linux-kernel - Re: SLUB: sysfs lets root force slab order below required minimum, causing memory corruption

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Date:   Wed, 4 Mar 2020 14:17:04 +0100
From:   Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@...e.cz>
To:     Jann Horn <jannh@...gle.com>, Christoph Lameter <cl@...ux.com>,
        Pekka Enberg <penberg@...nel.org>,
        David Rientjes <rientjes@...gle.com>,
        Joonsoo Kim <iamjoonsoo.kim@....com>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>
Cc:     Linux-MM <linux-mm@...ck.org>,
        kernel list <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>,
        Matthew Garrett <mjg59@...gle.com>
Subject: Re: SLUB: sysfs lets root force slab order below required minimum,
 causing memory corruption

On 3/4/20 1:23 AM, Jann Horn wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> FYI, I noticed that if you do something like the following as root,
> the system blows up pretty quickly with error messages about stuff
> like corrupt freelist pointers because SLUB actually allows root to
> force a page order that is smaller than what is required to store a
> single object:
> 
>     echo 0 > /sys/kernel/slab/task_struct/order
> 
> The other SLUB debugging options, like red_zone, also look kind of
> suspicious with regards to races (either racing with other writes to
> the SLUB debugging options, or with object allocations).

Yeah I also wondered last week that there seems to be no sychronization with
alloc/free activity. Increasing order is AFAICS also dangerous with freelist
randomization:

https://lore.kernel.org/linux-mm/d3acc069-a5c6-f40a-f95c-b546664bc4ee@suse.cz/