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From: Bryam Vargas <hexlabsecurity@proton.me>
To: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Cc: Dan Carpenter <error27@gmail.com>,
	Mark Greer <mgreer@animalcreek.com>,
	Vaibhav Agarwal <vaibhav.sr@gmail.com>,
	Johan Hovold <johan@kernel.org>, Alex Elder <elder@kernel.org>,
	linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-staging@lists.linux.dev,
	greybus-dev@lists.linaro.org, stable@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] greybus: audio: bound the topology section sizes against the fetched size
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:16:39 +0000	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260616081635.169787-1-hexlabsecurity@proton.me> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <2026061643-crowbar-handgrip-620d@gregkh>

Hi Greg, and thanks Dan,

>> Are you sure these checks will not overflow?
> Yep.  The cast to u64 ensures that.

Right, and to close the other side of the comparison too: `size` is a u16 and
the function already does `if (size < sizeof(*topo)) return -ENODATA;` above
this point, so `size - sizeof(*topo)` cannot underflow either. The left side is
the (u64) sum of four u32s (max ~2^34), so neither side wraps. The form
`sizeof(*topo) + sum > size` is exactly equivalent if it reads more clearly.

> But we trust the hardware to send us proper data, right?  If we don't trust
> modules, then there are lots of other places stuff like this needs to be
> fixed, how many data paths did you audit?

I audited the four size_* fields that gbaudio_tplg_parse_data() turns into
section offsets -- those are the only module-supplied values that feed directly
into unchecked pointer arithmetic (control/widget/route_offset are dai_offset
plus those le32s, then dereferenced as structs). I am not claiming a broader
greybus or topology-parser audit; that is welcome but separate.

It is less "modules are malicious" than "a malformed or buggy module response
should not walk the parser off a slab object" -- the same
untrusted-length-to-offset shape already hardened for USB/HID/BT descriptors.
If you would rather treat module data as trusted and drop the stable tag, that
is your call; I would keep the bound regardless, since it is one branch and the
offsets are otherwise completely unchecked.

> How did you find/fix this?  You need to list what tools helped you...

I do not have real greybus audio hardware, so I simulated the module side and
drove the negative case directly: a topology whose fetched `size` is small but
whose size_* fields are large -- exactly the invariant this patch enforces.
With that I reproduced the read two ways:

  - in-kernel under KASAN (7.1.0-rc5): slab-out-of-bounds 4 bytes past a
    kmalloc-64 object; the patched arm (-EINVAL) and an in-bounds arm are clean;
  - a userspace AddressSanitizer model of the process_header() offset walk,
    both -m32 and -m64.

Tools: a static read of the audio_gb.c -> audio_topology.c data flow, a litmus
greybus module under KASAN in a VM, and the userspace ASan harness. The
verifiable artifact is the KASAN splat (trimmed under the --- in the original
posting; full log on request).

Thanks,
Bryam


      parent reply	other threads:[~2026-06-16  8:17 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-06-16  6:06 [PATCH] greybus: audio: bound the topology section sizes against the fetched size Bryam Vargas via B4 Relay
2026-06-16  6:31 ` Greg Kroah-Hartman
2026-06-16  7:42   ` Dan Carpenter
2026-06-16  8:16   ` Bryam Vargas [this message]

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