Re: [PATCH] - Fixes NULL pointer deference in usb-serial driver.

From: Luiz Fernando Capitulino
Date: Wed Nov 16 2005 - 13:11:30 EST


On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:49:27 -0800
Greg KH <gregkh@xxxxxxx> wrote:

| On Wed, Nov 16, 2005 at 03:55:40PM -0200, Luiz Fernando Capitulino wrote:
| > On Wed, 16 Nov 2005 09:24:16 -0800
| > Greg KH <gregkh@xxxxxxx> wrote:
| >
| > | On Wed, Nov 16, 2005 at 03:16:34PM -0200, Luiz Fernando Capitulino wrote:
| > | > Hi Greg,
| > | >
| > | > If I run several instances of this program in parallel:
| > | >
| > | > #include <stdio.h>
| > | > #include <string.h>
| > | > #include <unistd.h>
| > | > #include <stdlib.h>
| > | > #include <errno.h>
| > | > #include <fcntl.h>
| > | > #include <termios.h>
| > | > #include <sys/types.h>
| > | > #include <sys/stat.h>
| > | > #include <sys/ioctl.h>
| > | >
| > | > int main(int argc, char *argv[])
| > | > {
| > | > int ret, fd;
| > | > char *port;
| > | > struct termios tio, original;
| > | >
| > | > port = argv[1];
| > | > if (!port)
| > | > port = "/dev/ttyUSB0";
| > | >
| > | > fd = open(port, O_RDWR | O_NONBLOCK | O_NOCTTY);
| > | > if (fd < 0) {
| > | > perror("open()");
| > | > exit(1);
| > | > }
| > | >
| > | > usleep(100);
| > | > ret = tcgetattr(fd, &original);
| > | > if (ret < 0) {
| > | > perror("tcgetattr()");
| > | > exit(1);
| > | > }
| > | >
| > | > ret = close(fd);
| > | > if (ret) {
| > | > perror("close()");
| > | > exit(1);
| > | > }
| > | >
| > | > return 0;
| > | > }
| > | >
| > | > with a Siemens CX65 mobile (which uses the pl2303 driver), I get the
| > | > following NULL pointer deference:
| > | >
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009410] Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address 000000a4
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009430] printing eip:
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009436] d0a1f888
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009441] *pde = 00000000
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009449] Oops: 0000 [#1]
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009454] DEBUG_PAGEALLOC
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009461] Modules linked in: pl2303 usbserial ide_cd cdrom e100 mii uhci_hcd ehci_hcd usbcore quota_v2 snd_cs46xx snd_rawmidi snd_seq_device snd_ac97_codec snd_ac97_bus snd_pcm snd_timer snd soundcore snd_page_alloc
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009504] CPU: 0
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009507] EIP: 0060:[pg0+275417224/1070101504] Not tainted VLI
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009512] EFLAGS: 00210246 (2.6.15-rc1y-gee90f62b)
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009548] EIP is at serial_ioctl+0x28/0xd0 [usbserial]
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009558] eax: 00000000 ebx: 00000000 ecx: 00005401 edx: c99c4f58
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009569] esi: ffffffed edi: 00005401 ebp: c94c3f3c esp: c94c3f18
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009578] ds: 007b es: 007b ss: 0068
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009588] Process termios_set (pid: 3091, threadinfo=c94c2000 task=c9ba6ad0)
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009595] Stack: 00000000 c95c1b7c b7f014e0 c94c3f5c c0144ed6 c99c4f58 cb0eedf8 d0a1f860
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009618] c9bd6000 c94c3f60 c01f5c23 bfc7c010 c9bd6000 00005401 c99c4f58 c02eda60
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009640] c99c4f58 c01f5970 c94c3f78 c0164ac8 bfc7c010 c99c4f58 00000000 00000003
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009662] Call Trace:
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009668] [show_stack+122/144] show_stack+0x7a/0x90
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009689] [show_registers+330/432] show_registers+0x14a/0x1b0
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009702] [die+220/352] die+0xdc/0x160
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009714] [do_page_fault+724/1461] do_page_fault+0x2d4/0x5b5
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009738] [error_code+79/84] error_code+0x4f/0x54
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009750] [tty_ioctl+691/944] tty_ioctl+0x2b3/0x3b0
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009768] [do_ioctl+72/112] do_ioctl+0x48/0x70
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009786] [vfs_ioctl+95/416] vfs_ioctl+0x5f/0x1a0
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009798] [sys_ioctl+57/96] sys_ioctl+0x39/0x60
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009809] [syscall_call+7/11] syscall_call+0x7/0xb
| > | > Nov 15 12:32:19 tirion kernel: [ 147.009820] Code: ef eb 88 55 89 e5 83 ec 24 89 75 f8 be ed ff ff ff 89 7d fc 89 cf 89 5d f4 89 55 f0 8b 98 b4 09 00 00 a1 04 59 a2 d0 85 c0 75 78 <8b> 83 a4 00 00 00 85 c0 74 3e 8b 03 8b 70 04 8b 86 fc 00 00 00
| > | >
| > | > The deference is at drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c:352. The first fix I
| > | > thought was just to check if 'port' is NULL, and to return '-ENODEV' if so.
| > | > I did that, but it brought up another problem: when the bug is triggered
| > | > (ie, 'port' is NULL) the serial port in use becomes invalid, and I have to
| > | > replug the device's cable. This will force the device to take the next free
| > | > port.
| > | >
| > | > We cannot live with this of course, because the numbers of ports is
| > | > limited.
| > | >
| > | > My guess is:
| > | >
| > | > 1. Process A calls open() and tcgetattr(). When it calls close(), the specific
| > | > driver function put it to sleep at usb_serial.c:242 (I'm using pl2303 driver)
| > | >
| > | > 2. Process B calls open() and before the call to tcgetattr() it is put to
| > | > sleep.
| > | >
| > | > 3. Process A wakes up and finish the close procedure (which resets
| > | > 'port->tty->driver_data')
| > | >
| > | > 4. Process B wakes up, executes serial_ioctl() and gets a NULL pointer in
| > | > 'port->tty->driver_data'.
| > |
| > | Ugh, the tty core should really protect us from stuff like this,
| > | unfortunately, there is no locking there, yet. People are working on
| > | it...
| > |
| > | > So, based on my guess the right fix _seems_ to be serialize the construction
| > | > and destruction of 'port'. The following patch does that, I can run hundreds
| > | > instances of the test-case (and use minicom in parallel) without any
| > | > problem.
| > |
| > | But I have a question about:
| > |
| > | > @@ -232,9 +238,12 @@ static void serial_close(struct tty_stru
| > | >
| > | > dbg("%s - port %d", __FUNCTION__, port->number);
| > | >
| > | > - if (port->open_count == 0)
| > | > + if (down_interruptible(&port->sem))
| > | > return;
| > | >
| > |
| > | If this gets interrupted, the close() never completes properly, yet
| > | userspace thinks it has, right? That's not good.
| >
| > Yes, that's right. The ti_usb_3410_5052 USB serial solves this, it just
| > continues if it gets interrupted.
| >
| > Not sure if it's a good solution.
|
| Why not just do a down() then?

I try to avoid it, I feel bad when I cannot kill process. :)

But we can do it, of course.

| > | Why not just check:
| > | if (!port)
| > | return -ENODEV;
| > |
| > | at the beginning of the different serial_* functions, like
| > | serial_close() does? Will that solve this problem for you with no locks
| > | needed?
| >
| > I have this patch too, It solves only the NULL deference. But the bug is
| > still there (and it's very easy to reproduce).
| >
| > When it is triggered (ie, 'port' is NULL) the serial port in use
| > becomes invalid, and I have to replug the device's cable to get the next
| > free port.
|
| How can you trigger this?

Just like the NULL deference: running several instances of my test-case. It's
the same bug actually, but the NULL deference will not happen.

It's possible to have other solution for it, but I can't find it.

--
Luiz Fernando N. Capitulino
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