[PATCH v2 10/11] dm-pcache: validate the persisted dirty_tail chain at load
From: Bryam Vargas via B4 Relay
Date: Fri Jul 17 2026 - 07:29:12 EST
From: Bryam Vargas <hexlabsecurity@xxxxxxxxx>
The writeback worker follows the persisted dirty_tail chain, which is
decoded from the cache device independently of the key_tail chain that
cache_replay() walks and bounds. A crafted image, whose on-media fields are
authenticated only by a crc32c with a fixed seed, can aim dirty_tail at a
chain of last ksets that never terminates, so cache_writeback_fn() re-arms
itself with no delay forever.
Walk the dirty_tail chain once at load with the same hop cap cache_replay()
uses and fail the table load with -EIO if it does not reach an end within
n_segs hops.
Fixes: 1d57628ff95b ("dm-pcache: add persistent cache target in device-mapper")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Bryam Vargas <hexlabsecurity@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c | 7 ++++
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.h | 2 ++
drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c | 69 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3 files changed, 78 insertions(+)
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
index a94eadb7affd..b0b3e21677de 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.c
@@ -202,6 +202,7 @@ static int cache_tail_init(struct pcache_cache *cache)
{
struct dm_pcache *pcache = CACHE_TO_PCACHE(cache);
bool new_cache = !(cache->cache_info.flags & PCACHE_CACHE_FLAGS_INIT_DONE);
+ int ret;
if (new_cache) {
__set_bit(0, cache->seg_map);
@@ -218,6 +219,12 @@ static int cache_tail_init(struct pcache_cache *cache)
pcache_dev_err(pcache, "Corrupted key tail or dirty tail.\n");
return -EIO;
}
+
+ ret = cache_verify_dirty_tail(cache);
+ if (ret) {
+ pcache_dev_err(pcache, "dirty tail chain does not terminate (crafted cache image?)\n");
+ return ret;
+ }
}
return 0;
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.h b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.h
index d9e3e09f18e3..8809ec5ae943 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.h
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache.h
@@ -666,6 +666,8 @@ static inline int cache_decode_dirty_tail(struct pcache_cache *cache)
&cache->dirty_tail_index);
}
+int cache_verify_dirty_tail(struct pcache_cache *cache);
+
int pcache_cache_init(void);
void pcache_cache_exit(void);
#endif /* _PCACHE_CACHE_H */
diff --git a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c
index f3ce319037be..1caea11a61a3 100644
--- a/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c
+++ b/drivers/md/dm-pcache/cache_key.c
@@ -858,6 +858,75 @@ int cache_replay(struct pcache_cache *cache)
return ret;
}
+/*
+ * cache_verify_dirty_tail - reject a persisted dirty_tail whose last-kset
+ * chain does not terminate.
+ *
+ * dirty_tail is decoded independently of the key_tail chain cache_replay()
+ * walks, so replay's hop cap does not cover it. A crafted chain that loops
+ * back on itself makes the writeback worker re-arm forever; walk it once here
+ * with the same cap and fail the load if it does not end within n_segs hops.
+ */
+int cache_verify_dirty_tail(struct pcache_cache *cache)
+{
+ struct pcache_cache_pos pos;
+ struct pcache_cache_kset_onmedia *kset_onmedia;
+ u32 to_copy, last_hops = 0, count = 0;
+ int ret = 0;
+
+ kset_onmedia = kzalloc(PCACHE_KSET_ONMEDIA_SIZE_MAX, GFP_KERNEL);
+ if (!kset_onmedia)
+ return -ENOMEM;
+
+ cache_pos_copy(&pos, &cache->dirty_tail);
+
+ while (true) {
+ to_copy = min(PCACHE_KSET_ONMEDIA_SIZE_MAX, cache_seg_remain(&pos));
+ ret = copy_mc_to_kernel(kset_onmedia, cache_pos_addr(&pos), to_copy);
+ if (ret) {
+ ret = -EIO;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ /* A missing, short or corrupt kset is the normal end of the chain. */
+ if (!kset_onmedia_valid(kset_onmedia) ||
+ kset_onmedia->crc != cache_kset_crc(kset_onmedia)) {
+ ret = 0;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ if (kset_onmedia->flags & PCACHE_KSET_FLAGS_LAST) {
+ if (!cache_seg_id_valid(cache, kset_onmedia->next_cache_seg_id)) {
+ ret = -EIO;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ if (++last_hops > cache->n_segs) {
+ ret = -EIO;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ pos.cache_seg = &cache->segments[kset_onmedia->next_cache_seg_id];
+ pos.seg_off = 0;
+ continue;
+ }
+
+ if (get_kset_onmedia_size(kset_onmedia) > cache_seg_remain(&pos)) {
+ ret = -EIO;
+ goto out;
+ }
+
+ cache_pos_advance(&pos, get_kset_onmedia_size(kset_onmedia));
+ if (++count > 512) {
+ cond_resched();
+ count = 0;
+ }
+ }
+out:
+ kfree(kset_onmedia);
+ return ret;
+}
+
int cache_tree_init(struct pcache_cache *cache, struct pcache_cache_tree *cache_tree, u32 n_subtrees)
{
int ret;
--
2.43.0