + if (!rodata_test_data) {
> > + pr_err("rodata_test: Test 3 fails (end data)\n");
> > + return -ENODEV;
> > + }
>
> I'm confused why we are checking this again when we have the result
> check above. Is there a case where we would still have result = 1
> but rodata_test_data overwritten?

Seems sensible when you consider that "result" tests that _a_ fault
happened. Verifying that the data wasn't changed seems like a belt
and braces approach, which ensures that the location really has not
been modified.

IOW, the test is "make sure that read-only data is not modified" not
"make sure that writing to read-only data causes a fault". They're
two subtly different tests.

> As Mark mentioned, this is possibly redundant with LKDTM. It
> would be good to explain what benefit this is bringing in addition
> to LKDTM.

Finding https://lwn.net/Articles/198690/ and github links, it doesn't
seem obvious that LKDTM actually does this. It seems more focused on
creating crashdumps than testing that (in this instance) write
protection works - and it seems to be a destructive test.

--
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