Re: [PATCH] sched/fair: Fix potential memory corruption in child_cfs_rq_on_list

[K Prateek Nayak]

Hello Li,

On 3/5/2025 3:10 AM, Zecheng Li wrote:
> child_cfs_rq_on_list attempts to convert a 'prev' pointer to a cfs_rq.
> This 'prev' pointer can originate from struct rq's leaf_cfs_rq_list,
> making the conversion invalid and potentially leading to memory
> corruption. Depending on the relative positions of leaf_cfs_rq_list and
> the task group (tg) pointer within the struct, this can cause a memory
> fault or access garbage data.
>
> The issue arises in list_add_leaf_cfs_rq, where both
> cfs_rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list and rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list are added to the same
> leaf list. Also, rq->tmp_alone_branch can be set to rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list.
>
> This adds a check `if (prev == &rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list)` after the main
> conditional in child_cfs_rq_on_list. This ensures that the container_of
> operation will convert a correct cfs_rq struct.
>
> This check is sufficient because only cfs_rqs on the same CPU are added
> to the list, so verifying the 'prev' pointer against the current rq's list
> head is enough.
>
> Fixes a potential memory corruption issue that due to current struct
> layout might not be manifesting as a crash but could lead to unpredictable
> behavior when the layout changes.
>
> Signed-off-by: Zecheng Li <zecheng@xxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>   kernel/sched/fair.c | 6 ++++--
>   1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/kernel/sched/fair.c b/kernel/sched/fair.c
> index 857808da23d8..9dafb374d76d 100644
> --- a/kernel/sched/fair.c
> +++ b/kernel/sched/fair.c
> @@ -4061,15 +4061,17 @@ static inline bool child_cfs_rq_on_list(struct cfs_rq *cfs_rq)
>   {
>   	struct cfs_rq *prev_cfs_rq;
>   	struct list_head *prev;
> +	struct rq *rq = rq_of(cfs_rq);
>   
>   	if (cfs_rq->on_list) {
>   		prev = cfs_rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list.prev;
>   	} else {
> -		struct rq *rq = rq_of(cfs_rq);
> -
>   		prev = rq->tmp_alone_branch;
>   	}

A "SCHED_WARN_ON(prev == &rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list)" here is easily tripped
during early boot on my setup before this fix.

Only nit. is perhaps that return can go into the else clause above since
"cfs_rq->on_list" case will guarantee a "leaf_cfs_rq_list" pointer that
is embedded in a valid cfs_rq struct but I've no strong feelings.

Feel free to add:

Reviewed-and-tested-by: K Prateek Nayak <kprateek.nayak@xxxxxxx>

--
Thanks and Regards,
Prateek

>   
> +	if (prev == &rq->leaf_cfs_rq_list)
> +		return false;
> +
>   	prev_cfs_rq = container_of(prev, struct cfs_rq, leaf_cfs_rq_list);
>   
>   	return (prev_cfs_rq->tg->parent == cfs_rq->tg);
>
> base-commit: 7ab02bd36eb444654183ad6c5b15211ddfa32a8f