Subject: [patch V3 01/22] bpf: Tighten the requirements for preallocated hash maps

From: Thomas Gleixner <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2020 15:01:32 +0100

The assumption that only programs attached to perf NMI events can deadlock
on memory allocators is wrong. Assume the following simplified callchain:

 kmalloc() from regular non BPF context
  cache empty
   freelist empty
    lock(zone->lock);
     tracepoint or kprobe
      BPF()
       update_elem()
        lock(bucket)
          kmalloc()
           cache empty
            freelist empty
             lock(zone->lock);  <- DEADLOCK

There are other ways which do not involve locking to create wreckage:

 kmalloc() from regular non BPF context
  local_irq_save();
   ...
    obj = slab_first();
     kprobe()
      BPF()
       update_elem()
        lock(bucket)
         kmalloc()
          local_irq_save();
           ...
            obj = slab_first(); <- Same object as above ...

So preallocation _must_ be enforced for all variants of intrusive
instrumentation.

Unfortunately immediate enforcement would break backwards compatibility, so
for now such programs still are allowed to run, but a one time warning is
emitted in dmesg and the verifier emits a warning in the verifier log as
well so developers are made aware about this and can fix their programs
before the enforcement becomes mandatory.

Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <[email-masked]>
---
V3: Still allow run-time allocation for !RT. Emit warnings. Split
    out the RT part as this really should be backported to stable
    kernels.
V2: New patch
---
 kernel/bpf/verifier.c |   39 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

--- a/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
+++ b/kernel/bpf/verifier.c
@@ -8143,26 +8143,43 @@ static bool is_tracing_prog_type(enum bp
 	}
 }
 
+static bool is_preallocated_map(struct bpf_map *map)
+{
+	if (!check_map_prealloc(map))
+		return false;
+	if (map->inner_map_meta && !check_map_prealloc(map->inner_map_meta))
+		return false;
+	return true;
+}
+
 static int check_map_prog_compatibility(struct bpf_verifier_env *env,
 					struct bpf_map *map,
 					struct bpf_prog *prog)
 
 {
-	/* Make sure that BPF_PROG_TYPE_PERF_EVENT programs only use
-	 * preallocated hash maps, since doing memory allocation
-	 * in overflow_handler can crash depending on where nmi got
-	 * triggered.
+	/*
+	 * Validate that trace type programs use preallocated hash maps.
+	 *
+	 * For programs attached to PERF events this is mandatory as the
+	 * perf NMI can hit any arbitrary code sequence.
+	 *
+	 * All other trace types using preallocated hash maps are unsafe as
+	 * well because tracepoint or kprobes can be inside locked regions
+	 * of the memory allocator or at a place where a recursion into the
+	 * memory allocator would see inconsistent state.
+	 *
+	 * For now running such programs is allowed for backwards
+	 * compatibility reasons, but warnings are emitted so developers are
+	 * made aware of the unsafety and can fix their programs before this
+	 * is enforced.
 	 */
-	if (prog->type == BPF_PROG_TYPE_PERF_EVENT) {
-		if (!check_map_prealloc(map)) {
+	if (is_tracing_prog_type(prog->type) && !is_preallocated_map(map)) {
+		if (prog->type == BPF_PROG_TYPE_PERF_EVENT) {
 			verbose(env, "perf_event programs can only use preallocated hash map\n");
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
-		if (map->inner_map_meta &&
-		    !check_map_prealloc(map->inner_map_meta)) {
-			verbose(env, "perf_event programs can only use preallocated inner hash map\n");
-			return -EINVAL;
-		}
+		WARN_ONCE(1, "trace type BPF program uses run-time allocation\n");
+		verbose(env, "trace type programs with run-time allocated hash maps are unsafe. Switch to preallocated hash maps.\n");
 	}
 
 	if ((is_tracing_prog_type(prog->type) ||