linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 2/3] block: fail SCSI passthrough ioctls on partition devices

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Date:	Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:26:22 +0100
From:	Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@...hat.com>
To:	Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>
CC:	Willy Tarreau <w@....eu>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
	security@...nel.org, pmatouse@...hat.com, agk@...hat.com,
	jbottomley@...allels.com, mchristi@...hat.com, msnitzer@...hat.com,
	Christoph Hellwig <hch@....de>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 2/3] block: fail SCSI passthrough ioctls on partition
 devices

On 01/05/2012 06:04 PM, Linus Torvalds wrote:
>
>> >  Foolish me who found a bug, and an exploitable one for that matter, and even
>> >  tried to fix it.  Looks like security by obscurity would have served users better.
> Umm. I just sent out what I think is what we*should*  be doing.
>
> You are the one who seems to just want to add hack upon hack to
> things. THAT is what I really hate. It's not only in bad taste, it
> *will*  come back and bite us some day.

I could have just written

+	ret = scsi_verify_blk_ioctl(bdev, cmd);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return -ENOIOCTLCMD;

It wouldn't have been any less hacky, but it would have looked quite 
normal and perhaps it would have escaped review.  I knew I was working 
around messy code, and I made that clear.  In that, I succeeded. :)

> If you think that "security" is about adding new special cases and
> hacks, you're so out to lunch that it isn't even funny. It is
> absolutely the*last*  thing you want.

Thanks for the tip, :) and thanks for picking up the cleanup.  I'll keep 
an eye and resubmit when the dust settles.

Paolo
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