netdev - Proposal: r8152 firmware patching framework

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-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Message-ID: <CACeCKacOcg01NuCWgf2RRer3bdmW-CH7d90Y+iD2wQh5Ka6Mew@mail.gmail.com>
Date:   Thu, 29 Aug 2019 11:40:19 -0700
From:   Prashant Malani <pmalani@...omium.org>
To:     Hayes Wang <hayeswang@...ltek.com>,
        David Miller <davem@...emloft.net>, netdev@...r.kernel.org
Cc:     nic_swsd <nic_swsd@...ltek.com>,
        Grant Grundler <grundler@...omium.org>
Subject: Proposal: r8152 firmware patching framework

Hi,

The r8152 driver source code distributed by Realtek (on
www.realtek.com) contains firmware patches. This involves binary
byte-arrays being written byte/word-wise to the hardware memory
Example: grundler@...omium.org (cc-ed) has an experimental patch which
includes the firmware patching code which was distributed with the
Realtek source :
https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromiumos/third_party/kernel/+/1417953

It would be nice to have a way to incorporate these firmware fixes
into the upstream code. Since having indecipherable byte-arrays is not
possible upstream, I propose the following:
- We use the assistance of Realtek to come up with a format which the
firmware patch files can follow (this can be documented in the
comments).
       - A real simple format could look like this:
               +
<section1><size_in_bytes><address1><data1><address2><data2>...<addressN><dataN><section2>...
                + The driver would be able to understand how to parse
each section (e.g is each data entry a byte or a word?)

- We use request_firmware() to load the firmware, parse it and write
the data to the relevant registers.

I'm unfamiliar with what the preferred method of firmware patching is,
so I hope the maintainers can help suggest the best path forward.

As an aside: It would be great if Realtek could publish a list of
fixes that the firmware patches implement (I think a list on the
driver download page on the Realtek website would be an excellent
starting point).

Thanks and Best regards,

-Prashant