Re: [RFC PATCH v2] do_exit(): panic() recursion detected

[Vladimir Kondratiev <vladimir.kondratiev@linux.intel.com>]

I see 2 paths how "bad things" can cause recursive do_exit - various 
traps that go through die() and therefore covered by panic_on_oops; and 
do_group_exit() as result of fatal signal.

Provided one add "panic on coredump" functionality, path through 
do_group_exit() covered as well.

Let's drop this patch.

Thanks, Vladimir

On 12/7/20 5:49 PM, Eric W. Biederman wrote:
> Vladimir Kondratiev <vladimir.kondratiev@linux.intel.com> writes:
> 
>> Please ignore version 1 of the patch - it was sent from wrong mail address.
>>
>> To clarify the reason:
>>
>> Situation where do_exit() re-entered, discovered by static code analysis.
>> For safety critical system, it is better to panic() when minimal chance of
>> corruption detected. For this reason, we also panic on fatal signal delivery -
>> patch for this not submitted yet.
> 
> What did the static code analysis say?  What triggers the recursion.
> 
> What makes it safe to even call panic on this code path?  Is there
> enough kernel stack?
> 
> My sense is that if this actually can happen and is a real concern,
> and that it is safe to do something on this code path it is probably
> better just to ooops.  That way if someone is trying to debug such
> a recursion they will have a backtrace to work with.  Plus panic
> on oops will work.
> 
> Eric
> 
>>
>> On 12/7/20 2:44 PM, Vladimir Kondratiev wrote:
>>> Recursive do_exit() is symptom of compromised kernel integrity.
>>> For safety critical systems, it may be better to
>>> panic() in this case to minimize risk.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Vladimir Kondratiev <vladimir.kondratiev@linux.intel.com>
>>> Change-Id: I42f45900a08c4282c511b05e9e6061360d07db60
>>> ---
>>>    Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 6 ++++++
>>>    include/linux/kernel.h                          | 1 +
>>>    kernel/exit.c                                   | 7 +++++++
>>>    kernel/sysctl.c                                 | 9 +++++++++
>>>    4 files changed, 23 insertions(+)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
>>> index 44fde25bb221..6e12a6804557 100644
>>> --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
>>> +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
>>> @@ -3508,6 +3508,12 @@
>>>    			bit 4: print ftrace buffer
>>>    			bit 5: print all printk messages in buffer
>>>    +	panic_on_exit_recursion
>>> +			panic() when do_exit() recursion detected, rather then
>>> +			try to stay running whenever possible.
>>> +			Useful on safety critical systems; re-entry in do_exit
>>> +			is a symptom of compromised kernel integrity.
>>> +
>>>    	panic_on_taint=	Bitmask for conditionally calling panic() in add_taint()
>>>    			Format: <hex>[,nousertaint]
>>>    			Hexadecimal bitmask representing the set of TAINT flags
>>> diff --git a/include/linux/kernel.h b/include/linux/kernel.h
>>> index 2f05e9128201..5afb20534cb2 100644
>>> --- a/include/linux/kernel.h
>>> +++ b/include/linux/kernel.h
>>> @@ -539,6 +539,7 @@ extern int sysctl_panic_on_rcu_stall;
>>>    extern int sysctl_panic_on_stackoverflow;
>>>      extern bool crash_kexec_post_notifiers;
>>> +extern int panic_on_exit_recursion;
>>>      /*
>>>     * panic_cpu is used for synchronizing panic() and crash_kexec() execution. It
>>> diff --git a/kernel/exit.c b/kernel/exit.c
>>> index 1f236ed375f8..162799a8b539 100644
>>> --- a/kernel/exit.c
>>> +++ b/kernel/exit.c
>>> @@ -68,6 +68,9 @@
>>>    #include <asm/unistd.h>
>>>    #include <asm/mmu_context.h>
>>>    +int panic_on_exit_recursion __read_mostly;
>>> +core_param(panic_on_exit_recursion, panic_on_exit_recursion, int, 0644);
>>> +
>>>    static void __unhash_process(struct task_struct *p, bool group_dead)
>>>    {
>>>    	nr_threads--;
>>> @@ -757,6 +760,10 @@ void __noreturn do_exit(long code)
>>>    	 */
>>>    	if (unlikely(tsk->flags & PF_EXITING)) {
>>>    		pr_alert("Fixing recursive fault but reboot is needed!\n");
>>> +		if (panic_on_exit_recursion)
>>> +			panic("Recursive do_exit() detected in %s[%d]\n",
>>> +			      current->comm, task_pid_nr(current));
>>> +
>>>    		futex_exit_recursive(tsk);
>>>    		set_current_state(TASK_UNINTERRUPTIBLE);
>>>    		schedule();
>>> diff --git a/kernel/sysctl.c b/kernel/sysctl.c
>>> index afad085960b8..bb397fba2c42 100644
>>> --- a/kernel/sysctl.c
>>> +++ b/kernel/sysctl.c
>>> @@ -2600,6 +2600,15 @@ static struct ctl_table kern_table[] = {
>>>    		.extra2		= &one_thousand,
>>>    	},
>>>    #endif
>>> +	{
>>> +		.procname	= "panic_on_exit_recursion",
>>> +		.data		= &panic_on_exit_recursion,
>>> +		.maxlen		= sizeof(int),
>>> +		.mode		= 0644,
>>> +		.proc_handler	= proc_dointvec_minmax,
>>> +		.extra1		= SYSCTL_ZERO,
>>> +		.extra2		= SYSCTL_ONE,
>>> +	},
>>>    	{
>>>    		.procname	= "panic_on_warn",
>>>    		.data		= &panic_on_warn,
>>>