linux-kernel - [PATCH 3.16 79/87] cpu/speculation: Warn on unsupported mitigations= parameter

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Message-ID: <lsq.1570043211.254999440@decadent.org.uk>
Date:   Wed, 02 Oct 2019 20:06:51 +0100
From:   Ben Hutchings <ben@...adent.org.uk>
To:     linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, stable@...r.kernel.org
CC:     akpm@...ux-foundation.org, Denis Kirjanov <kda@...ux-powerpc.org>,
        "Thomas Gleixner" <tglx@...utronix.de>,
        "Josh Poimboeuf" <jpoimboe@...hat.com>,
        "Jiri Kosina" <jkosina@...e.cz>,
        "Peter Zijlstra" <peterz@...radead.org>,
        "Geert Uytterhoeven" <geert@...ux-m68k.org>,
        "Greg Kroah-Hartman" <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
Subject: [PATCH 3.16 79/87] cpu/speculation: Warn on unsupported
 mitigations= parameter

3.16.75-rc1 review patch.  If anyone has any objections, please let me know.

------------------

From: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@...ux-m68k.org>

commit 1bf72720281770162c87990697eae1ba2f1d917a upstream.

Currently, if the user specifies an unsupported mitigation strategy on the
kernel command line, it will be ignored silently.  The code will fall back
to the default strategy, possibly leaving the system more vulnerable than
expected.

This may happen due to e.g. a simple typo, or, for a stable kernel release,
because not all mitigation strategies have been backported.

Inform the user by printing a message.

Fixes: 98af8452945c5565 ("cpu/speculation: Add 'mitigations=' cmdline option")
Signed-off-by: Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@...ux-m68k.org>
Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@...utronix.de>
Acked-by: Josh Poimboeuf <jpoimboe@...hat.com>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>
Cc: Jiri Kosina <jkosina@...e.cz>
Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
Cc: Ben Hutchings <ben@...adent.org.uk>
Link: https://lkml.kernel.org/r/20190516070935.22546-1-geert@linux-m68k.org
[bwh: Backported to 3.16: adjust context]
Signed-off-by: Ben Hutchings <ben@...adent.org.uk>
---
 kernel/cpu.c | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

--- a/kernel/cpu.c
+++ b/kernel/cpu.c
@@ -804,6 +804,9 @@ static int __init mitigations_parse_cmdl
 		cpu_mitigations = CPU_MITIGATIONS_OFF;
 	else if (!strcmp(arg, "auto"))
 		cpu_mitigations = CPU_MITIGATIONS_AUTO;
+	else
+		pr_crit("Unsupported mitigations=%s, system may still be vulnerable\n",
+			arg);
 
 	return 0;
 }