linux-hardening - Re: [PATCH v2][next] dlm: Replace one-element array with flexible-array member

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Date:   Mon, 10 Oct 2022 16:00:39 -0500
From:   David Teigland <teigland@...hat.com>
To:     Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>
Cc:     Paulo Miguel Almeida <paulo.miguel.almeida.rodenas@...il.com>,
        Christine Caulfield <ccaulfie@...hat.com>,
        cluster-devel@...hat.com, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
        linux-hardening@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2][next] dlm: Replace one-element array with
 flexible-array member

On Sat, Oct 08, 2022 at 09:03:28PM -0700, Kees Cook wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 09, 2022 at 03:05:17PM +1300, Paulo Miguel Almeida wrote:
> > On Sat, Oct 08, 2022 at 05:18:35PM -0700, Kees Cook wrote:
> > > This is allocating 1 more byte than before, since the struct size didn't change. But this has always allocated too much space, due to the struct padding. For a "no binary changes" patch, the above "+ 1" needs to be left off.
> > 
> > That's true. I agree that leaving "+ 1" would work and produce a
> > no-binary-changes patch due to the existing padding that the structure
> > has. OTOH, I thought that relying on that space could bite us in the
> > future if anyone tweaks the struct again...so my reaction was to ensure 
> > that the NUL-terminator space was always guaranteed to be there.
> > Hence, the change on c693 (objdump above).
> > 
> > What do you think? Should we keep or leave the above
> > "+ 1" after the rationale above?
> 
> I think it depends on what's expected from this allocation. Christine or
> David, can you speak to this?

Hi, thanks for picking through that.  Most likely the intention was to
allow up to 64 (DLM_LOCKSPACE_LEN) character names, and then use the
ls_name[1] for the terminating byte.  I'd be happy to take the patch
replacing the one-element name.  Or, if you'd like to drop it, then we'll
eliminate it along with a cleanup of name/namelen more broadly.

Dave