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Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2016 18:55:39 +0530
From: Shubham Bansal <illusionist.neo@...il.com>
To: Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>
Cc: "kernel-hardening@...ts.openwall.com" <kernel-hardening@...ts.openwall.com>,
"Reshetova, Elena" <elena.reshetova@...el.com>, Daniel Borkmann <daniel@...earbox.net>
Subject: Re: Looking for something to WORK ON
Hi,
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 12:22 AM, Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org> wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 10, 2016 at 12:04 PM, Shubham Bansal
> <illusionist.neo@...il.com> wrote:
> > Hi Kees,
> >
> > Sorry for the late reply. I am having some problems with arranging a lot
> of
> > mails from the list.
>
> No worries! Glad to have you interested in the discussions. :)
>
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 11:05 PM, Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>
> wrote:
> >> On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 10:40 AM, Shubham Bansal
> >> <illusionist.neo@...il.com> wrote:
> >>> Hi guys,
> >>>
> >>> I want to start with linux kernel development and looking for some
> >>> project
> >>> where I can contribute. I was looking at
> >>> http://kernsec.org/wiki/index.php/Kernel_Self_Protection_Project which
> >>> asked
> >>> to introduce myself on the list if I am looking for some work (thats
> what
> >>> I
> >>> am doing :) ). It would be highly appreciated if any of you guys have
> >>> something where I can contribute.
> >>>
> >>> Best,
> >>> Shubham Bansal
> >>
> >> Welcome to the fun! :)
> >>
> >> What things are you generally interested in?
> >
> > Well, I don't have any preference as such. I am open to any work that is
> > related to security. I have just graduated from the college. I have
> > background in Crypto, Reverse engg. and exploit development. But if you
> need
> > a specific topic, I would say I want to add some features from
> grsecurity to
> > main linux kernel.
>
> That's ultimately where a lot of the work comes from: most of the
> interesting protections have an implementation in the grsecurity
> patch, but tends not to be in a form that is easily upstreamed.
>
Okay. I can try to add those protections to the main kernel.
>
> >> Do you have familiarity
> >> with a specific architecture (or do you want to _gain_ familiarity
> >> with a specific architecture)?
> >
> > I have a good familiarity with x86,x86-64 but I also know arm. Although,
> its
> > not a problem if there is a need, I will read about it.
>
> If you want to poke at tricky/hard arch-specific issues, I'd love to
> see ARMv8.1's PAN emulated on ARMv8.0. That one looks to be possible,
> but tricky to find all the right ways to handle it.
>
> If you're really feeling adventurous, I'd love to see the PaX's UDEREF
> feature on x86_64 implemented in upstream.
>
Okay. I can work on PaX's UDEREF feature now (if it's needed?) and keep on
reading about the ARMv8.0's PAN emulation. I will pick up the ARMv8.0's PAN
emulation later when I have enough knowledge about it.
>
> >> There's a small list of stuff that is related to the larger project
> >> pieces that I try to keep up to date, of varying difficulty:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://kernsec.org/wiki/index.php/Kernel_Self_Protection_Project#Specific_TODO_Items
> >
> > All of these sounds interesting to me. Although I didn't fully understand
> > some of the TODO items but few of these which I think I would like to
> work :
> >
> > Move kernel stack to vmap area
>
> This one is under way by Andy Lutomirski for x86, but it'd be great to
> see it done on arm and arm64 or other architectures.
>
> > Split thread_info off of kernel stack
>
> This is in progress for x86 too, but again, we need it for other
> architectures.
>
> > Convert remaining BPF JITs to eBPF JIT (with blinding)
>
> This would be nice for gaining BPF performance on the architectures
> that don't support the JIT currently.
>
I can work on this if its needed. I want to pick up the arm related
features later when I have enough knowledge about the arm.
>
> > Write lib/test_bpf.c tests for eBPF constant blinding
>
> And this is good for testing the eBPF JIT blinding -- right now it's
> kind of a manual check, and that makes me nervous since it's harder to
> notice regressions.
>
> (I've added Daniel Borkmann and Elena Reshetova to CC, since they
> could help direct you with the BPF work.)
>
> > But, I can work on other things also, whatever you think is appropriate.
> I
> > would prefer working on challenging project though.
>
> If you can solve the PAN emulation on ARMv8.0, that would be very
> valuable -- most newer phones and tablets are moving to arm64, and
> none are ARMv8.1, so they only have PXN and no PAN (where as 32-bit
> arm can do full PAN emulation with Domains right now, so there's this
> weird gap where we're actually going to regress in memory protections
> for a few years until everything is shipping with ARMv8.1 devices).
>
I am not confident about my knowledge of arm as of now but if needed I can
pick it up.
>
> > Hoping for a quick reply. I want to start working as soon as possible.
>
> Hopefully this is quick enough. :)
>
> -Kees
>
> --
> Kees Cook
> Chrome OS & Brillo Security
>
So overall I have 3 options :
- PaX's UDEREF feature - I want to work on this if its needed
- PAN emulation on ARMv8.0 - My second preference would be this.
- Convert remaining BPF JITs to eBPF JIT (with blinding) - Happy to do
it if need
- Move kernel stack to vmap area for arm - Want to keep it for later.
Let me know what you would suggest. I am still a beginner so don't know how
much work and knowledge they would need. I don't want to stuck in the
middle if the things get tough.
Best,
Shubham Bansal
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