Re: [BROKEN PATCH] syscalls leak data via registers?

[Pavel Machek <pavel@suse.cz>]

Hi!

> It looks to me like the syscall calling convention, on x86 at least,
> leaks kernel data out via the registers.
[scary stuff]
> When sys_foo returns, the value of %ebx has been changed to 77 on the
> stack, so when it returns to user-mode, the whole world can see that
> arg1 was assigned 77 at some point.
> 
> It seems to me the bug is in restoring the register values on return to
> user-mode.  As I understand it, the x86 ABI says that the called
> function owns the stack memory which contains the function's arguments,
> so it is completely within gcc's right to reuse the memory as spill
> space (or anything else) when generating code for that function. 
> Therefore, the code in entry.S should not restore those values to
> registers - it should just trash all the registers (except %eax, of
> course) before returning.
> 
> I tried writing a patch which replaces the RESTORE_ALL with the
> equivalent which simply skips %esp over the other registers, pops %eax
> and then assigns it to %ebx-%ebp (it makes as good a trash value as
> any), but this crashes when calibrating the delay loop.  Hm, looks like
> the RESTORE_ALL on the syscall return path is also used by the interrupt
> return path - that probably shouldn't trash registers.

I believe userspace depends on registers to be preserved over system
call, except for eax. So what you found is not only security problem,
but also crasher bug.
								Pavel

-- 
When do you have a heart between your knees?
[Johanka's followup: and *two* hearts?]