[PATCH v7 0/6] x86: Improve Minimum Alternate Stack Size

During signal entry, the kernel pushes data onto the normal userspace
stack. On x86, the data pushed onto the user stack includes XSAVE state,
which has grown over time as new features and larger registers have been
added to the architecture.

MINSIGSTKSZ is a constant provided in the kernel signal.h headers and
typically distributed in lib-dev(el) packages, e.g. [1]. Its value is
compiled into programs and is part of the user/kernel ABI. The MINSIGSTKSZ
constant indicates to userspace how much data the kernel expects to push on
the user stack, [2][3].

However, this constant is much too small and does not reflect recent
additions to the architecture. For instance, when AVX-512 states are in
use, the signal frame size can be 3.5KB while MINSIGSTKSZ remains 2KB.

The bug report [4] explains this as an ABI issue. The small MINSIGSTKSZ can
cause user stack overflow when delivering a signal.

In this series, we suggest a couple of things:
1. Provide a variable minimum stack size to userspace, as a similar
   approach to [5].
2. Avoid using a too-small alternate stack.

Changes from v6 [11]:
* Updated and fixed the documentation. (Borislav Petkov)
* Revised the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ comment. (Borislav Petkov)

Changes form v5 [10]:
* Fixed the overflow detection. (Andy Lutomirski)
* Reverted the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ removal on arm64. (Dave Martin)
* Added a documentation about the x86 AT_MINSIGSTKSZ.
* Supported the existing sigaltstack test to use the new aux vector.

Changes from v4 [9]:
* Moved the aux vector define to the generic header. (Carlos O'Donell)

Changes from v3 [8]:
* Updated the changelog. (Borislav Petkov)
* Revised the test messages again. (Borislav Petkov)

Changes from v2 [7]:
* Simplified the sigaltstack overflow prevention. (Jann Horn)
* Renamed fpstate size helper with cleanup. (Borislav Petkov)
* Cleaned up the signframe struct size defines. (Borislav Petkov)
* Revised the selftest messages. (Borislav Petkov)
* Revised a changelog. (Borislav Petkov)

Changes from v1 [6]:
* Took stack alignment into account for sigframe size. (Dave Martin)

[1]: https://sourceware.org/git/?p=glibc.git;a=blob;f=sysdeps/unix/sysv/linux/bits/sigstack.h;h=b9dca794da093dc4d41d39db9851d444e1b54d9b;hb=HEAD
[2]: https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Signal-Stack.html
[3]: https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/sigaltstack.2.html
[4]: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153531
[5]: https://blog.linuxplumbersconf.org/2017/ocw/system/presentations/4671/original/plumbers-dm-2017.pdf
[6]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20200929205746.6763-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/
[7]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20201119190237.626-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/
[8]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20201223015312.4882-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/
[9]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20210115211038.2072-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/
[10]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20210203172242.29644-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/
[11]: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20210227165911.32757-1-chang.seok.bae@intel.com/

Chang S. Bae (6):
  uapi: Define the aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  x86/signal: Introduce helpers to get the maximum signal frame size
  x86/elf: Support a new ELF aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  selftest/sigaltstack: Use the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ aux vector if available
  x86/signal: Detect and prevent an alternate signal stack overflow
  selftest/x86/signal: Include test cases for validating sigaltstack

 Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst          |  53 +++++++++
 Documentation/x86/index.rst               |   1 +
 arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h                |   4 +
 arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h         |   2 +
 arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h           |   2 +
 arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h        |   4 +-
 arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c              |   3 +
 arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c              |  19 ++++
 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c                  |  72 +++++++++++-
 include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h               |   3 +
 tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c |  20 +++-
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile      |   2 +-
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c | 128 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 13 files changed, 300 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c


base-commit: 1e28eed17697bcf343c6743f0028cc3b5dd88bf0
-- 
2.17.1

Define the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ in generic Linux. It is already used as generic
ABI in glibc's generic elf.h, and this define will prevent future namespace
conflicts. In particular, x86 is also using this generic definition.

Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Cc: Carlos O'Donell <redacted>
Cc: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin@arm.com>
Cc: libc-alpha@sourceware.org
Cc: linux-arch@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-api@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-arm-kernel@lists.infradead.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
---
Change from v6:
* Revised the comment. (Borislav Petkov)

Change from v5:
* Reverted the arm64 change. (Dave Martin and Will Deacon)
* Massaged the changelog.

Change from v4:
* Added as a new patch (Carlos O'Donell)
---
 include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h b/include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h
index abe5f2b6581b..c7e502bf5a6f 100644
--- a/include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h
+++ b/include/uapi/linux/auxvec.h

@@ -33,5 +33,8 @@
 
 #define AT_EXECFN  31	/* filename of program */
 
+#ifndef AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
+#define AT_MINSIGSTKSZ	51	/* minimal stack size for signal delivery */
+#endif
 
 #endif /* _UAPI_LINUX_AUXVEC_H */

-- 
2.17.1

Signal frames do not have a fixed format and can vary in size when a number
of things change: support XSAVE features, 32 vs. 64-bit apps. Add the code
to support a runtime method for userspace to dynamically discover how large
a signal stack needs to be.

Introduce a new variable, max_frame_size, and helper functions for the
calculation to be used in a new user interface. Set max_frame_size to a
system-wide worst-case value, instead of storing multiple app-specific
values.

Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Acked-by: H.J. Lu <redacted>
Cc: x86@kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
---
Changes from v2:
* Renamed the fpstate size helper with cleanup (Borislav Petkov)
* Moved the sigframe struct size defines to where used (Borislav Petkov)
* Removed unneeded sentence in the changelog (Borislav Petkov)

Change from v1:
* Took stack alignment into account for sigframe size (Dave Martin)
---
 arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h |  2 ++
 arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h   |  2 ++
 arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c      |  3 ++
 arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c      | 19 +++++++++++
 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c          | 57 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 5 files changed, 81 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h
index 7fb516b6893a..8b6631dffefd 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/fpu/signal.h

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ unsigned long
 fpu__alloc_mathframe(unsigned long sp, int ia32_frame,
 		     unsigned long *buf_fx, unsigned long *size);
 
+unsigned long fpu__get_fpstate_size(void);
+
 extern void fpu__init_prepare_fx_sw_frame(void);
 
 #endif /* _ASM_X86_FPU_SIGNAL_H */

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h
index 84eab2724875..5b1ed650b124 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/sigframe.h

@@ -85,4 +85,6 @@ struct rt_sigframe_x32 {
 
 #endif /* CONFIG_X86_64 */
 
+void __init init_sigframe_size(void);
+
 #endif /* _ASM_X86_SIGFRAME_H */

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
index ab640abe26b6..c49ef3ad34dc 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/cpu/common.c

@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@
 #include <asm/intel-family.h>
 #include <asm/cpu_device_id.h>
 #include <asm/uv/uv.h>
+#include <asm/sigframe.h>
 
 #include "cpu.h"
 

@@ -1334,6 +1335,8 @@ static void __init early_identify_cpu(struct cpuinfo_x86 *c)
 
 	fpu__init_system(c);
 
+	init_sigframe_size();
+
 #ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
 	/*
 	 * Regardless of whether PCID is enumerated, the SDM says

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c
index a4ec65317a7f..dbb304e48f16 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/fpu/signal.c

@@ -507,6 +507,25 @@ fpu__alloc_mathframe(unsigned long sp, int ia32_frame,
 
 	return sp;
 }
+
+unsigned long fpu__get_fpstate_size(void)
+{
+	unsigned long ret = xstate_sigframe_size();
+
+	/*
+	 * This space is needed on (most) 32-bit kernels, or when a 32-bit
+	 * app is running on a 64-bit kernel. To keep things simple, just
+	 * assume the worst case and always include space for 'freg_state',
+	 * even for 64-bit apps on 64-bit kernels. This wastes a bit of
+	 * space, but keeps the code simple.
+	 */
+	if ((IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION) ||
+	     IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32)) && use_fxsr())
+		ret += sizeof(struct fregs_state);
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 /*
  * Prepare the SW reserved portion of the fxsave memory layout, indicating
  * the presence of the extended state information in the memory layout

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index ea794a083c44..800243afd1ef 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ do {									\
  * Set up a signal frame.
  */
 
+/* x86 ABI requires 16-byte alignment */
+#define FRAME_ALIGNMENT	16UL
+
+#define MAX_FRAME_PADDING	(FRAME_ALIGNMENT - 1)
+
 /*
  * Determine which stack to use..
  */

@@ -222,9 +227,9 @@ static unsigned long align_sigframe(unsigned long sp)
 	 * Align the stack pointer according to the i386 ABI,
 	 * i.e. so that on function entry ((sp + 4) & 15) == 0.
 	 */
-	sp = ((sp + 4) & -16ul) - 4;
+	sp = ((sp + 4) & -FRAME_ALIGNMENT) - 4;
 #else /* !CONFIG_X86_32 */
-	sp = round_down(sp, 16) - 8;
+	sp = round_down(sp, FRAME_ALIGNMENT) - 8;
 #endif
 	return sp;
 }

@@ -663,6 +668,54 @@ SYSCALL_DEFINE0(rt_sigreturn)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * There are four different struct types for signal frame: sigframe_ia32,
+ * rt_sigframe_ia32, rt_sigframe_x32, and rt_sigframe. Use the worst case
+ * -- the largest size. It means the size for 64-bit apps is a bit more
+ * than needed, but this keeps the code simple.
+ */
+#if defined(CONFIG_X86_32) || defined(CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION)
+# define MAX_FRAME_SIGINFO_UCTXT_SIZE	sizeof(struct sigframe_ia32)
+#else
+# define MAX_FRAME_SIGINFO_UCTXT_SIZE	sizeof(struct rt_sigframe)
+#endif
+
+/*
+ * The FP state frame contains an XSAVE buffer which must be 64-byte aligned.
+ * If a signal frame starts at an unaligned address, extra space is required.
+ * This is the max alignment padding, conservatively.
+ */
+#define MAX_XSAVE_PADDING	63UL
+
+/*
+ * The frame data is composed of the following areas and laid out as:
+ *
+ * -------------------------
+ * | alignment padding     |
+ * -------------------------
+ * | (f)xsave frame        |
+ * -------------------------
+ * | fsave header          |
+ * -------------------------
+ * | alignment padding     |
+ * -------------------------
+ * | siginfo + ucontext    |
+ * -------------------------
+ */
+
+/* max_frame_size tells userspace the worst case signal stack size. */
+static unsigned long __ro_after_init max_frame_size;
+
+void __init init_sigframe_size(void)
+{
+	max_frame_size = MAX_FRAME_SIGINFO_UCTXT_SIZE + MAX_FRAME_PADDING;
+
+	max_frame_size += fpu__get_fpstate_size() + MAX_XSAVE_PADDING;
+
+	/* Userspace expects an aligned size. */
+	max_frame_size = round_up(max_frame_size, FRAME_ALIGNMENT);
+}
+
 static inline int is_ia32_compat_frame(struct ksignal *ksig)
 {
 	return IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION) &&

-- 
2.17.1

The kernel pushes context on to the userspace stack to prepare for the
user's signal handler. When the user has supplied an alternate signal
stack, via sigaltstack(2), it is easy for the kernel to verify that the
stack size is sufficient for the current hardware context.

Check if writing the hardware context to the alternate stack will exceed
it's size. If yes, then instead of corrupting user-data and proceeding with
the original signal handler, an immediate SIGSEGV signal is delivered.

Instead of calling on_sig_stack(), directly check the new stack pointer
whether in the bounds.

While the kernel allows new source code to discover and use a sufficient
alternate signal stack size, this check is still necessary to protect
binaries with insufficient alternate signal stack size from data
corruption.

Suggested-by: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Cc: Andy Lutomirski <luto@kernel.org>
Cc: Jann Horn <jannh@google.com>
Cc: x86@kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
---
Changes from v5:
* Fixed the overflow check. (Andy Lutomirski)
* Updated the changelog.

Changes from v3:
* Updated the changelog (Borislav Petkov)

Changes from v2:
* Simplified the implementation (Jann Horn)
---
 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c | 10 +++++++---
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index 0d24f64d0145..9a62604fbf63 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 	unsigned long math_size = 0;
 	unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
 	unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-	int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+	bool onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
 	int ret;
 
 	/* redzone */

@@ -251,8 +251,11 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 
 	/* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
 	if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
 			sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+			/* On the alternate signal stack */
+			onsigstack = true;
+		}
 	} else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
 		   !onsigstack &&
 		   regs->ss != __USER_DS &&

@@ -272,7 +275,8 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 	 * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
 	 * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
 	 */
-	if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+	if (onsigstack && unlikely(sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+				   sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))
 		return (void __user *)-1L;
 
 	/* save i387 and extended state */

-- 
2.17.1

On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 11:52:14PM -0700, Chang S. Bae wrote:

So clearly I'm missing something because trying to trigger the test case
in the bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153531

on current tip/master doesn't work. Runs with MY_MINSIGSTKSZ under 2048
fail with:

tst-minsigstksz-2: sigaltstack: Cannot allocate memory

and above 2048 don't overwrite bytes below the stack.

So something else is missing. How did you test this patch?

Thx.

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH, GF: Felix Imendörffer, HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg

On Mar 16, 2021, at 04:52, Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 11:52:14PM -0700, Chang S. Bae wrote:

quoted

@@ -272,7 +275,8 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

	 * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
	 * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
	 */
-	if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+	if (onsigstack && unlikely(sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+				   sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))
		return (void __user *)-1L;

So clearly I'm missing something because trying to trigger the test case
in the bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153531

on current tip/master doesn't work. Runs with MY_MINSIGSTKSZ under 2048
fail with:

tst-minsigstksz-2: sigaltstack: Cannot allocate memory

and above 2048 don't overwrite bytes below the stack.

So something else is missing. How did you test this patch?

I suspect the AVX-512 states not enabled there.

When I ran it under a machine without AVX-512 like this, it didn’t show the
overwrite message:

    $ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep -m1 "model name”
    model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10900K CPU @ 3.70GHz

    $ sudo dmesg | grep "Enabled xstate”
    [    0.000000] x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0x1f, context size is 960
    bytes, using ‘compacted’ format.

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=2047
    $ ./a.out
    a.out: sigaltstack: Cannot allocate memory

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=2048
    $ ./a.out

When do it again with AVX-512, it did show the message:

    $ cat /proc/cpuinfo  | grep -m1 "model name”
    model name      : Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-7940X CPU @ 3.10GHz

    $ sudo dmesg | grep "Enabled xstate”
    [    0.000000] x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0xff, context size is 2560
    bytes, using 'compacted' format.

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=2048
    $ ./a.out
    a.out: changed byte 1412 bytes below configured stack

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3490
    $ ./a.out
    a.out: changed byte 21 bytes below configured stack

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3491
    $ ./a.out


Also, on the second machine, without this patch:

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3191
    $ ./a.out
    a.out: changed byte 319 bytes below configured stack

But with this patch, it gave segfault with a too-small size:

    $ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3191
    $ ./a.out
    Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Thanks,
Chang

On Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 06:26:46PM +0000, Bae, Chang Seok wrote:

I suspect the AVX-512 states not enabled there.

Ok, I found a machine which has AVX-512:

[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x001: 'x87 floating point registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x002: 'SSE registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x004: 'AVX registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x020: 'AVX-512 opmask'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x040: 'AVX-512 Hi256'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x080: 'AVX-512 ZMM_Hi256'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE feature 0x200: 'Protection Keys User registers'
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[2]:  576, xstate_sizes[2]:  256
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[5]:  832, xstate_sizes[5]:   64
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[6]:  896, xstate_sizes[6]:  512
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[7]: 1408, xstate_sizes[7]: 1024
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: xstate_offset[9]: 2432, xstate_sizes[9]:    8
[    0.000000] x86/fpu: Enabled xstate features 0x2e7, context size is 2440 bytes, using 'compacted' format.

and applied your patch and added a debug printk, see end of mail.

Then, I ran the test case:

$ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3453 -o tst-minsigstksz-2
$ ./tst-minsigstksz-2
tst-minsigstksz-2: changed byte 50 bytes below configured stack

Whoops.

And the debug print said:

[ 5395.252884] signal: get_sigframe: sp: 0x7f54ec39e7b8, sas_ss_sp: 0x7f54ec39e6ce, sas_ss_size 0xd7d

which tells me that, AFAICT, your check whether we have enough alt stack
doesn't seem to work in this case.

Thx.

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index a06cb107c0e8..a7396f7c3832 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 	unsigned long math_size = 0;
 	unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
 	unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-	int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+	bool onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
 	int ret;
 
 	/* redzone */

@@ -246,8 +246,11 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 
 	/* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
 	if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
 			sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+			/* On the alternate signal stack */
+			onsigstack = true;
+		}
 	} else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
 		   !onsigstack &&
 		   regs->ss != __USER_DS &&

@@ -263,11 +266,16 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 
 	sp = align_sigframe(sp - frame_size);
 
+	if (onsigstack)
+		pr_info("%s: sp: 0x%lx, sas_ss_sp: 0x%lx, sas_ss_size 0x%lx\n",
+			__func__, sp, current->sas_ss_sp, current->sas_ss_size);
+
 	/*
 	 * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
 	 * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
 	 */
-	if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+	if (onsigstack && unlikely(sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+				   sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))
 		return (void __user *)-1L;
 
 	/* save i387 and extended state */

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH, GF: Felix Imendörffer, HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg

On Mar 25, 2021, at 09:20, Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

$ gcc tst-minsigstksz-2.c -DMY_MINSIGSTKSZ=3453 -o tst-minsigstksz-2
$ ./tst-minsigstksz-2
tst-minsigstksz-2: changed byte 50 bytes below configured stack

Whoops.

And the debug print said:

[ 5395.252884] signal: get_sigframe: sp: 0x7f54ec39e7b8, sas_ss_sp: 0x7f54ec39e6ce, sas_ss_size 0xd7d

which tells me that, AFAICT, your check whether we have enough alt stack
doesn't seem to work in this case.

Yes, in this case.

tst-minsigstksz-2.c has this code:

static void
handler (int signo)
{
  /* Clear a bit of on-stack memory.  */
  volatile char buffer[256];
  for (size_t i = 0; i < sizeof (buffer); ++i)
    buffer[i] = 0;
  handler_run = 1;
}
…

  if (handler_run != 1)
    errx (1, "handler did not run");

  for (void *p = stack_buffer; p < stack_bottom; ++p)
    if (*(unsigned char *) p != 0xCC)
      errx (1, "changed byte %zd bytes below configured stack\n",
            stack_bottom - p);
…

I think the message comes from the handler’s overwriting, not from the kernel.

The patch's check is to detect and prevent the kernel-induced overflow --
whether alt stack enough for signal delivery itself.  The stack is possibly
not enough for the signal handler's use as the kernel does not know for it.

Thanks,
Chang

On Mon, Mar 15, 2021 at 11:57 PM Chang S. Bae [off-list ref] wrote:

The kernel pushes context on to the userspace stack to prepare for the
user's signal handler. When the user has supplied an alternate signal
stack, via sigaltstack(2), it is easy for the kernel to verify that the
stack size is sufficient for the current hardware context.

Check if writing the hardware context to the alternate stack will exceed
it's size. If yes, then instead of corrupting user-data and proceeding with
the original signal handler, an immediate SIGSEGV signal is delivered.

Instead of calling on_sig_stack(), directly check the new stack pointer
whether in the bounds.

While the kernel allows new source code to discover and use a sufficient
alternate signal stack size, this check is still necessary to protect
binaries with insufficient alternate signal stack size from data
corruption.

This patch results in excessively complicated control and data flow.

-       int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+       bool onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);

Here onsigstack means "we were already using the altstack".

But now onsigstack is also true if we are using the legacy path to
*enter* the altstack.  So now it's (was on altstack) || (entering
altstack via legacy path).

And now we fail if ((was on altstack) || (entering altstack via legacy
path)) && (new sp is out of bounds).


The condition we actually want is that, if we are entering the
altstack and we don't fit, we should fail.  This is tricky because of
the autodisarm stuff and the possibility of nonlinear stack segments,
so it's not even clear to me exactly what we should be doing.  I
propose:

                return (void __user *)-1L;

Can we please log something (if (show_unhandled_signals ||
printk_ratelimit()) that says that we overflowed the altstack?

How about:

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index ea794a083c44..53781324a2d3 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -237,7 +237,8 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct

pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
     unsigned long math_size = 0;
     unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
     unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-    int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+    bool already_onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+    bool entering_altstack = false;
     int ret;

     /* redzone */

@@ -246,15 +247,25 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct

pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

     /* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
     if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-        if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+        /*
+         * This checks already_onsigstack via sas_ss_flags().
+         * Sensible programs use SS_AUTODISARM, which disables
+         * that check, and programs that don't use
+         * SS_AUTODISARM get compatible but potentially
+         * bizarre behavior.
+         */
+        if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
             sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+            entering_altstack = true;
+        }
     } else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
-           !onsigstack &&
+           !already_onsigstack &&
            regs->ss != __USER_DS &&
            !(ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_RESTORER) &&
            ka->sa.sa_restorer) {
         /* This is the legacy signal stack switching. */
         sp = (unsigned long) ka->sa.sa_restorer;
+        entering_altstack = true;
     }

     sp = fpu__alloc_mathframe(sp, IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32),

@@ -267,8 +278,16 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct

pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
      * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
      * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
      */
-    if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+    if (unlikely(entering_altstack &&
+             (sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+              sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))) {
+        if (show_unhandled_signals && printk_ratelimit()) {
+            pr_info("%s[%d] overflowed sigaltstack",
+                tsk->comm, task_pid_nr(tsk));
+        }
+
         return (void __user *)-1L;
+    }

     /* save i387 and extended state */
     ret = copy_fpstate_to_sigframe(*fpstate, (void __user *)buf_fx, math_size);

Apologies for whitespace damage.  I attached it, too.

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 11:13:12AM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

What a mess this whole signal handling is. I need a course in signal
handling to understand what's going on here...

You could've simply done

	if (unlikely(entering_altstack && !on_sig_stack(sp)))

here.

+		if (show_unhandled_signals && printk_ratelimit()) {
+			pr_info("%s[%d] overflowed sigaltstack",
+				tsk->comm, task_pid_nr(tsk));
+		}

Why do you even wanna issue that? It looks like callers will propagate
an error value up and people don't look at dmesg all the time.

Btw, s/tsk/current/g

IOW, this builds:

---

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index a06cb107c0e8..c00e932b5f18 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -234,10 +234,11 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 	     void __user **fpstate)
 {
 	/* Default to using normal stack */
+	bool already_onsigstack = on_sig_stack(regs->sp);
+	bool entering_altstack = false;
 	unsigned long math_size = 0;
 	unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
 	unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-	int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
 	int ret;
 
 	/* redzone */

@@ -246,15 +247,24 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 
 	/* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
 	if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+		/*
+		 * This checks already_onsigstack via sas_ss_flags(). Sensible
+		 * programs use SS_AUTODISARM, which disables that check, and
+		 * programs that don't use SS_AUTODISARM get compatible but
+		 * potentially bizarre behavior.
+		 */
+		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
 			sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+			entering_altstack = true;
+		}
 	} else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
-		   !onsigstack &&
+		   !already_onsigstack &&
 		   regs->ss != __USER_DS &&
 		   !(ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_RESTORER) &&
 		   ka->sa.sa_restorer) {
 		/* This is the legacy signal stack switching. */
 		sp = (unsigned long) ka->sa.sa_restorer;
+		entering_altstack = true;
 	}
 
 	sp = fpu__alloc_mathframe(sp, IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32),

@@ -267,8 +277,14 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
 	 * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
 	 * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
 	 */
-	if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+	if (unlikely(entering_altstack && !on_sig_stack(sp))) {
+
+		if (show_unhandled_signals && printk_ratelimit())
+			pr_info("%s[%d] overflowed sigaltstack",
+				current->comm, task_pid_nr(current));
+
 		return (void __user *)-1L;
+	}
 
 	/* save i387 and extended state */
 	ret = copy_fpstate_to_sigframe(*fpstate, (void __user *)buf_fx, math_size);

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH, GF: Felix Imendörffer, HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg

On Mar 25, 2021, at 11:54, Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 11:13:12AM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

quoted

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index ea794a083c44..53781324a2d3 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -237,7 +237,8 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

	unsigned long math_size = 0;
	unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
	unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-	int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+	bool already_onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+	bool entering_altstack = false;
	int ret;

	/* redzone */

@@ -246,15 +247,25 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

	/* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
	if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+		/*
+		 * This checks already_onsigstack via sas_ss_flags().
+		 * Sensible programs use SS_AUTODISARM, which disables
+		 * that check, and programs that don't use
+		 * SS_AUTODISARM get compatible but potentially
+		 * bizarre behavior.
+		 */
+		if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
			sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+			entering_altstack = true;
+		}
	} else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
-		   !onsigstack &&
+		   !already_onsigstack &&
		   regs->ss != __USER_DS &&
		   !(ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_RESTORER) &&
		   ka->sa.sa_restorer) {
		/* This is the legacy signal stack switching. */
		sp = (unsigned long) ka->sa.sa_restorer;
+		entering_altstack = true;
	}

What a mess this whole signal handling is. I need a course in signal
handling to understand what's going on here...

quoted

	sp = fpu__alloc_mathframe(sp, IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32),

@@ -267,8 +278,16 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

	 * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
	 * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
	 */
-	if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+	if (unlikely(entering_altstack &&
+		     (sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+		      sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))) {

You could've simply done

	if (unlikely(entering_altstack && !on_sig_stack(sp)))

here.

But if sigaltstack()’ed with the SS_AUTODISARM flag, both on_sig_stack() and
sas_ss_flags() return 0 [1]. Then, segfault always here. v5 had the exact
issue before [2].

[1] https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/include/linux/sched/signal.h#n576
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/CALCETrXuFrHUU-L=HMofTgEDZk9muPnVtK=EjsTHqQ01XhbRYg@mail.gmail.com/

Thanks,
Chang

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 09:11:56PM +0000, Bae, Chang Seok wrote:

But if sigaltstack()’ed with the SS_AUTODISARM flag, both on_sig_stack() and
sas_ss_flags() return 0 [1]. Then, segfault always here. v5 had the exact
issue before [2].

Ah, there's that SS_AUTODISARM check above it which I missed, sorry.

I guess we can do a __on_sig_stack() helper or so which does the stack
check only without the SS_AUTODISARM. Just for readability's sake in
what is already a pretty messy function.

Thx.

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

SUSE Software Solutions Germany GmbH, GF: Felix Imendörffer, HRB 36809, AG Nürnberg

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 11:54 AM Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 11:13:12AM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

quoted

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index ea794a083c44..53781324a2d3 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -237,7 +237,8 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
      unsigned long math_size = 0;
      unsigned long sp = regs->sp;
      unsigned long buf_fx = 0;
-     int onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+     bool already_onsigstack = on_sig_stack(sp);
+     bool entering_altstack = false;
      int ret;

      /* redzone */

@@ -246,15 +247,25 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,

      /* This is the X/Open sanctioned signal stack switching.  */
      if (ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_ONSTACK) {
-             if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0)
+             /*
+              * This checks already_onsigstack via sas_ss_flags().
+              * Sensible programs use SS_AUTODISARM, which disables
+              * that check, and programs that don't use
+              * SS_AUTODISARM get compatible but potentially
+              * bizarre behavior.
+              */
+             if (sas_ss_flags(sp) == 0) {
                      sp = current->sas_ss_sp + current->sas_ss_size;
+                     entering_altstack = true;
+             }
      } else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
-                !onsigstack &&
+                !already_onsigstack &&
                 regs->ss != __USER_DS &&
                 !(ka->sa.sa_flags & SA_RESTORER) &&
                 ka->sa.sa_restorer) {
              /* This is the legacy signal stack switching. */
              sp = (unsigned long) ka->sa.sa_restorer;
+             entering_altstack = true;
      }

What a mess this whole signal handling is. I need a course in signal
handling to understand what's going on here...

quoted

      sp = fpu__alloc_mathframe(sp, IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32),

@@ -267,8 +278,16 @@ get_sigframe(struct k_sigaction *ka, struct pt_regs *regs, size_t frame_size,
       * If we are on the alternate signal stack and would overflow it, don't.
       * Return an always-bogus address instead so we will die with SIGSEGV.
       */
-     if (onsigstack && !likely(on_sig_stack(sp)))
+     if (unlikely(entering_altstack &&
+                  (sp <= current->sas_ss_sp ||
+                   sp - current->sas_ss_sp > current->sas_ss_size))) {

You could've simply done

        if (unlikely(entering_altstack && !on_sig_stack(sp)))

here.

Nope.  on_sig_stack() is a horrible kludge and won't work here.  We
could have something like __on_sig_stack() or sp_is_on_sig_stack() or
something, though.

quoted

+             if (show_unhandled_signals && printk_ratelimit()) {
+                     pr_info("%s[%d] overflowed sigaltstack",
+                             tsk->comm, task_pid_nr(tsk));
+             }

Why do you even wanna issue that? It looks like callers will propagate
an error value up and people don't look at dmesg all the time.

I figure that the people whose programs spontaneously crash should get
a hint why if they look at dmesg.  Maybe the message should say
"overflowed sigaltstack -- try noavx512"?

We really ought to have a SIGSIGFAIL signal that's sent, double-fault
style, when we fail to send a signal.

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 09:56:53PM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

Nope.  on_sig_stack() is a horrible kludge and won't work here.  We
could have something like __on_sig_stack() or sp_is_on_sig_stack() or
something, though.

Yeah, see my other reply. Ack to either of those carved out helpers.

I figure that the people whose programs spontaneously crash should get
a hint why if they look at dmesg.  Maybe the message should say
"overflowed sigaltstack -- try noavx512"?

I guess, as long as it is ratelimited. I mean, we can remove it later if
it starts gettin' annoying.

We really ought to have a SIGSIGFAIL signal that's sent, double-fault
style, when we fail to send a signal.

Yeap, we should be able to tell userspace that we couldn't send a
signal, hohumm.

Thx.

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

https://people.kernel.org/tglx/notes-about-netiquette

On Mar 26, 2021, at 03:30, Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 09:56:53PM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

quoted

We really ought to have a SIGSIGFAIL signal that's sent, double-fault
style, when we fail to send a signal.

Yeap, we should be able to tell userspace that we couldn't send a
signal, hohumm.

Hi Boris,

Let me clarify some details as preparing to include this in a revision.

So, IIUC, a number needs to be assigned for this new SIGFAIL. At a glance, not
sure which one to pick there in signal.h -- 1-31 fully occupied and the rest
for 33 different real-time signals.

Also, perhaps, force_sig(SIGFAIL) here, instead of return -1 -- to die with
SIGSEGV.

Thanks,
Chang

On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 10:30:23PM +0000, Bae, Chang Seok wrote:

On Mar 26, 2021, at 03:30, Borislav Petkov [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 09:56:53PM -0700, Andy Lutomirski wrote:

quoted

We really ought to have a SIGSIGFAIL signal that's sent, double-fault
style, when we fail to send a signal.

Yeap, we should be able to tell userspace that we couldn't send a
signal, hohumm.

Hi Boris,

Let me clarify some details as preparing to include this in a revision.

So, IIUC, a number needs to be assigned for this new SIGFAIL. At a glance, not
sure which one to pick there in signal.h -- 1-31 fully occupied and the rest
for 33 different real-time signals.

Also, perhaps, force_sig(SIGFAIL) here, instead of return -1 -- to die with
SIGSEGV.

I think this needs to be decided together with userspace people so that
they can act accordingly and whether it even makes sense to them.

Florian, any suggestions?

Subthread starts here:

https://lkml.kernel.org/r/CALCETrXQZuvJQrHDMst6PPgtJxaS_sPk2JhwMiMDNPunq45YFg@mail.gmail.com

Thx.

-- 
Regards/Gruss,
    Boris.

https://people.kernel.org/tglx/notes-about-netiquette

I forgot to mention why I cc'd all you fine Xen folk:

On Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 11:13 AM Andy Lutomirski [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

        } else if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_X86_32) &&
                   !onsigstack &&
                   regs->ss != __USER_DS &&

This bit here seems really dubious on Xen PV.  Honestly it seems
dubious everywhere, but especially on Xen PV.

--Andy

Historically, signal.h defines MINSIGSTKSZ (2KB) and SIGSTKSZ (8KB), for
use by all architectures with sigaltstack(2). Over time, the hardware state
size grew, but these constants did not evolve. Today, literal use of these
constants on several architectures may result in signal stack overflow, and
thus user data corruption.

A few years ago, the ARM team addressed this issue by establishing
getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ). This enables the kernel to supply at runtime
value that is an appropriate replacement on the current and future
hardware.

Add getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ) support to x86, analogous to the support
added for ARM in commit 94b07c1f8c39 ("arm64: signal: Report signal frame
size to userspace via auxv").

Also, include a documentation to describe x86-specific auxiliary vectors.

Reported-by: Florian Weimer <redacted>
Fixes: c2bc11f10a39 ("x86, AVX-512: Enable AVX-512 States Context Switch")
Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Cc: H.J. Lu <redacted>
Cc: Fenghua Yu <redacted>
Cc: Dave Martin <Dave.Martin@arm.com>
Cc: Michael Ellerman <mpe@ellerman.id.au>
Cc: x86@kernel.org
Cc: libc-alpha@sourceware.org
Cc: linux-arch@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-api@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Link: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=153531
---
Changes from v6:
* Revised the documentation and fixed the build issue. (Borislav Petkov)
* Fixed the vertical alignment of '\'. (Borislav Petkov)

Changes from v5:
* Added a documentation.
---
 Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst   | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Documentation/x86/index.rst        |  1 +
 arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h         |  4 +++
 arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h |  4 +--
 arch/x86/kernel/signal.c           |  5 +++
 5 files changed, 65 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst b/Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6c75b26f5efb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/x86/elf_auxvec.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+==================================
+x86-specific ELF Auxiliary Vectors
+==================================
+
+This document describes the semantics of the x86 auxiliary vectors.
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+ELF Auxiliary vectors enable the kernel to efficiently provide
+configuration specific parameters to userspace. In this example, a program
+allocates an alternate stack based on the kernel-provided size::
+
+   #include <sys/auxv.h>
+   #include <elf.h>
+   #include <signal.h>
+   #include <stdlib.h>
+   #include <assert.h>
+   #include <err.h>
+
+   #ifndef AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
+   #define AT_MINSIGSTKSZ	51
+   #endif
+
+   ....
+   stack_t ss;
+
+   ss.ss_sp = malloc(ss.ss_size);
+   assert(ss.ss_sp);
+
+   ss.ss_size = getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ) + SIGSTKSZ;
+   ss.ss_flags = 0;
+
+   if (sigaltstack(&ss, NULL))
+        err(1, "sigaltstack");
+
+
+The exposed auxiliary vectors
+=============================
+
+AT_SYSINFO is used for locating the vsyscall entry point.  It is not
+exported on 64-bit mode.
+
+AT_SYSINFO_EHDR is the start address of the page containing the vDSO.
+
+AT_MINSIGSTKSZ denotes the minimum stack size required by the kernel to
+deliver a signal to user-space.  AT_MINSIGSTKSZ comprehends the space
+consumed by the kernel to accommodate the user context for the current
+hardware configuration.  It does not comprehend subsequent user-space stack
+consumption, which must be added by the user.  (e.g. Above, user-space adds
+SIGSTKSZ to AT_MINSIGSTKSZ.)

diff --git a/Documentation/x86/index.rst b/Documentation/x86/index.rst
index 4693e192b447..d58614d5cde6 100644
--- a/Documentation/x86/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/x86/index.rst

@@ -35,3 +35,4 @@ x86-specific Documentation
    sva
    sgx
    features
+   elf_auxvec

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h b/arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h
index 9224d40cdefe..18d9b1117871 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/asm/elf.h

@@ -312,6 +312,7 @@ do {									\
 		NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_SYSINFO,	VDSO_ENTRY);			\
 		NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_SYSINFO_EHDR, VDSO_CURRENT_BASE);	\
 	}								\
+	NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ, get_sigframe_size());		\
 } while (0)
 
 /*

@@ -328,6 +329,7 @@ extern unsigned long task_size_32bit(void);
 extern unsigned long task_size_64bit(int full_addr_space);
 extern unsigned long get_mmap_base(int is_legacy);
 extern bool mmap_address_hint_valid(unsigned long addr, unsigned long len);
+extern unsigned long get_sigframe_size(void);
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_X86_32
 

@@ -349,6 +351,7 @@ do {									\
 	if (vdso64_enabled)						\
 		NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_SYSINFO_EHDR,				\
 			    (unsigned long __force)current->mm->context.vdso); \
+	NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ, get_sigframe_size());		\
 } while (0)
 
 /* As a historical oddity, the x32 and x86_64 vDSOs are controlled together. */

@@ -357,6 +360,7 @@ do {									\
 	if (vdso64_enabled)						\
 		NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_SYSINFO_EHDR,				\
 			    (unsigned long __force)current->mm->context.vdso); \
+	NEW_AUX_ENT(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ, get_sigframe_size());		\
 } while (0)
 
 #define AT_SYSINFO		32

diff --git a/arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h b/arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h
index 580e3c567046..6beb55bbefa4 100644
--- a/arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h
+++ b/arch/x86/include/uapi/asm/auxvec.h

@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@
 
 /* entries in ARCH_DLINFO: */
 #if defined(CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION) || !defined(CONFIG_X86_64)
-# define AT_VECTOR_SIZE_ARCH 2
+# define AT_VECTOR_SIZE_ARCH 3
 #else /* else it's non-compat x86-64 */
-# define AT_VECTOR_SIZE_ARCH 1
+# define AT_VECTOR_SIZE_ARCH 2
 #endif
 
 #endif /* _ASM_X86_AUXVEC_H */

diff --git a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
index 800243afd1ef..0d24f64d0145 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kernel/signal.c

@@ -716,6 +716,11 @@ void __init init_sigframe_size(void)
 	max_frame_size = round_up(max_frame_size, FRAME_ALIGNMENT);
 }
 
+unsigned long get_sigframe_size(void)
+{
+	return max_frame_size;
+}
+
 static inline int is_ia32_compat_frame(struct ksignal *ksig)
 {
 	return IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION) &&

-- 
2.17.1

The test measures the kernel's signal delivery with different (enough vs.
insufficient) stack sizes.

Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Cc: x86@kernel.org
Cc: linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
---
Changes from v3:
* Revised test messages again (Borislav Petkov)

Changes from v2:
* Revised test messages (Borislav Petkov)
---
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile      |   2 +-
 tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c | 128 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 129 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
 create mode 100644 tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile b/tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile
index 333980375bc7..65bba2ae86ee 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/x86/Makefile

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ CAN_BUILD_WITH_NOPIE := $(shell ./check_cc.sh $(CC) trivial_program.c -no-pie)
 TARGETS_C_BOTHBITS := single_step_syscall sysret_ss_attrs syscall_nt test_mremap_vdso \
 			check_initial_reg_state sigreturn iopl ioperm \
 			test_vsyscall mov_ss_trap \
-			syscall_arg_fault fsgsbase_restore
+			syscall_arg_fault fsgsbase_restore sigaltstack
 TARGETS_C_32BIT_ONLY := entry_from_vm86 test_syscall_vdso unwind_vdso \
 			test_FCMOV test_FCOMI test_FISTTP \
 			vdso_restorer

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c b/tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f689af75e979
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/x86/sigaltstack.c

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
+
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+#include <signal.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <err.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+#include <sys/auxv.h>
+#include <sys/prctl.h>
+#include <sys/resource.h>
+#include <setjmp.h>
+
+/* sigaltstack()-enforced minimum stack */
+#define ENFORCED_MINSIGSTKSZ	2048
+
+#ifndef AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
+#  define AT_MINSIGSTKSZ	51
+#endif
+
+static int nerrs;
+
+static bool sigalrm_expected;
+
+static unsigned long at_minstack_size;
+
+static void sethandler(int sig, void (*handler)(int, siginfo_t *, void *),
+		       int flags)
+{
+	struct sigaction sa;
+
+	memset(&sa, 0, sizeof(sa));
+	sa.sa_sigaction = handler;
+	sa.sa_flags = SA_SIGINFO | flags;
+	sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
+	if (sigaction(sig, &sa, 0))
+		err(1, "sigaction");
+}
+
+static void clearhandler(int sig)
+{
+	struct sigaction sa;
+
+	memset(&sa, 0, sizeof(sa));
+	sa.sa_handler = SIG_DFL;
+	sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
+	if (sigaction(sig, &sa, 0))
+		err(1, "sigaction");
+}
+
+static int setup_altstack(void *start, unsigned long size)
+{
+	stack_t ss;
+
+	memset(&ss, 0, sizeof(ss));
+	ss.ss_size = size;
+	ss.ss_sp = start;
+
+	return sigaltstack(&ss, NULL);
+}
+
+static jmp_buf jmpbuf;
+
+static void sigsegv(int sig, siginfo_t *info, void *ctx_void)
+{
+	if (sigalrm_expected) {
+		printf("[FAIL]\tWrong signal delivered: SIGSEGV (expected SIGALRM).");
+		nerrs++;
+	} else {
+		printf("[OK]\tSIGSEGV signal delivered.\n");
+	}
+
+	siglongjmp(jmpbuf, 1);
+}
+
+static void sigalrm(int sig, siginfo_t *info, void *ctx_void)
+{
+	if (!sigalrm_expected) {
+		printf("[FAIL]\tWrong signal delivered: SIGALRM (expected SIGSEGV).");
+		nerrs++;
+	} else {
+		printf("[OK]\tSIGALRM signal delivered.\n");
+	}
+}
+
+static void test_sigaltstack(void *altstack, unsigned long size)
+{
+	if (setup_altstack(altstack, size))
+		err(1, "sigaltstack()");
+
+	sigalrm_expected = (size > at_minstack_size) ? true : false;
+
+	sethandler(SIGSEGV, sigsegv, 0);
+	sethandler(SIGALRM, sigalrm, SA_ONSTACK);
+
+	if (!sigsetjmp(jmpbuf, 1)) {
+		printf("[RUN]\tTest an alternate signal stack of %ssufficient size.\n",
+		       sigalrm_expected ? "" : "in");
+		printf("\tRaise SIGALRM. %s is expected to be delivered.\n",
+		       sigalrm_expected ? "It" : "SIGSEGV");
+		raise(SIGALRM);
+	}
+
+	clearhandler(SIGALRM);
+	clearhandler(SIGSEGV);
+}
+
+int main(void)
+{
+	void *altstack;
+
+	at_minstack_size = getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ);
+
+	altstack = mmap(NULL, at_minstack_size + SIGSTKSZ, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
+			MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_STACK, -1, 0);
+	if (altstack == MAP_FAILED)
+		err(1, "mmap()");
+
+	if ((ENFORCED_MINSIGSTKSZ + 1) < at_minstack_size)
+		test_sigaltstack(altstack, ENFORCED_MINSIGSTKSZ + 1);
+
+	test_sigaltstack(altstack, at_minstack_size + SIGSTKSZ);
+
+	return nerrs == 0 ? 0 : 1;
+}

-- 
2.17.1

The SIGSTKSZ constant may not represent enough stack size in some
architectures as the hardware state size grows.

Use getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ) to increase the stack size.

Signed-off-by: Chang S. Bae <redacted>
Reviewed-by: Len Brown <redacted>
Cc: linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
---
Changes from v5:
* Added as a new patch.
---
 tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c | 20 +++++++++++++++-----
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c b/tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c
index 8934a3766d20..c53b070755b6 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/sigaltstack/sas.c

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <errno.h>
+#include <sys/auxv.h>
 
 #include "../kselftest.h"
 

@@ -24,6 +25,11 @@
 #define SS_AUTODISARM  (1U << 31)
 #endif
 
+#ifndef AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
+#define AT_MINSIGSTKSZ	51
+#endif
+
+static unsigned int stack_size;
 static void *sstack, *ustack;
 static ucontext_t uc, sc;
 static const char *msg = "[OK]\tStack preserved";

@@ -47,7 +53,7 @@ void my_usr1(int sig, siginfo_t *si, void *u)
 #endif
 
 	if (sp < (unsigned long)sstack ||
-			sp >= (unsigned long)sstack + SIGSTKSZ) {
+			sp >= (unsigned long)sstack + stack_size) {
 		ksft_exit_fail_msg("SP is not on sigaltstack\n");
 	}
 	/* put some data on stack. other sighandler will try to overwrite it */

@@ -108,6 +114,10 @@ int main(void)
 	stack_t stk;
 	int err;
 
+	/* Make sure more than the required minimum. */
+	stack_size = getauxval(AT_MINSIGSTKSZ) + SIGSTKSZ;
+	ksft_print_msg("[NOTE]\tthe stack size is %lu\n", stack_size);
+
 	ksft_print_header();
 	ksft_set_plan(3);
 

@@ -117,7 +127,7 @@ int main(void)
 	sigaction(SIGUSR1, &act, NULL);
 	act.sa_sigaction = my_usr2;
 	sigaction(SIGUSR2, &act, NULL);
-	sstack = mmap(NULL, SIGSTKSZ, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
+	sstack = mmap(NULL, stack_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
 		      MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_STACK, -1, 0);
 	if (sstack == MAP_FAILED) {
 		ksft_exit_fail_msg("mmap() - %s\n", strerror(errno));

@@ -139,7 +149,7 @@ int main(void)
 	}
 
 	stk.ss_sp = sstack;
-	stk.ss_size = SIGSTKSZ;
+	stk.ss_size = stack_size;
 	stk.ss_flags = SS_ONSTACK | SS_AUTODISARM;
 	err = sigaltstack(&stk, NULL);
 	if (err) {

@@ -161,7 +171,7 @@ int main(void)
 		}
 	}
 
-	ustack = mmap(NULL, SIGSTKSZ, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
+	ustack = mmap(NULL, stack_size, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
 		      MAP_PRIVATE | MAP_ANONYMOUS | MAP_STACK, -1, 0);
 	if (ustack == MAP_FAILED) {
 		ksft_exit_fail_msg("mmap() - %s\n", strerror(errno));

@@ -170,7 +180,7 @@ int main(void)
 	getcontext(&uc);
 	uc.uc_link = NULL;
 	uc.uc_stack.ss_sp = ustack;
-	uc.uc_stack.ss_size = SIGSTKSZ;
+	uc.uc_stack.ss_size = stack_size;
 	makecontext(&uc, switch_fn, 0);
 	raise(SIGUSR1);
 

-- 
2.17.1

* Chang S. Bae [off-list ref] wrote:

During signal entry, the kernel pushes data onto the normal userspace
stack. On x86, the data pushed onto the user stack includes XSAVE state,
which has grown over time as new features and larger registers have been
added to the architecture.

MINSIGSTKSZ is a constant provided in the kernel signal.h headers and
typically distributed in lib-dev(el) packages, e.g. [1]. Its value is
compiled into programs and is part of the user/kernel ABI. The MINSIGSTKSZ
constant indicates to userspace how much data the kernel expects to push on
the user stack, [2][3].

However, this constant is much too small and does not reflect recent
additions to the architecture. For instance, when AVX-512 states are in
use, the signal frame size can be 3.5KB while MINSIGSTKSZ remains 2KB.

The bug report [4] explains this as an ABI issue. The small MINSIGSTKSZ can
cause user stack overflow when delivering a signal.

  uapi: Define the aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  x86/signal: Introduce helpers to get the maximum signal frame size
  x86/elf: Support a new ELF aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  selftest/sigaltstack: Use the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ aux vector if available
  x86/signal: Detect and prevent an alternate signal stack overflow
  selftest/x86/signal: Include test cases for validating sigaltstack

So this looks really complicated, is this justified?

Why not just internally round up sigaltstack size if it's too small? 
This would be more robust, as it would fix applications that use 
MINSIGSTKSZ but don't use the new AT_MINSIGSTKSZ facility.

I.e. does AT_MINSIGSTKSZ have any other uses than avoiding the 
segfault if MINSIGSTKSZ is used to create a small signal stack?

Thanks,

	Ingo

* Ingo Molnar [off-list ref] wrote:

* Chang S. Bae [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

During signal entry, the kernel pushes data onto the normal userspace
stack. On x86, the data pushed onto the user stack includes XSAVE state,
which has grown over time as new features and larger registers have been
added to the architecture.

MINSIGSTKSZ is a constant provided in the kernel signal.h headers and
typically distributed in lib-dev(el) packages, e.g. [1]. Its value is
compiled into programs and is part of the user/kernel ABI. The MINSIGSTKSZ
constant indicates to userspace how much data the kernel expects to push on
the user stack, [2][3].

However, this constant is much too small and does not reflect recent
additions to the architecture. For instance, when AVX-512 states are in
use, the signal frame size can be 3.5KB while MINSIGSTKSZ remains 2KB.

The bug report [4] explains this as an ABI issue. The small MINSIGSTKSZ can
cause user stack overflow when delivering a signal.

quoted

  uapi: Define the aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  x86/signal: Introduce helpers to get the maximum signal frame size
  x86/elf: Support a new ELF aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  selftest/sigaltstack: Use the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ aux vector if available
  x86/signal: Detect and prevent an alternate signal stack overflow
  selftest/x86/signal: Include test cases for validating sigaltstack

So this looks really complicated, is this justified?

Why not just internally round up sigaltstack size if it's too small? 
This would be more robust, as it would fix applications that use 
MINSIGSTKSZ but don't use the new AT_MINSIGSTKSZ facility.

I.e. does AT_MINSIGSTKSZ have any other uses than avoiding the 
segfault if MINSIGSTKSZ is used to create a small signal stack?

I.e. if the kernel sees a too small ->ss_size in sigaltstack() it 
would ignore ->ss_sp and mmap() a new sigaltstack instead and use that 
for the signal handler stack.

This would automatically make MINSIGSTKSZ - and other too small sizes 
work today, and in the future.

But the question is, is there user-space usage of sigaltstacks that 
relies on controlling or reading the contents of the stack?

longjmp using programs perhaps?

Thanks,

	Ingo

On Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 6:45 AM Ingo Molnar [off-list ref] wrote:

* Ingo Molnar [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

* Chang S. Bae [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

During signal entry, the kernel pushes data onto the normal userspace
stack. On x86, the data pushed onto the user stack includes XSAVE state,
which has grown over time as new features and larger registers have been
added to the architecture.

MINSIGSTKSZ is a constant provided in the kernel signal.h headers and
typically distributed in lib-dev(el) packages, e.g. [1]. Its value is
compiled into programs and is part of the user/kernel ABI. The MINSIGSTKSZ
constant indicates to userspace how much data the kernel expects to push on
the user stack, [2][3].

However, this constant is much too small and does not reflect recent
additions to the architecture. For instance, when AVX-512 states are in
use, the signal frame size can be 3.5KB while MINSIGSTKSZ remains 2KB.

The bug report [4] explains this as an ABI issue. The small MINSIGSTKSZ can
cause user stack overflow when delivering a signal.

quoted

  uapi: Define the aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  x86/signal: Introduce helpers to get the maximum signal frame size
  x86/elf: Support a new ELF aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  selftest/sigaltstack: Use the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ aux vector if available
  x86/signal: Detect and prevent an alternate signal stack overflow
  selftest/x86/signal: Include test cases for validating sigaltstack

So this looks really complicated, is this justified?

Why not just internally round up sigaltstack size if it's too small?
This would be more robust, as it would fix applications that use
MINSIGSTKSZ but don't use the new AT_MINSIGSTKSZ facility.

I.e. does AT_MINSIGSTKSZ have any other uses than avoiding the
segfault if MINSIGSTKSZ is used to create a small signal stack?

I.e. if the kernel sees a too small ->ss_size in sigaltstack() it
would ignore ->ss_sp and mmap() a new sigaltstack instead and use that
for the signal handler stack.

This would automatically make MINSIGSTKSZ - and other too small sizes
work today, and in the future.

But the question is, is there user-space usage of sigaltstacks that
relies on controlling or reading the contents of the stack?

longjmp using programs perhaps?

For the legacy binary that requests a too-small sigaltstack, there are
several choices:

We could detect the too-small stack at sigaltstack(2) invocation and
return an error.
This results in two deal-killing problems:
First, some applications don't check the return value, so the check
would be fruitless.
Second, those that check and error-out may be programs that never
actually take the signal, and so we'd be causing a dusty binary to
exit, when it didn't exit on another system, or another kernel.

Or we could detect the too small stack at signal registration time.
This has the same two deal-killers as above.

Then there is the approach in this patch-set, which detects an
imminent stack overflow at run time.
It has neither of the two problems above, and the benefit that we now
prevent data corruption
that could have been happening on some systems already today.  The
down side is that the dusty binary
that does request the too-small stack can now die at run time.

So your idea of recognizing the problem and conjuring up a sufficient
stack is compelling,
since it would likely "just work", no matter how dumb the program.
But where would the
the sufficient stack come from -- is this a new kernel buffer, or is
there a way to abscond
some user memory?  I would expect a signal handler to look at the data
on its stack
and nobody else will look at that stack.  But this is already an
unreasonable program for
allocating a special signal stack in the first place :-/ So yes, one
could imagine the signal
handler could longjump instead of gracefully completing, and if this
specially allocated
signal stack isn't where the user planned, that could be trouble.

Another idea we discussed was to detect the potential overflow at run-time,
and instead of killing the process, just push the signal onto the
regular user stack.
this might actually work, but it is sort of devious; and it would not
work in the case
where the user overflowed their regular stack already, which may be
the most (only?)
compelling reason that they allocated and declared a special
sigaltstack in the first place...

-- 
Len Brown, Intel Open Source Technology Center

* Len Brown [off-list ref] wrote:

On Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 6:45 AM Ingo Molnar [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

* Ingo Molnar [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

* Chang S. Bae [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

During signal entry, the kernel pushes data onto the normal userspace
stack. On x86, the data pushed onto the user stack includes XSAVE state,
which has grown over time as new features and larger registers have been
added to the architecture.

MINSIGSTKSZ is a constant provided in the kernel signal.h headers and
typically distributed in lib-dev(el) packages, e.g. [1]. Its value is
compiled into programs and is part of the user/kernel ABI. The MINSIGSTKSZ
constant indicates to userspace how much data the kernel expects to push on
the user stack, [2][3].

However, this constant is much too small and does not reflect recent
additions to the architecture. For instance, when AVX-512 states are in
use, the signal frame size can be 3.5KB while MINSIGSTKSZ remains 2KB.

The bug report [4] explains this as an ABI issue. The small MINSIGSTKSZ can
cause user stack overflow when delivering a signal.

quoted

  uapi: Define the aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  x86/signal: Introduce helpers to get the maximum signal frame size
  x86/elf: Support a new ELF aux vector AT_MINSIGSTKSZ
  selftest/sigaltstack: Use the AT_MINSIGSTKSZ aux vector if available
  x86/signal: Detect and prevent an alternate signal stack overflow
  selftest/x86/signal: Include test cases for validating sigaltstack

So this looks really complicated, is this justified?

Why not just internally round up sigaltstack size if it's too small?
This would be more robust, as it would fix applications that use
MINSIGSTKSZ but don't use the new AT_MINSIGSTKSZ facility.

I.e. does AT_MINSIGSTKSZ have any other uses than avoiding the
segfault if MINSIGSTKSZ is used to create a small signal stack?

I.e. if the kernel sees a too small ->ss_size in sigaltstack() it
would ignore ->ss_sp and mmap() a new sigaltstack instead and use that
for the signal handler stack.

This would automatically make MINSIGSTKSZ - and other too small sizes
work today, and in the future.

But the question is, is there user-space usage of sigaltstacks that
relies on controlling or reading the contents of the stack?

longjmp using programs perhaps?

For the legacy binary that requests a too-small sigaltstack, there are
several choices:

We could detect the too-small stack at sigaltstack(2) invocation and
return an error.
This results in two deal-killing problems:
First, some applications don't check the return value, so the check
would be fruitless.
Second, those that check and error-out may be programs that never
actually take the signal, and so we'd be causing a dusty binary to
exit, when it didn't exit on another system, or another kernel.

Or we could detect the too small stack at signal registration time.
This has the same two deal-killers as above.

Then there is the approach in this patch-set, which detects an
imminent stack overflow at run time.
It has neither of the two problems above, and the benefit that we now
prevent data corruption
that could have been happening on some systems already today.  The
down side is that the dusty binary
that does request the too-small stack can now die at run time.

So your idea of recognizing the problem and conjuring up a 
sufficient stack is compelling, since it would likely "just work", 
no matter how dumb the program. But where would the the sufficient 
stack come from -- is this a new kernel buffer, or is there a way to 
abscond some user memory?  I would expect a signal handler to look 
at the data on its stack and nobody else will look at that stack.  
But this is already an unreasonable program for allocating a special 
signal stack in the first place :-/ So yes, one could imagine the 
signal handler could longjump instead of gracefully completing, and 
if this specially allocated signal stack isn't where the user 
planned, that could be trouble.

We could mmap() (implicitly) new anonymous memory - but I can see why 
this is probably more trouble than worth...

Another idea we discussed was to detect the potential overflow at 
run-time, and instead of killing the process, just push the signal 
onto the regular user stack. this might actually work, but it is 
sort of devious; and it would not work in the case where the user 
overflowed their regular stack already, which may be the most 
(only?) compelling reason that they allocated and declared a special 
sigaltstack in the first place...

Yeah, this doesn't sound deterministic enough.

Ok, thanks for the detailed answers - I withdraw my objections, let's 
proceed with the approach you are proposing?

Thanks,

	Ingo