Re: [PATCH] pstore: Remove duplicate invoking of persistent_ram_zap()

[Kees Cook]

On Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 9:52 AM, Peng15 Wang çé <wangpeng15@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> ________________________________________
>>From: Kees Cook <keescook@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>Sent: Friday, October 26, 2018 17:44
>>To: Peng15 Wang çé
>>Cc: anton@xxxxxxxxxx; ccross@xxxxxxxxxxx; tony.luck@xxxxxxxxx; linux-kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>Subject: Re: [PATCH] pstore: Remove duplicate invoking of persistent_ram_zap()
>
>>On Fri, Oct 26, 2018 at 4:41 AM, Peng15 Wang çé <wangpeng15@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> From: Peng Wang <wangpeng15@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>>
>>> When initialing przs with invalid data in buffer(no PERSISTENT_RAM_SIG),
>>> function call path is like this:
>>>
>>> ramoops_init_prz ->
>>> |
>>> |-> persistent_ram_new -> persistent_ram_post_init -> persistent_ram_zap
>>> |
>>> |--> persistent_ram_zap
>>
>>There does appear to be a duplicate call to persistent_ram_zap() in this case.
>>
>>> As we can see, persistent_ram_zap() is called twice.
>>> We can avoid this by removing it in ramoops_init_prz(),
>>>and only call it in persistent_ram_post_init().
>>
>>However, I think the proposed fix doesn't work the way it should.
>>
>>There are two prz init paths: ramoops_init_prz() (a single prz) and
>>ramoops_init_przs (multiple przs). The "dump" and "ftrace" cases use
>>the latter. In those, there is no call to persistent_ram_zap() if the
>>buffer is valid.
>>
>>In other words:
>>
>>ramoops_init_prz() unconditionally calls persistent_ram_zap(). (And
>>may call it twice if there is a mismatch of the magic header.)
>>
>>ramoops_init_przs() only calls persistent_ram_zap() when the magic
>>header is wrong.
>>
>>The proposed patch unconditionally zaps all regions, which means we'd
>>lose "dump" and "ftrace" across the next reboot.
>>
>>Perhaps we could make it an option to persistent_ram_new()?
>>
>>--
>>Kees Cook
>
> Thanks for your reply.
>
> You are right, this patch does zap regions unconditionally when it comes to "dump" and
> "ftrace". Sorry for the inconvenience owing to my previous mistake.

No problem at all! I'm glad you started this conversation, since it
was a subtle aspect of the code that I didn't understand until I took
a closer look at it. :)

> I have tried adding an option to persistent_ram_new() according to your advice and will send
> a V2 version patch later. Could you please kindly pay any attention to it? Thank you!

Yes, thanks! I've added Joel to CC as well, since he was doing clean
ups in a related area. I think we'll probably combine the efforts.

-kees

-- 
Kees Cook