[PATCH] isofs: bound Rock Ridge symlink components to the SL record
From: Bryam Vargas
Date: Sat Jun 06 2026 - 18:29:35 EST
get_symlink_chunk() and the SL handling in
parse_rock_ridge_inode_internal() walk the variable-length components of
a Rock Ridge "SL" (symbolic link) record. Each component is a two-byte
header (flags, len) followed by len bytes of text, so it occupies
slp->len + 2 bytes. Both loops read slp->len and advance to the next
component, and get_symlink_chunk() additionally does
memcpy(rpnt, slp->text, slp->len), but neither checks that the component
lies within the SL record before dereferencing it.
A crafted SL record whose component declares a len that runs past the
record (rr->len) therefore triggers an out-of-bounds read of up to 255
bytes. When the record sits at the tail of its backing buffer - for
example a small kmalloc()ed continuation block reached through a CE
record - the read crosses the allocation; get_symlink_chunk() then
copies the out-of-bounds bytes into the symlink body returned to user
space by readlink(), disclosing adjacent kernel memory.
ISO 9660 images are routinely mounted from untrusted removable media -
desktop environments auto-mount them (e.g. via udisks2) without
CAP_SYS_ADMIN - so the record contents are attacker-controlled.
Reject any component that does not fit in the remaining record bytes
before using it, in both walk sites.
Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Bryam Vargas <hexlabsecurity@xxxxxxxxx>
---
Reproducer (crafted ISO-9660 image with Rock Ridge):
# a symlink whose SL component length byte is enlarged so the
# component overruns its SL record
ln -s "$(python3 -c 'print("A"*250)')" /tmp/iso/l
genisoimage -R -o rr.iso /tmp/iso
# repoint the symlink's CE record to a tight continuation block
# (cont_size = 7) holding one SL record:
# 53 4c 07 01 00 00 ff "SL", len 7, ver 1, comp flags 0, comp len 0xff
# so rock_continue() does kmalloc(7) and the component text begins at
# the end of that allocation.
mount -o loop,ro rr.iso /mnt
readlink /mnt/l
Without the patch, get_symlink_chunk() memcpy()s slp->len (0xff) bytes
starting one byte into the 7-byte allocation, so readlink() returns the
symlink target followed by adjacent in-kernel bytes (verified: the
returned link contains neighbouring directory-record / slab contents,
not just the target). On a tight continuation allocation the read
leaves the object and is a slab-out-of-bounds read that KASAN reports in
get_symlink_chunk(). With the patch the over-long component is rejected
(slp->len + 2 > slen) and readlink() returns only the valid prefix; a
well-formed Rock Ridge image is unaffected.
fs/isofs/rock.c | 11 +++++++++++
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)
diff --git a/fs/isofs/rock.c b/fs/isofs/rock.c
index 1232fab59a4e..0fe781381e66 100644
--- a/fs/isofs/rock.c
+++ b/fs/isofs/rock.c
@@ -466,6 +466,9 @@ parse_rock_ridge_inode_internal(struct iso_directory_record *de,
inode->i_size = symlink_len;
while (slen > 1) {
rootflag = 0;
+ /* keep the component within the SL record */
+ if (slp->len + 2 > slen)
+ break;
switch (slp->flags & ~1) {
case 0:
inode->i_size +=
@@ -621,6 +624,14 @@ static char *get_symlink_chunk(char *rpnt, struct rock_ridge *rr, char *plimit)
slp = &rr->u.SL.link;
while (slen > 1) {
rootflag = 0;
+ /*
+ * A component is a two-byte header (flags, len) followed by
+ * len bytes of text, i.e. slp->len + 2 bytes. Stop if it does
+ * not fit in the bytes left in the SL record, otherwise the
+ * memcpy() of slp->text below reads past the record.
+ */
+ if (slp->len + 2 > slen)
+ break;
switch (slp->flags & ~1) {
case 0:
if (slp->len > plimit - rpnt)
--
2.43.0