Re: [PATCH v4 1/6] sysctl: Add flags to support min/max range clamping

[Eric W. Biederman]

Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> When minimum/maximum values are specified for a sysctl parameter in
> the ctl_table structure with proc_dointvec_minmax() handler, update
> to that parameter will fail with error if the given value is outside
> of the required range.
>
> There are use cases where it may be better to clamp the value of
> the sysctl parameter to the given range without failing the update,
> especially if the users are not aware of the actual range limits.
> Reading the value back after the update will now be a good practice
> to see if the provided value exceeds the range limits.

What use cases?  Who will break.  Examples would be good.

> To provide this less restrictive form of range checking, a new flags
> field is added to the ctl_table structure.
>
> When the CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE flag is set in the ctl_table
> entry, any update from the userspace will be clamped to the given
> range without error if either the proc_dointvec_minmax() or the
> proc_douintvec_minmax() handlers is used.

As this is constructed it will increase the size of ctl_table for
everyone.  Better would be to add a new function that behaves similary
but differently than to burden struct ctl_table for the rest of time.

Nacked-by: "Eric W. Biederman" <ebiederm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

>
> Signed-off-by: Waiman Long <longman@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  include/linux/sysctl.h | 15 +++++++++++++++
>  kernel/sysctl.c        | 48 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------
>  2 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/sysctl.h b/include/linux/sysctl.h
> index b769ecf..963e363 100644
> --- a/include/linux/sysctl.h
> +++ b/include/linux/sysctl.h
> @@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ struct ctl_table
>  	void *data;
>  	int maxlen;
>  	umode_t mode;
> +	unsigned int flags;
>  	struct ctl_table *child;	/* Deprecated */
>  	proc_handler *proc_handler;	/* Callback for text formatting */
>  	struct ctl_table_poll *poll;
> @@ -123,6 +124,20 @@ struct ctl_table
>  	void *extra2;
>  } __randomize_layout;
>  
> +/**
> + * enum ctl_table_flags - flags for the ctl table (struct ctl_table.flags)
> + *
> + * @CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE: Set to indicate that the entry should be
> + *	flexibly clamped to min/max range in case the user provided
> + *	an incorrect value.
> + */
> +enum ctl_table_flags {
> +	CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE		= BIT(0),
> +	__CTL_FLAGS_MAX			= BIT(1),
> +};
> +
> +#define CTL_TABLE_FLAGS_ALL	(__CTL_FLAGS_MAX - 1)
> +
>  struct ctl_node {
>  	struct rb_node node;
>  	struct ctl_table_header *header;
> diff --git a/kernel/sysctl.c b/kernel/sysctl.c
> index d2aa6b4..3d65f41 100644
> --- a/kernel/sysctl.c
> +++ b/kernel/sysctl.c
> @@ -2504,6 +2504,7 @@ static int proc_dointvec_minmax_sysadmin(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>   * struct do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv_param - proc_dointvec_minmax() range checking structure
>   * @min: pointer to minimum allowable value
>   * @max: pointer to maximum allowable value
> + * @flags: pointer to flags
>   *
>   * The do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv_param structure provides the
>   * minimum and maximum values for doing range checking for those sysctl
> @@ -2512,6 +2513,7 @@ static int proc_dointvec_minmax_sysadmin(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  struct do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv_param {
>  	int *min;
>  	int *max;
> +	unsigned int *flags;
>  };
>  
>  static int do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv(bool *negp, unsigned long *lvalp,
> @@ -2521,9 +2523,21 @@ static int do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv(bool *negp, unsigned long *lvalp,
>  	struct do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv_param *param = data;
>  	if (write) {
>  		int val = *negp ? -*lvalp : *lvalp;
> -		if ((param->min && *param->min > val) ||
> -		    (param->max && *param->max < val))
> -			return -EINVAL;
> +		bool clamp = param->flags &&
> +			   (*param->flags & CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE);
> +
> +		if (param->min && *param->min > val) {
> +			if (clamp)
> +				val = *param->min;
> +			else
> +				return -EINVAL;
> +		}
> +		if (param->max && *param->max < val) {
> +			if (clamp)
> +				val = *param->max;
> +			else
> +				return -EINVAL;
> +		}
>  		*valp = val;
>  	} else {
>  		int val = *valp;
> @@ -2552,7 +2566,8 @@ static int do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv(bool *negp, unsigned long *lvalp,
>   * This routine will ensure the values are within the range specified by
>   * table->extra1 (min) and table->extra2 (max).
>   *
> - * Returns 0 on success or -EINVAL on write when the range check fails.
> + * Returns 0 on success or -EINVAL on write when the range check fails
> + * without the CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE flag.
>   */
>  int proc_dointvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  		  void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
> @@ -2560,6 +2575,7 @@ int proc_dointvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  	struct do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv_param param = {
>  		.min = (int *) table->extra1,
>  		.max = (int *) table->extra2,
> +		.flags = &table->flags,
>  	};
>  	return do_proc_dointvec(table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos,
>  				do_proc_dointvec_minmax_conv, &param);
> @@ -2569,6 +2585,7 @@ int proc_dointvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>   * struct do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv_param - proc_douintvec_minmax() range checking structure
>   * @min: pointer to minimum allowable value
>   * @max: pointer to maximum allowable value
> + * @flags: pointer to flags
>   *
>   * The do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv_param structure provides the
>   * minimum and maximum values for doing range checking for those sysctl
> @@ -2577,6 +2594,7 @@ int proc_dointvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  struct do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv_param {
>  	unsigned int *min;
>  	unsigned int *max;
> +	unsigned int *flags;
>  };
>  
>  static int do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv(unsigned long *lvalp,
> @@ -2587,14 +2605,24 @@ static int do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv(unsigned long *lvalp,
>  
>  	if (write) {
>  		unsigned int val = *lvalp;
> +		bool clamp = param->flags &&
> +			   (*param->flags & CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE);
>  
>  		if (*lvalp > UINT_MAX)
>  			return -EINVAL;
>  
> -		if ((param->min && *param->min > val) ||
> -		    (param->max && *param->max < val))
> -			return -ERANGE;
> -
> +		if (param->min && *param->min > val) {
> +			if (clamp)
> +				val = *param->min;
> +			else
> +				return -ERANGE;
> +		}
> +		if (param->max && *param->max < val) {
> +			if (clamp)
> +				val = *param->max;
> +			else
> +				return -ERANGE;
> +		}
>  		*valp = val;
>  	} else {
>  		unsigned int val = *valp;
> @@ -2621,7 +2649,8 @@ static int do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv(unsigned long *lvalp,
>   * check for UINT_MAX to avoid having to support wrap around uses from
>   * userspace.
>   *
> - * Returns 0 on success or -ERANGE on write when the range check fails.
> + * Returns 0 on success or -ERANGE on write when the range check fails
> + * without the CTL_FLAGS_CLAMP_RANGE flag.
>   */
>  int proc_douintvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  			  void __user *buffer, size_t *lenp, loff_t *ppos)
> @@ -2629,6 +2658,7 @@ int proc_douintvec_minmax(struct ctl_table *table, int write,
>  	struct do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv_param param = {
>  		.min = (unsigned int *) table->extra1,
>  		.max = (unsigned int *) table->extra2,
> +		.flags = &table->flags,
>  	};
>  	return do_proc_douintvec(table, write, buffer, lenp, ppos,
>  				 do_proc_douintvec_minmax_conv, &param);