threads / patch / 61643

patchattr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

Subject: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

## tl;dr

6 messages between Jun 17, 2024 and Jun 18, 2024. Diffs are folded; open one to read it.

replies: 5people: 3as markdown or json

Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget· Jun 17, 2024, 20:00 UTC · lore
From: Kyle Lippincott <spectral@google.com>

Memory sanitizer (msan) is detecting a use of an uninitialized variable (`size`) in `read_attr_from_index`:

    ==2268==WARNING: MemorySanitizer: use-of-uninitialized-value
    #0 0x5651f3416504 in read_attr_from_index git/attr.c:868:11
    #1 0x5651f3415530 in read_attr git/attr.c
    #2 0x5651f3413d74 in bootstrap_attr_stack git/attr.c:968:6
    #3 0x5651f3413d74 in prepare_attr_stack git/attr.c:1004:2
    #4 0x5651f3413d74 in collect_some_attrs git/attr.c:1199:2
    #5 0x5651f3413144 in git_check_attr git/attr.c:1345:2
    #6 0x5651f34728da in convert_attrs git/convert.c:1320:2
    #7 0x5651f3473425 in would_convert_to_git_filter_fd git/convert.c:1373:2
    #8 0x5651f357a35e in index_fd git/object-file.c:2630:34
    #9 0x5651f357aa15 in index_path git/object-file.c:2657:7
    #10 0x5651f35db9d9 in add_to_index git/read-cache.c:766:7
    #11 0x5651f35dc170 in add_file_to_index git/read-cache.c:799:9
    #12 0x5651f321f9b2 in add_files git/builtin/add.c:346:7
    #13 0x5651f321f9b2 in cmd_add git/builtin/add.c:565:18
    #14 0x5651f321d327 in run_builtin git/git.c:474:11
    #15 0x5651f321bc9e in handle_builtin git/git.c:729:3
    #16 0x5651f321a792 in run_argv git/git.c:793:4
    #17 0x5651f321a792 in cmd_main git/git.c:928:19
    #18 0x5651f33dde1f in main git/common-main.c:62:11

The issue exists because `size` is an output parameter from `read_blob_data_from_index`, but it's only modified if `read_blob_data_from_index` returns non-NULL. The read of `size` when calling `read_attr_from_buf` unconditionally may read from an uninitialized value. `read_attr_from_buf` checks that `buf` is non-NULL before reading from `size`, but by then it's already too late: the uninitialized read will have happened already. Furthermore, there's no guarantee that the compiler won't reorder things so that it checks `size` before checking `!buf`.

Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.

Signed-off-by: Kyle Lippincott <spectral@google.com>
---
    attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1747%2Fspectral54%2Fmsan-attr-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1747/spectral54/msan-attr-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1747
 attr.c | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
Show changes to attr.c +2 −1
diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
index 300f994ba6e..a2e0775f7e5 100644
--- a/attr.c
+++ b/attr.c
@@ -865,7 +865,8 @@ static struct attr_stack *read_attr_from_index(struct index_state *istate,
 		stack = read_attr_from_blob(istate, &istate->cache[sparse_dir_pos]->oid, relative_path, flags);
 	} else {
 		buf = read_blob_data_from_index(istate, path, &size);
-		stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
+		if (buf)
+			stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
 	}
 	return stack;
 }

base-commit: 8d94cfb54504f2ec9edc7ca3eb5c29a3dd3675ae

-- 
gitgitgadget
Junio C Hamano· Jun 17, 2024, 20:08 UTC · re: Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget · lore

Re: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

"Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
> Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being
> non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.
Makes good sense.
Show 25 quoted lines
> Signed-off-by: Kyle Lippincott <spectral@google.com>
> ---
>     attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index
>
> Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1747%2Fspectral54%2Fmsan-attr-v1
> Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1747/spectral54/msan-attr-v1
> Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1747
>
>  attr.c | 3 ++-
>  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/attr.c b/attr.c
> index 300f994ba6e..a2e0775f7e5 100644
> --- a/attr.c
> +++ b/attr.c
> @@ -865,7 +865,8 @@ static struct attr_stack *read_attr_from_index(struct index_state *istate,
>  		stack = read_attr_from_blob(istate, &istate->cache[sparse_dir_pos]->oid, relative_path, flags);
>  	} else {
>  		buf = read_blob_data_from_index(istate, path, &size);
> -		stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
> +		if (buf)
> +			stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
>  	}
>  	return stack;
>  }

Not directly related to the issue this patch addresses, but I notice that both buf and size variables have unnecesarily wide scope. As a clean-up we may want to move their declaration into this "} else {" block. But that is totally outside the scope (no pun intended) of this patch.

Will queue. Thanks.

Junio C Hamano· Jun 17, 2024, 20:30 UTC · re: Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget · lore

Re: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

"Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
> The issue exists because `size` is an output parameter from
> `read_blob_data_from_index`, but it's only modified if
> `read_blob_data_from_index` returns non-NULL.
Correct.
Show 5 quoted lines
> The read of `size` when
> calling `read_attr_from_buf` unconditionally may read from an
> uninitialized value. `read_attr_from_buf` checks that `buf` is non-NULL
> before reading from `size`, but by then it's already too late: the
> uninitialized read will have happened already.

Yes, but it is dubious that reading an uninitialized value that we know will not be used is a problem, so I am inclined to say that MSAN is giving a false positive here.

> Furthermore, there's no
> guarantee that the compiler won't reorder things so that it checks
> `size` before checking `!buf`.

This I do not understand. Are you talking about buf vs length here in the callee?

        static struct attr_stack *read_attr_from_buf(char *buf, size_t length,
                                                     const char *path, unsigned flags)
        {
                struct attr_stack *res;
                char *sp;
                int lineno = 0;
                if (!buf)
                        return NULL;
                if (length >= ATTR_MAX_FILE_SIZE) {
                        warning(_("ignoring overly large gitattributes blob '%s'"), path);
                        free(buf);
                        return NULL;
                }

At the machine level, a prefetch may happen from both buf and length, but the program ought to behave the same way as the code is executed serially as written. If the compiler allows the outside world to observe that resulting code checks length even when buf is NULL, such a compiler is broken. So I do not think that is what you are referring to, but then I do not know what problem you are describing.

Having said all that ...
> Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being
> non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.

... this makes the logic at the caller crystal clear, so even if there are suboptimal checker that bothers us with false positives, the change itself justifies itself, I would say.

Show 7 quoted lines
>  	} else {
>  		buf = read_blob_data_from_index(istate, path, &size);
> -		stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
> +		if (buf)
> +			stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
>  	}
>  	return stack;
Thanks.
Junio C Hamano· Jun 17, 2024, 21:14 UTC · re: Junio C Hamano · lore

Re: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
Show 8 quoted lines
> Having said all that ...
>
>> Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being
>> non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.
>
> ... this makes the logic at the caller crystal clear, so even if
> there are suboptimal checker that bothers us with false positives,
> the change itself justifies itself, I would say.

Well, "even if there were *no* MSAN or other issues wrt usage of size" was what I wanted to say. Sorry for a noise.

Show 9 quoted lines
>>  	} else {
>>  		buf = read_blob_data_from_index(istate, path, &size);
>> -		stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
>> +		if (buf)
>> +			stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
>>  	}
>>  	return stack;
>
> Thanks.
Kyle Lippincott· Jun 17, 2024, 21:17 UTC · re: Junio C Hamano · lore

Re: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

On Mon, Jun 17, 2024 at 1:30 PM Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
Show 48 quoted lines
>
> "Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > The issue exists because `size` is an output parameter from
> > `read_blob_data_from_index`, but it's only modified if
> > `read_blob_data_from_index` returns non-NULL.
>
> Correct.
>
> > The read of `size` when
> > calling `read_attr_from_buf` unconditionally may read from an
> > uninitialized value. `read_attr_from_buf` checks that `buf` is non-NULL
> > before reading from `size`, but by then it's already too late: the
> > uninitialized read will have happened already.
>
> Yes, but it is dubious that reading an uninitialized value that we
> know will not be used is a problem, so I am inclined to say that
> MSAN is giving a false positive here.
>
> > Furthermore, there's no
> > guarantee that the compiler won't reorder things so that it checks
> > `size` before checking `!buf`.
>
> This I do not understand.  Are you talking about buf vs length here
> in the callee?
>
>         static struct attr_stack *read_attr_from_buf(char *buf, size_t length,
>                                                      const char *path, unsigned flags)
>         {
>                 struct attr_stack *res;
>                 char *sp;
>                 int lineno = 0;
>
>                 if (!buf)
>                         return NULL;
>                 if (length >= ATTR_MAX_FILE_SIZE) {
>                         warning(_("ignoring overly large gitattributes blob '%s'"), path);
>                         free(buf);
>                         return NULL;
>                 }
>
> At the machine level, a prefetch may happen from both buf and
> length, but the program ought to behave the same way as the code is
> executed serially as written.  If the compiler allows the outside
> world to observe that resulting code checks length even when buf is
> NULL, such a compiler is broken.  So I do not think that is what you
> are referring to, but then I do not know what problem you are
> describing.

Once there's an uninitialized read, we're in undefined behavior territory. There's no requirement that the compiler keep the code operating the way we'd logically expect once there's undefined behavior, especially with the optimizer involved.

I think that you're right though: when I wrote this I'd convinced myself that this wasn't guaranteed to work, but taking a look now I can't think of a way for this to go wrong, because afaik size_t is such a simple type, conceptually. When compiling `read_attr_from_buf`, it can't actually assume any relationship between `buf` and `length`. Maybe I was thinking that with link-time optimizations (whole-program optimizations) it can go wrong? I'm not remembering what I was thinking about when I wrote that, sorry.

Show 19 quoted lines
>
> Having said all that ...
>
> > Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being
> > non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.
>
> ... this makes the logic at the caller crystal clear, so even if
> there are suboptimal checker that bothers us with false positives,
> the change itself justifies itself, I would say.
>
> >       } else {
> >               buf = read_blob_data_from_index(istate, path, &size);
> > -             stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
> > +             if (buf)
> > +                     stack = read_attr_from_buf(buf, size, path, flags);
> >       }
> >       return stack;
>
> Thanks.
Jeff King· Jun 18, 2024, 23:39 UTC · re: Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget · lore

Re: [PATCH] attr: fix msan issue in read_attr_from_index

On Mon, Jun 17, 2024 at 08:00:24PM +0000, Kyle Lippincott via GitGitGadget wrote:
Show 12 quoted lines
> The issue exists because `size` is an output parameter from
> `read_blob_data_from_index`, but it's only modified if
> `read_blob_data_from_index` returns non-NULL. The read of `size` when
> calling `read_attr_from_buf` unconditionally may read from an
> uninitialized value. `read_attr_from_buf` checks that `buf` is non-NULL
> before reading from `size`, but by then it's already too late: the
> uninitialized read will have happened already. Furthermore, there's no
> guarantee that the compiler won't reorder things so that it checks
> `size` before checking `!buf`.
> 
> Make the call to `read_attr_from_buf` conditional on `buf` being
> non-NULL, ensuring that `size` is not read if it's never set.

Yeah, this is the same one I mentioned when bisecting in the other thread[1]. But I got confused by applying my fixup patch at various points in the bisection, and thought it _used_ to be a problem, and isn't anymore. It's the other way around. It was introduced by c793f9cb08, which moved the NULL check into the helper.

That patch is from Taylor, but I'm listed as a co-author, and I'm almost certain moving that NULL check was my suggestion. So it's doubly bad that I didn't figure out what was going on earlier. ;)

Possible UB aside, I doubt this can trigger bad behavior in practice. But I also wouldn't call it a false positive in MSan. We really are reading the uninitialized value and passing it. Your fix here is the obviously correct thing to do.

-Peff
[1] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20240608081855.GA2390433@coredump.intra.peff.net/

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