linux-kernel - Re: [RFC PATCH] x86/msr: Filter MSR writes

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Message-ID: <20200612163406.GA1026@linux.intel.com>
Date:   Fri, 12 Jun 2020 09:34:06 -0700
From:   Sean Christopherson <sean.j.christopherson@...el.com>
To:     Borislav Petkov <bp@...en8.de>
Cc:     x86-ml <x86@...nel.org>,
        Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
        lkml <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>
Subject: Re: [RFC PATCH] x86/msr: Filter MSR writes

On Fri, Jun 12, 2020 at 12:50:26PM +0200, Borislav Petkov wrote:
> @@ -95,11 +114,18 @@ static ssize_t msr_write(struct file *file, const char __user *buf,
>  		err = wrmsr_safe_on_cpu(cpu, reg, data[0], data[1]);
>  		if (err)
>  			break;
> +
>  		tmp += 2;
>  		bytes += 8;
>  	}
>  
> -	return bytes ? bytes : err;
> +	if (bytes) {
> +		add_taint(TAINT_CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC, LOCKDEP_STILL_OK);

The kernel should be tainted if the WRMSR is attempted, regardless of
whether it succeeds, and it should happen before the WRMSR.  E.g. pointing
MSR_IA32_DS_AREA at a bad address will likely cause an OOPS on the #PF
that would occur the next time the CPU attempts to access the area, which
could happen before wrmsr_safe_on_cpu() even returns.  In general, there's
no telling what microcode magic is buried behind WRMSR, i.e. a fault on
WRMSR is not a good indicator that the CPU is still in a sane state.

It might also make sense to do pr_err/warn_ratelimited() before the WRMSR,
e.g. to help triage MSR writes that cause insta-death or lead to known bad
behavior down the line.

> +
> +		return bytes;
> +	}
> +
> +	return err;
>  }
>  
>  static long msr_ioctl(struct file *file, unsigned int ioc, unsigned long arg)
> @@ -242,6 +268,8 @@ static void __exit msr_exit(void)
>  }
>  module_exit(msr_exit)
>  
> +module_param(allow_writes, bool, 0400);

This can be 0600, or maybe 0644, i.e. allow the user to enable/disable
writes after the module has been loaded.

> +
>  MODULE_AUTHOR("H. Peter Anvin <hpa@...or.com>");
>  MODULE_DESCRIPTION("x86 generic MSR driver");
>  MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");