Thread (14 messages) 14 messages, 9 authors, 2018-02-13

RE: [PATCH v2] MIPS: Add nonxstack=on|off kernel parameter

From: Miodrag Dinic <Miodrag.Dinic@mips.com>
Date: 2017-11-30 09:35:41
Also in: lkml

Hi David,

Sorry for a late response, please find answers in-lined:
quoted
If this parameter is omitted, kernel behavior remains the same as it
was before this patch is applied.
Do other architectures have a similar hack?

If arm{,64} and x86 don't need this, what would make MIPS so special
that we have to carry this around?
Yes, there are similar workarounds. Just a couple lines above
nonxstack description in the documentation there are :
	noexec		[IA-64]

	noexec		[X86]
			On X86-32 available only on PAE configured kernels.
			noexec=on: enable non-executable mappings (default)
			noexec=off: disable non-executable mappings
...

	noexec32	[X86-64]
			This affects only 32-bit executables.
			noexec32=on: enable non-executable mappings (default)
				read doesn't imply executable mappings
			noexec32=off: disable non-executable mappings
				read implies executable mappings
quoted
This functionality is convenient during debugging and is especially
useful for Android development where non-exec stack is required.
Why not just set the PT_GNU_STACK flags correctly in the first place?
We do have PT_GNU_STACK flags set correctly, this feature is required to
workaround CPU revisions which do not have RIXI support.

Kind regards,
Miodrag
________________________________________
From: David Daney [ddaney@caviumnetworks.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2017 9:53 PM
To: Aleksandar Markovic; linux-mips@linux-mips.org
Cc: Miodrag Dinic; Aleksandar Markovic; Andrew Morton; DengCheng Zhu; Ding Tianhong; Douglas Leung; Frederic Weisbecker; Goran Ferenc; Ingo Molnar; James Cowgill; James Hogan; Jonathan Corbet; linux-doc@vger.kernel.org; linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org; Marc Zyngier; Matt Redfearn; Mimi Zohar; Paul Burton; Paul E. McKenney; Petar Jovanovic; Raghu Gandham; Ralf Baechle; Thomas Gleixner; Tom Saeger
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2] MIPS: Add nonxstack=on|off kernel parameter

On 11/21/2017 05:56 AM, Aleksandar Markovic wrote:
From: Miodrag Dinic <miodrag.dinic@mips.com>

Add a new kernel parameter to override the default behavior related
to the decision whether to set up stack as non-executable in function
mips_elf_read_implies_exec().

The new parameter is used to control non executable stack and heap,
regardless of PT_GNU_STACK entry. This does apply to both stack and
heap, despite the name.

Allowed values:

nonxstack=on  Force non-exec stack & heap
nonxstack=off Force executable stack & heap

If this parameter is omitted, kernel behavior remains the same as it
was before this patch is applied.
Do other architectures have a similar hack?

If arm{,64} and x86 don't need this, what would make MIPS so special
that we have to carry this around?

This functionality is convenient during debugging and is especially
useful for Android development where non-exec stack is required.
Why not just set the PT_GNU_STACK flags correctly in the first place?
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
Signed-off-by: Miodrag Dinic <miodrag.dinic@mips.com>
Signed-off-by: Aleksandar Markovic <aleksandar.markovic@mips.com>
---
  Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 11 +++++++
  arch/mips/kernel/elf.c                          | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++
  2 files changed, 50 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index b74e133..99464ee 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -2614,6 +2614,17 @@
                      noexec32=off: disable non-executable mappings
                              read implies executable mappings

+     nonxstack       [MIPS]
+                     Force setting up stack and heap as non-executable or
+                     executable regardless of PT_GNU_STACK entry. Both
+                     stack and heap are affected, despite the name. Valid
+                     arguments: on, off.
+                     nonxstack=on:   Force non-executable stack and heap
+                     nonxstack=off:  Force executable stack and heap
+                     If ommited, stack and heap will or will not be set
+                     up as non-executable depending on PT_GNU_STACK
+                     entry and possibly other factors.
+
      nofpu           [MIPS,SH] Disable hardware FPU at boot time.

      nofxsr          [BUGS=X86-32] Disables x86 floating point extended
diff --git a/arch/mips/kernel/elf.c b/arch/mips/kernel/elf.c
index 731325a..28ef7f3 100644
--- a/arch/mips/kernel/elf.c
+++ b/arch/mips/kernel/elf.c
@@ -326,8 +326,47 @@ void mips_set_personality_nan(struct arch_elf_state *state)
      }
  }

+static int nonxstack = EXSTACK_DEFAULT;
+
+/*
+ * kernel parameter: nonxstack=on|off
+ *
+ *   Force setting up stack and heap as non-executable or
+ *   executable regardless of PT_GNU_STACK entry. Both
+ *   stack and heap are affected, despite the name. Valid
+ *   arguments: on, off.
+ *
+ *     nonxstack=on:   Force non-executable stack and heap
+ *     nonxstack=off:  Force executable stack and heap
+ *
+ *   If ommited, stack and heap will or will not be set
+ *   up as non-executable depending on PT_GNU_STACK
+ *   entry and possibly other factors.
+ */
+static int __init nonxstack_setup(char *str)
+{
+     if (!strcmp(str, "on"))
+             nonxstack = EXSTACK_DISABLE_X;
+     else if (!strcmp(str, "off"))
+             nonxstack = EXSTACK_ENABLE_X;
+     else
+             pr_err("Malformed nonxstack format! nonxstack=on|off\n");
+
+     return 1;
+}
+__setup("nonxstack=", nonxstack_setup);
+
  int mips_elf_read_implies_exec(void *elf_ex, int exstack)
  {
+     switch (nonxstack) {
+     case EXSTACK_DISABLE_X:
+             return 0;
+     case EXSTACK_ENABLE_X:
+             return 1;
+     default:
+             break;
+     }
+
      if (exstack != EXSTACK_DISABLE_X) {
              /* The binary doesn't request a non-executable stack */
              return 1;
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