* [Hardening] drm/qxl: apply_reloc/apply_surf_reloc write dst_offset without validating against BO size
@ 2026-05-14 0:07 me
2026-05-14 4:57 ` Willy Tarreau
0 siblings, 1 reply; 2+ messages in thread
From: me @ 2026-05-14 0:07 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: security; +Cc: virtualization, berkantkoc
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# QXL DRM: `apply_reloc` and `apply_surf_reloc` write to `info->dst_offset` without validating against BO size
## Summary
The QXL DRM driver's relocation processing in `drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c` writes 64-bit and 32-bit values to `reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)` after mapping `info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK` into kernel space via `qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page`. The `dst_offset` is taken verbatim from the user-supplied `drm_qxl_reloc` ioctl argument and is never validated against the destination buffer object's size before the write.
An aspirational comment at the top of `apply_reloc` explicitly notes that "`dst` must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram", but the validation has not been implemented since the driver was introduced in 2013.
## Impact
This is **not** a host-VM-escape primitive (the writes hit guest-controlled VRAM emulated by QEMU, not host kernel memory). It is a **guest-side memory corruption** primitive:
- A guest userspace process with `DRM_AUTH` (any logged-in user) can write attacker-chosen 64-bit/32-bit values to arbitrary offsets within the QXL VRAM aperture.
- Targets reachable within the aperture include other guest processes' QXL buffer objects, QXL release-command BOs queued for the host, and ring buffers that QEMU consumes.
- Corrupting QXL command structures that QEMU/SPICE then parses **moves the attack surface** to QEMU's QXL parser (separate codebase; historically vulnerable). This kernel bug is therefore a viable priming primitive for a guest-to-host escape chain whose terminal step lives in QEMU.
CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write). Realistic CVSS 3.1: `AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H` ≈ **5.5 Medium** for the kernel-side bug in isolation. If chained with a QEMU QXL parser bug: higher.
This is submitted as **hardening / defense-in-depth**, not as a self-contained RCE/VM-escape claim.
## Affected versions
Linux mainline HEAD (audited 2026-05-13). The pattern is unchanged since the QXL DRM driver merged in v3.10 (2013). Commit history is sparse on this file; the issue is structural.
## Vulnerable code
`drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c:73-110`:
```c
struct qxl_reloc_info {
int type;
struct qxl_bo *dst_bo;
uint32_t dst_offset; /* <-- user-controlled, copied from drm_qxl_reloc.dst_offset (__u64) */
struct qxl_bo *src_bo;
int src_offset;
};
/*
* dst must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram (right now all bo's
* are on vram).
* *(dst + dst_off) = qxl_bo_physical_address(src, src_off)
*/
static void
apply_reloc(struct qxl_device *qdev, struct qxl_reloc_info *info)
{
void *reloc_page;
reloc_page = qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo,
info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK);
*(uint64_t *)(reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)) =
qxl_bo_physical_address(qdev, info->src_bo, info->src_offset);
qxl_bo_kunmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo, reloc_page);
}
```
`apply_surf_reloc` (Lines 98-110) has the identical pattern for a `uint32_t` write.
### How `dst_offset` reaches `apply_reloc`
The user-space struct is defined in `include/uapi/drm/qxl_drm.h`:
```c
struct drm_qxl_reloc {
__u64 src_offset;
__u64 dst_offset; /* user-controlled */
__u32 src_handle;
__u32 dst_handle;
__u32 reloc_type;
__u32 pad;
};
```
`qxl_process_single_command` (`qxl_ioctl.c:141-269`) copies the user `drm_qxl_reloc` array into `reloc_info`, narrows `dst_offset` from `__u64` to `uint32_t` (silent truncation -- still gives the attacker the full 32-bit / 4 GB range), and then calls `apply_reloc`/`apply_surf_reloc`. No bounds check against `dst_bo->tbo.base.size` exists anywhere in the call chain. `qxl_release_reserve_list` only handles TTM placement validation.
### Mapping behaviour
`qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page` (`drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_object.c`) computes `offset = (bo->tbo.resource->start << PAGE_SHIFT) + page_offset` and maps via `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` on the QXL device's full VRAM aperture (`vram_mapping`). The `BUG_ON(offset >= mapping->size)` inside `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` (see `include/linux/io-mapping.h`) only fires if the offset exceeds the *entire* aperture, not the specific BO. Writes within the aperture but outside the BO succeed and land on whatever data occupies those pages.
## Proposed fix
Add the validation the comment promised, in the per-reloc-info-fill loop in `qxl_process_single_command` (around line 228-244):
```c
+ if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_BO &&
+ (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint64_t) > reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
+ reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint64_t))) {
+ ret = -EINVAL;
+ goto out_free_bos;
+ }
+ if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_SURF &&
+ (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint32_t) > reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
+ reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint32_t))) {
+ ret = -EINVAL;
+ goto out_free_bos;
+ }
```
Equivalent to checking `dst_offset` plus the write size fits inside the resolved BO. Also enforce a reasonable upper bound on `cmd->relocs_num` to prevent allocation DoS.
## Discovery
Static analysis of QXL DRM ioctl handlers.
## Disclosure
Per Linux kernel security policy, report to `security@kernel.org` and the QXL maintainers (Gerd Hoffmann, virtualization@lists.linux.dev).
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 2+ messages in thread
* Re: [Hardening] drm/qxl: apply_reloc/apply_surf_reloc write dst_offset without validating against BO size
2026-05-14 0:07 [Hardening] drm/qxl: apply_reloc/apply_surf_reloc write dst_offset without validating against BO size me
@ 2026-05-14 4:57 ` Willy Tarreau
0 siblings, 0 replies; 2+ messages in thread
From: Willy Tarreau @ 2026-05-14 4:57 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: me; +Cc: security, virtualization, berkantkoc
Hello,
On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 02:07:47AM +0200, me@berkoc.com wrote:
> # QXL DRM: `apply_reloc` and `apply_surf_reloc` write to `info->dst_offset` without validating against BO size
>
> ## Summary
>
> The QXL DRM driver's relocation processing in `drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c` writes 64-bit and 32-bit values to `reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)` after mapping `info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK` into kernel space via `qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page`. The `dst_offset` is taken verbatim from the user-supplied `drm_qxl_reloc` ioctl argument and is never validated against the destination buffer object's size before the write.
>
> An aspirational comment at the top of `apply_reloc` explicitly notes that "`dst` must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram", but the validation has not been implemented since the driver was introduced in 2013.
>
> ## Impact
>
> This is **not** a host-VM-escape primitive (the writes hit guest-controlled VRAM emulated by QEMU, not host kernel memory). It is a **guest-side memory corruption** primitive:
>
> - A guest userspace process with `DRM_AUTH` (any logged-in user) can write attacker-chosen 64-bit/32-bit values to arbitrary offsets within the QXL VRAM aperture.
> - Targets reachable within the aperture include other guest processes' QXL buffer objects, QXL release-command BOs queued for the host, and ring buffers that QEMU consumes.
> - Corrupting QXL command structures that QEMU/SPICE then parses **moves the attack surface** to QEMU's QXL parser (separate codebase; historically vulnerable). This kernel bug is therefore a viable priming primitive for a guest-to-host escape chain whose terminal step lives in QEMU.
>
> CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write). Realistic CVSS 3.1: `AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H` â **5.5 Medium** for the kernel-side bug in isolation. If chained with a QEMU QXL parser bug: higher.
>
> This is submitted as **hardening / defense-in-depth**, not as a self-contained RCE/VM-escape claim.
>
> ## Affected versions
>
> Linux mainline HEAD (audited 2026-05-13). The pattern is unchanged since the QXL DRM driver merged in v3.10 (2013). Commit history is sparse on this file; the issue is structural.
>
> ## Vulnerable code
>
> `drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c:73-110`:
>
> ```c
> struct qxl_reloc_info {
> int type;
> struct qxl_bo *dst_bo;
> uint32_t dst_offset; /* <-- user-controlled, copied from drm_qxl_reloc.dst_offset (__u64) */
> struct qxl_bo *src_bo;
> int src_offset;
> };
>
> /*
> * dst must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram (right now all bo's
> * are on vram).
> * *(dst + dst_off) = qxl_bo_physical_address(src, src_off)
> */
> static void
> apply_reloc(struct qxl_device *qdev, struct qxl_reloc_info *info)
> {
> void *reloc_page;
>
> reloc_page = qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo,
> info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK);
> *(uint64_t *)(reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)) =
> qxl_bo_physical_address(qdev, info->src_bo, info->src_offset);
> qxl_bo_kunmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo, reloc_page);
> }
> ```
>
> `apply_surf_reloc` (Lines 98-110) has the identical pattern for a `uint32_t` write.
>
> ### How `dst_offset` reaches `apply_reloc`
>
> The user-space struct is defined in `include/uapi/drm/qxl_drm.h`:
>
> ```c
> struct drm_qxl_reloc {
> __u64 src_offset;
> __u64 dst_offset; /* user-controlled */
> __u32 src_handle;
> __u32 dst_handle;
> __u32 reloc_type;
> __u32 pad;
> };
> ```
>
> `qxl_process_single_command` (`qxl_ioctl.c:141-269`) copies the user `drm_qxl_reloc` array into `reloc_info`, narrows `dst_offset` from `__u64` to `uint32_t` (silent truncation -- still gives the attacker the full 32-bit / 4 GB range), and then calls `apply_reloc`/`apply_surf_reloc`. No bounds check against `dst_bo->tbo.base.size` exists anywhere in the call chain. `qxl_release_reserve_list` only handles TTM placement validation.
>
> ### Mapping behaviour
>
> `qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page` (`drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_object.c`) computes `offset = (bo->tbo.resource->start << PAGE_SHIFT) + page_offset` and maps via `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` on the QXL device's full VRAM aperture (`vram_mapping`). The `BUG_ON(offset >= mapping->size)` inside `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` (see `include/linux/io-mapping.h`) only fires if the offset exceeds the *entire* aperture, not the specific BO. Writes within the aperture but outside the BO succeed and land on whatever data occupies those pages.
>
> ## Proposed fix
>
> Add the validation the comment promised, in the per-reloc-info-fill loop in `qxl_process_single_command` (around line 228-244):
>
> ```c
> + if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_BO &&
> + (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint64_t) > reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
> + reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint64_t))) {
> + ret = -EINVAL;
> + goto out_free_bos;
> + }
> + if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_SURF &&
> + (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint32_t) > reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
> + reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint32_t))) {
> + ret = -EINVAL;
> + goto out_free_bos;
> + }
> ```
Please turn this fix into a regular patch that can be applied. If it's
accepted by maintainers, it will save them some time and will have you
credited for finding and fixing this bug.
> Equivalent to checking `dst_offset` plus the write size fits inside the resolved BO. Also enforce a reasonable upper bound on `cmd->relocs_num` to prevent allocation DoS.
>
> ## Discovery
>
> Static analysis of QXL DRM ioctl handlers.
>
> ## Disclosure
>
> Per Linux kernel security policy, report to `security@kernel.org` and the QXL maintainers (Gerd Hoffmann, virtualization@lists.linux.dev).
Thanks for your report. However, this report is already public via the
virtualization list, so no need to involve security@, and it can be
dropped from future responses:
https://lore.kernel.org/virtualization/36acd33982bfdce04090e17294596ff8@berkoc.com/T/#u
Willy
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2026-05-14 4:57 ` Willy Tarreau
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