[PATCH 2/2] x86, vdso: mark vDSO read-only after init

Kees Cook
2015-11-24T21:41:27Z

The vDSO does not need to be writable after __init, so mark it as
__read_only. The result kills the exploit method of writing to the vDSO
from kernel space resulting in userspace executing the modified code,
as shown here to bypass SMEP restrictions: http://itszn.com/blog/?p=21

The memory map (with added vDSO address reporting) shows the vDSO moving
into read-only memory:

Before:
[ 0.143067] vDSO @ ffffffff82004000
[ 0.143551] vDSO @ ffffffff82006000
---[ High Kernel Mapping ]---
0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffff81000000 16M pmd
0xffffffff81000000-0xffffffff81800000 8M ro PSE GLB x pmd
0xffffffff81800000-0xffffffff819f3000 1996K ro GLB x pte
0xffffffff819f3000-0xffffffff81a00000 52K ro NX pte
0xffffffff81a00000-0xffffffff81e00000 4M ro PSE GLB NX pmd
0xffffffff81e00000-0xffffffff81e05000 20K ro GLB NX pte
0xffffffff81e05000-0xffffffff82000000 2028K ro NX pte
0xffffffff82000000-0xffffffff8214f000 1340K RW GLB NX pte
0xffffffff8214f000-0xffffffff82281000 1224K RW NX pte
0xffffffff82281000-0xffffffff82400000 1532K RW GLB NX pte
0xffffffff82400000-0xffffffff83200000 14M RW PSE GLB NX pmd
0xffffffff83200000-0xffffffffc0000000 974M pmd

After:
[ 0.145062] vDSO @ ffffffff81da1000
[ 0.146057] vDSO @ ffffffff81da4000
---[ High Kernel Mapping ]---
0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffff81000000 16M pmd
0xffffffff81000000-0xffffffff81800000 8M ro PSE GLB x pmd
0xffffffff81800000-0xffffffff819f3000 1996K ro GLB x pte
0xffffffff819f3000-0xffffffff81a00000 52K ro NX pte
0xffffffff81a00000-0xffffffff81e00000 4M ro PSE GLB NX pmd
0xffffffff81e00000-0xffffffff81e0b000 44K ro GLB NX pte
0xffffffff81e0b000-0xffffffff82000000 2004K ro NX pte
0xffffffff82000000-0xffffffff8214c000 1328K RW GLB NX pte
0xffffffff8214c000-0xffffffff8227e000 1224K RW NX pte
0xffffffff8227e000-0xffffffff82400000 1544K RW GLB NX pte
0xffffffff82400000-0xffffffff83200000 14M RW PSE GLB NX pmd
0xffffffff83200000-0xffffffffc0000000 974M pmd

Based on work by Brad Spengler.

Signed-off-by: Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>
---
arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h | 4 ++--
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h b/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
index 0224987556ce..677ce3ac4d34 100644
--- a/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
+++ b/arch/x86/entry/vdso/vdso2c.h
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ static void BITSFUNC(go)(void *raw_addr, size_t raw_len,
fprintf(outfile, "#include <asm/vdso.h>\n");
fprintf(outfile, "\n");
fprintf(outfile,
- "static unsigned char raw_data[%lu] __page_aligned_data = {",
+ "static unsigned char raw_data[%lu] __read_only __aligned(PAGE_SIZE) = {",
mapping_size);
for (j = 0; j < stripped_len; j++) {
if (j % 10 == 0)
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ static void BITSFUNC(go)(void *raw_addr, size_t raw_len,
}
fprintf(outfile, "\n};\n\n");

- fprintf(outfile, "static struct page *pages[%lu];\n\n",
+ fprintf(outfile, "static struct page *pages[%lu] __read_only;\n\n",
mapping_size / 4096);

fprintf(outfile, "const struct vdso_image %s = {\n", name);
--
1.9.1