linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 3/3] [v4] lib/vsprintf: no_hash_pointers prints all addresses as unhashed

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Message-ID: <CAMuHMdULKZCJevVJcp7TxzLdWLjsQPhE8hqxhnztNi9bjT_cEw@mail.gmail.com>
Date:   Tue, 2 Mar 2021 12:51:44 +0100
From:   Geert Uytterhoeven <geert@...ux-m68k.org>
To:     Timur Tabi <timur@...nel.org>
Cc:     Petr Mladek <pmladek@...e.com>,
        Steven Rostedt <rostedt@...dmis.org>,
        Sergey Senozhatsky <sergey.senozhatsky@...il.com>,
        Vlastimil Babka <vbabka@...e.cz>,
        Andy Shevchenko <andriy.shevchenko@...ux.intel.com>,
        Matthew Wilcox <willy@...radead.org>,
        Andrew Morton <akpm@...ux-foundation.org>,
        Linus Torvalds <torvalds@...ux-foundation.org>,
        roman.fietze@...na.com, Kees Cook <keescook@...omium.org>,
        John Ogness <john.ogness@...utronix.de>,
        Akinobu Mita <akinobu.mita@...il.com>,
        Alexander Potapenko <glider@...gle.com>,
        Andrey Konovalov <andreyknvl@...gle.com>,
        Marco Elver <elver@...gle.com>,
        Rasmus Villemoes <linux@...musvillemoes.dk>,
        Pavel Machek <pavel@....cz>,
        Tetsuo Handa <penguin-kernel@...ove.sakura.ne.jp>,
        Linux Kernel Mailing List <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
        Linux MM <linux-mm@...ck.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH 3/3] [v4] lib/vsprintf: no_hash_pointers prints all
 addresses as unhashed

Hi Timur,

On Sun, Feb 14, 2021 at 5:17 PM Timur Tabi <timur@...nel.org> wrote:
> If the no_hash_pointers command line parameter is set, then
> printk("%p") will print pointers as unhashed, which is useful for
> debugging purposes.  This change applies to any function that uses
> vsprintf, such as print_hex_dump() and seq_buf_printf().
>
> A large warning message is displayed if this option is enabled.
> Unhashed pointers expose kernel addresses, which can be a security
> risk.
>
> Also update test_printf to skip the hashed pointer tests if the
> command-line option is set.
>
> Signed-off-by: Timur Tabi <timur@...nel.org>

Thanks for your patch, which is now commit 5ead723a20e0447b
("lib/vsprintf: no_hash_pointers prints all addresses as unhashed") in
v5.12-rc1.

> --- a/lib/vsprintf.c
> +++ b/lib/vsprintf.c
> @@ -2090,6 +2090,32 @@ char *fwnode_string(char *buf, char *end, struct fwnode_handle *fwnode,
>         return widen_string(buf, buf - buf_start, end, spec);
>  }
>
> +/* Disable pointer hashing if requested */
> +bool no_hash_pointers __ro_after_init;
> +EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(no_hash_pointers);
> +
> +static int __init no_hash_pointers_enable(char *str)
> +{
> +       no_hash_pointers = true;
> +
> +       pr_warn("**********************************************************\n");
> +       pr_warn("**   NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE   **\n");
> +       pr_warn("**                                                      **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** This system shows unhashed kernel memory addresses   **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** via the console, logs, and other interfaces. This    **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** might reduce the security of your system.            **\n");
> +       pr_warn("**                                                      **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** If you see this message and you are not debugging    **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** the kernel, report this immediately to your system   **\n");
> +       pr_warn("** administrator!                                       **\n");
> +       pr_warn("**                                                      **\n");
> +       pr_warn("**   NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE   **\n");
> +       pr_warn("**********************************************************\n");
> +
> +       return 0;
> +}
> +early_param("no_hash_pointers", no_hash_pointers_enable);

While bloat-o-meter is not smart enough to notice the real size impact,
this does add more than 500 bytes of string data to the kernel.
Do we really need such a large message?
Perhaps the whole no_hash_pointers machinery should be protected by
"#ifdef CONFIG_DEBUG_KERNEL"?

Gr{oetje,eeting}s,

                        Geert

--
Geert Uytterhoeven -- There's lots of Linux beyond ia32 -- geert@...ux-m68k.org

In personal conversations with technical people, I call myself a hacker. But
when I'm talking to journalists I just say "programmer" or something like that.
                                -- Linus Torvalds