atomic_t variables are currently used to implement reference counters with the following properties: - counter is initialized to 1 using atomic_set() - a resource is freed upon counter reaching zero - once counter reaches zero, its further increments aren't allowed - counter schema uses basic atomic operations (set, inc, inc_not_zero, dec_and_test, etc.)
Such atomic variables should be converted to a newly provided refcount_t type and API that prevents accidental counter overflows and underflows. This is important since overflows and underflows can lead to use-after-free situation and be exploitable. The variable user_struct.__count is used as pure reference counter. Convert it to refcount_t and fix up the operations. Suggested-by: Kees Cook <keesc...@chromium.org> Reviewed-by: David Windsor <dwind...@gmail.com> Reviewed-by: Hans Liljestrand <ishkam...@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Elena Reshetova <elena.reshet...@intel.com> --- include/linux/sched/user.h | 5 +++-- kernel/user.c | 8 ++++---- 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) diff --git a/include/linux/sched/user.h b/include/linux/sched/user.h index 3c07e41..afcbf19 100644 --- a/include/linux/sched/user.h +++ b/include/linux/sched/user.h @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ #include <linux/uidgid.h> #include <linux/atomic.h> +#include <linux/refcount.h> struct key; @@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ struct key; * Some day this will be a full-fledged user tracking system.. */ struct user_struct { - atomic_t __count; /* reference count */ + refcount_t __count; /* reference count */ atomic_t processes; /* How many processes does this user have? */ atomic_t sigpending; /* How many pending signals does this user have? */ #ifdef CONFIG_FANOTIFY @@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ extern struct user_struct root_user; extern struct user_struct * alloc_uid(kuid_t); static inline struct user_struct *get_uid(struct user_struct *u) { - atomic_inc(&u->__count); + refcount_inc(&u->__count); return u; } extern void free_uid(struct user_struct *); diff --git a/kernel/user.c b/kernel/user.c index 00281ad..c072348 100644 --- a/kernel/user.c +++ b/kernel/user.c @@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ static DEFINE_SPINLOCK(uidhash_lock); /* root_user.__count is 1, for init task cred */ struct user_struct root_user = { - .__count = ATOMIC_INIT(1), + .__count = REFCOUNT_INIT(1), .processes = ATOMIC_INIT(1), .sigpending = ATOMIC_INIT(0), .locked_shm = 0, @@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ static struct user_struct *uid_hash_find(kuid_t uid, struct hlist_head *hashent) hlist_for_each_entry(user, hashent, uidhash_node) { if (uid_eq(user->uid, uid)) { - atomic_inc(&user->__count); + refcount_inc(&user->__count); return user; } } @@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ void free_uid(struct user_struct *up) return; local_irq_save(flags); - if (atomic_dec_and_lock(&up->__count, &uidhash_lock)) + if (refcount_dec_and_lock(&up->__count, &uidhash_lock)) free_user(up, flags); else local_irq_restore(flags); @@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ struct user_struct *alloc_uid(kuid_t uid) goto out_unlock; new->uid = uid; - atomic_set(&new->__count, 1); + refcount_set(&new->__count, 1); /* * Before adding this, check whether we raced -- 2.7.4