linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 2/2] mm: restrict access to /proc/meminfo

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Message-ID: <1317313836.16137.620.camel@nimitz>
Date:	Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:30:36 -0700
From:	Dave Hansen <dave@...ux.vnet.ibm.com>
To:	Vasiliy Kulikov <segoon@...nwall.com>
Cc:	David Rientjes <rientjes@...gle.com>,
	Christoph Lameter <cl@...two.org>,
	kernel-hardening@...ts.openwall.com,
	Pekka Enberg <penberg@...nel.org>,
	Matt Mackall <mpm@...enic.com>,
	Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>, linux-mm@...ck.org,
	Kees Cook <kees@...ntu.com>, Valdis.Kletnieks@...edu,
	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
	Alan Cox <alan@...ux.intel.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/2] mm: restrict access to /proc/meminfo

On Thu, 2011-09-29 at 20:18 +0400, Vasiliy Kulikov wrote:
> I'm not convinced with rounding the information to MBs.  The attacker
> still may fill slabs with new objects to trigger new slab pages
> allocations.  He will be able to see when this MB-granularity barrier is
> overrun thus seeing how many kbs there were before:
> 
>     old = new - filled_obj_size_sum
> 
> As `new' is just increased, it means it is known with KB granularity,
> not MB.  By counting used slab objects he learns filled_obj_size_sum.
> 
> So, rounding gives us nothing, but obscurity. 

I'll agree that it doesn't fundamentally fix anything.  But, it does
make an attack more difficult in the real world.  There's a reason that
real-world attackers are going after slabinfo: it's a fundamentally
*BETTER* than meminfo as a tool with which to aim an attack.  A
MB-rounded meminfo is also fundamentally *BETTER* than a
PAGE_SIZE-rounded meminfo.  I find it hard to call this "nothing".

Anyway...  I'm working on a patch.  Will post soon.

-- Dave

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