netdev - [PATCH AUTOSEL 5.10 12/27] openvswitch: Stricter validation for the userspace action

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Message-Id: <20250604010620.6819-12-sashal@kernel.org>
Date: Tue,  3 Jun 2025 21:06:05 -0400
From: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
To: patches@...ts.linux.dev,
	stable@...r.kernel.org
Cc: Eelco Chaudron <echaudro@...hat.com>,
	Simon Horman <horms@...nel.org>,
	Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@....org>,
	Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>,
	Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>,
	aconole@...hat.com,
	netdev@...r.kernel.org,
	dev@...nvswitch.org
Subject: [PATCH AUTOSEL 5.10 12/27] openvswitch: Stricter validation for the userspace action

From: Eelco Chaudron <echaudro@...hat.com>

[ Upstream commit 88906f55954131ed2d3974e044b7fb48129b86ae ]

This change enhances the robustness of validate_userspace() by ensuring
that all Netlink attributes are fully contained within the parent
attribute. The previous use of nla_parse_nested_deprecated() could
silently skip trailing or malformed attributes, as it stops parsing at
the first invalid entry.

By switching to nla_parse_deprecated_strict(), we make sure only fully
validated attributes are copied for later use.

Signed-off-by: Eelco Chaudron <echaudro@...hat.com>
Reviewed-by: Simon Horman <horms@...nel.org>
Acked-by: Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@....org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/67eb414e2d250e8408bb8afeb982deca2ff2b10b.1747037304.git.echaudro@redhat.com
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@...nel.org>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@...nel.org>
---

**YES** This commit should be backported to stable kernel trees. ##
Analysis **Commit Overview:** The commit changes `validate_userspace()`
function in `net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c` by replacing
`nla_parse_nested_deprecated()` with `nla_parse_deprecated_strict()` to
ensure stricter validation of Netlink attributes for the userspace
action. **Specific Code Changes:** The key change is on lines 3052-3054:
```c // Before: error = nla_parse_nested_deprecated(a,
OVS_USERSPACE_ATTR_MAX, attr, userspace_policy, NULL); // After: error =
nla_parse_deprecated_strict(a, OVS_USERSPACE_ATTR_MAX, nla_data(attr),
nla_len(attr), userspace_policy, NULL); ``` **Why This Should Be
Backported:** 1. **Security Enhancement:** This commit addresses a
parsing vulnerability where malformed attributes could be silently
ignored. The original `nla_parse_nested_deprecated()` stops parsing at
the first invalid entry, potentially allowing trailing malformed data to
bypass validation. 2. **Robustness Fix:** The change ensures all netlink
attributes are fully contained within the parent attribute bounds,
preventing potential buffer over-reads or under-reads that could lead to
security issues. 3. **Pattern Consistency:** Looking at the git blame
output (lines 3085-3087), we can see that
`nla_parse_deprecated_strict()` was already introduced in 2019 by commit
8cb081746c031 and is used elsewhere in the same file for similar
validation (e.g., `validate_and_copy_check_pkt_len()` function). 4.
**Low Risk:** This is a small, contained change that only affects input
validation - it doesn't change functionality or introduce new features.
The change is defensive and follows existing patterns in the codebase.
5. **Similar Precedent:** This commit is very similar to the validated
"Similar Commit #2" which was marked for backporting (status: YES). That
commit also dealt with netlink attribute validation safety in
openvswitch (`validate_set()` function) and was considered suitable for
stable trees. 6. **Critical Subsystem:** Open vSwitch is a critical
networking component used in virtualization and container environments.
Input validation issues in this subsystem could potentially be exploited
for privilege escalation or denial of service. 7. **Clear Intent:** The
commit message explicitly states this "enhances robustness" and ensures
"only fully validated attributes are copied for later use," indicating
this is a defensive security improvement. **Risk Assessment:** - Very
low regression risk - No API changes - Only affects error handling paths
- Follows established validation patterns in the same codebase This
commit fits perfectly into the stable tree criteria: it's an important
security/robustness fix, has minimal risk of regression, is well-
contained, and addresses a clear validation vulnerability in a critical
kernel subsystem.

 net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c b/net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c
index 3f8f43dbf44fc..c8a5f5eba5c7b 100644
--- a/net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c
+++ b/net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c
@@ -3007,7 +3007,8 @@ static int validate_userspace(const struct nlattr *attr)
 	struct nlattr *a[OVS_USERSPACE_ATTR_MAX + 1];
 	int error;
 
-	error = nla_parse_nested_deprecated(a, OVS_USERSPACE_ATTR_MAX, attr,
+	error = nla_parse_deprecated_strict(a, OVS_USERSPACE_ATTR_MAX,
+					    nla_data(attr), nla_len(attr),
 					    userspace_policy, NULL);
 	if (error)
 		return error;
-- 
2.39.5