From: Josh Law <objecting@objecting.org>
To: Masami Hiramatsu <mhiramat@kernel.org>,
Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Steven Rostedt <rostedt@goodmis.org>,
linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-trace-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Josh Law <objecting@objecting.org>
Subject: [PATCH v8 1/2] lib/bootconfig: check xbc_init_node() return in override path
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:58:46 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260318155847.78065-2-objecting@objecting.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260318155847.78065-1-objecting@objecting.org>
The ':=' override path in xbc_parse_kv() calls xbc_init_node() to
re-initialize an existing value node but does not check the return
value. If xbc_init_node() fails (data offset out of range), parsing
silently continues with stale node data.
Add the missing error check to match the xbc_add_node() call path
which already checks for failure.
In practice, a bootconfig using ':=' to override a value near the
32KB data limit could silently retain the old value, meaning a
security-relevant boot parameter override (e.g., a trace filter or
debug setting) would not take effect as intended.
Fixes: e5efaeb8a8f5 ("bootconfig: Support mixing a value and subkeys under a key")
Signed-off-by: Josh Law <objecting@objecting.org>
---
lib/bootconfig.c | 3 ++-
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/lib/bootconfig.c b/lib/bootconfig.c
index 1adf592cc038..ecc4e8d93547 100644
--- a/lib/bootconfig.c
+++ b/lib/bootconfig.c
@@ -728,7 +728,8 @@ static int __init xbc_parse_kv(char **k, char *v, int op)
if (op == ':') {
unsigned short nidx = child->next;
- xbc_init_node(child, v, XBC_VALUE);
+ if (xbc_init_node(child, v, XBC_VALUE) < 0)
+ return xbc_parse_error("Failed to override value", v);
child->next = nidx; /* keep subkeys */
goto array;
}
--
2.34.1
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-03-18 15:59 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 4+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-18 15:58 [PATCH v8 0/2] bootconfig: targeted fixes for stable Josh Law
2026-03-18 15:58 ` Josh Law [this message]
2026-03-18 15:58 ` [PATCH v8 2/2] tools/bootconfig: fix fd leak in load_xbc_file() on fstat failure Josh Law
2026-03-18 20:02 ` Markus Elfring
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