* [PATCH] keys: big_key: Reserve the final quota before destroying the payload
@ 2026-10-16 4:00 Daehyeon Ko
2026-10-16 4:07 ` sashiko-bot
0 siblings, 1 reply; 2+ messages in thread
From: Daehyeon Ko @ 2026-10-16 4:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: David Howells, Jarkko Sakkinen
Cc: Paul Moore, James Morris, Serge E . Hallyn, Jason A . Donenfeld,
keyrings, linux-security-module, linux-kernel, stable
A big_key is charged a fixed 16 bytes of key quota, regardless of the
actual payload size. big_key_update() currently reserves the actual new
payload length before destroying the old payload, while the subsequent
generic_key_instantiate() reserves the fixed quota length.
For an update to a payload shorter than 16 bytes, the first reservation
temporarily returns quota. Another key operation by the same user can
consume that quota before generic_key_instantiate() tries to reserve it
again. If that second reservation fails, the key remains instantiated but
its old big_key payload has already been destroyed. Reading a
buffer-backed key or revoking a shmem-backed key then dereferences a NULL
payload pointer.
On a KASAN build, reading a buffer-backed key reports:
BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in big_key_read+0x110/0x310
Read of size 64 at addr 0000000000000000
...
big_key_read+0x110/0x310
keyctl_read_key+0x2da/0x550
Revoking a shmem-backed key reports, with oops=panic:
Oops: general protection fault
KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x68-0x6f]
RIP: vfs_truncate+0xa2/0x730
big_key_revoke+0xbd/0xe0
key_revoke+0xc0/0x1a0
Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception
Reserve the final fixed quota length before destroying the old payload.
The reservation in generic_key_instantiate() then has no quota delta and
cannot fail for this reason after the destructive step.
Fixes: b6f61c314649 ("keys: Implement update for the big_key type")
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Assisted-by: LLM
Signed-off-by: Daehyeon Ko <4ncienth@gmail.com>
---
security/keys/big_key.c | 2 +-
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/security/keys/big_key.c b/security/keys/big_key.c
index 268f702df380e..6aff1a73c7b38 100644
--- a/security/keys/big_key.c
+++ b/security/keys/big_key.c
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ int big_key_update(struct key *key, struct key_preparsed_payload *prep)
{
int ret;
- ret = key_payload_reserve(key, prep->datalen);
+ ret = key_payload_reserve(key, prep->quotalen);
if (ret < 0)
return ret;
--
2.55.0
^ permalink raw reply related [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
* Re: [PATCH] keys: big_key: Reserve the final quota before destroying the payload
2026-10-16 4:00 [PATCH] keys: big_key: Reserve the final quota before destroying the payload Daehyeon Ko
@ 2026-10-16 4:07 ` sashiko-bot
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: sashiko-bot @ 2026-10-16 4:07 UTC (permalink / raw)
Cc: linux-security-module
> A big_key is charged a fixed 16 bytes of key quota, regardless of the
> actual payload size. big_key_update() currently reserves the actual new
> payload length before destroying the old payload, while the subsequent
> generic_key_instantiate() reserves the fixed quota length.
>
> For an update to a payload shorter than 16 bytes, the first reservation
> temporarily returns quota. Another key operation by the same user can
> consume that quota before generic_key_instantiate() tries to reserve it
> again. If that second reservation fails, the key remains instantiated but
> its old big_key payload has already been destroyed. Reading a
> buffer-backed key or revoking a shmem-backed key then dereferences a NULL
> payload pointer.
>
> On a KASAN build, reading a buffer-backed key reports:
>
> [ ... ]
>
> Fixes: b6f61c314649 ("keys: Implement update for the big_key type")
> Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
> Assisted-by: LLM
> Signed-off-by: Daehyeon Ko <4ncienth@gmail.com>
Sashiko has reviewed this patch and found no issues. It looks great!
--
Sashiko AI review · https://sashiko.dev/#/patchset/20261016040004.324286-1-4ncienth@gmail.com?part=1
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