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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst | 7 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/multihit.rst | 163 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/spectre.rst | 769 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst | 279 |
5 files changed, 1219 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst index ffc064c1ec68..0795e3c2643f 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst @@ -9,5 +9,8 @@ are configurable at compile, boot or run time. .. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 + spectre l1tf mds + tsx_async_abort + multihit.rst diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst index e3a796c0d3a2..2d19c9f4c1fe 100644 --- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/mds.rst @@ -265,8 +265,11 @@ time with the option "mds=". The valid arguments for this option are: ============ ============================================================= -Not specifying this option is equivalent to "mds=full". - +Not specifying this option is equivalent to "mds=full". For processors +that are affected by both TAA (TSX Asynchronous Abort) and MDS, +specifying just "mds=off" without an accompanying "tsx_async_abort=off" +will have no effect as the same mitigation is used for both +vulnerabilities. Mitigation selection guide -------------------------- diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/multihit.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/multihit.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..ba9988d8bce5 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/multihit.rst @@ -0,0 +1,163 @@ +iTLB multihit +============= + +iTLB multihit is an erratum where some processors may incur a machine check +error, possibly resulting in an unrecoverable CPU lockup, when an +instruction fetch hits multiple entries in the instruction TLB. This can +occur when the page size is changed along with either the physical address +or cache type. A malicious guest running on a virtualized system can +exploit this erratum to perform a denial of service attack. + + +Affected processors +------------------- + +Variations of this erratum are present on most Intel Core and Xeon processor +models. The erratum is not present on: + + - non-Intel processors + + - Some Atoms (Airmont, Bonnell, Goldmont, GoldmontPlus, Saltwell, Silvermont) + + - Intel processors that have the PSCHANGE_MC_NO bit set in the + IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES MSR. + + +Related CVEs +------------ + +The following CVE entry is related to this issue: + + ============== ================================================= + CVE-2018-12207 Machine Check Error Avoidance on Page Size Change + ============== ================================================= + + +Problem +------- + +Privileged software, including OS and virtual machine managers (VMM), are in +charge of memory management. A key component in memory management is the control +of the page tables. Modern processors use virtual memory, a technique that creates +the illusion of a very large memory for processors. This virtual space is split +into pages of a given size. Page tables translate virtual addresses to physical +addresses. + +To reduce latency when performing a virtual to physical address translation, +processors include a structure, called TLB, that caches recent translations. +There are separate TLBs for instruction (iTLB) and data (dTLB). + +Under this errata, instructions are fetched from a linear address translated +using a 4 KB translation cached in the iTLB. Privileged software modifies the +paging structure so that the same linear address using large page size (2 MB, 4 +MB, 1 GB) with a different physical address or memory type. After the page +structure modification but before the software invalidates any iTLB entries for +the linear address, a code fetch that happens on the same linear address may +cause a machine-check error which can result in a system hang or shutdown. + + +Attack scenarios +---------------- + +Attacks against the iTLB multihit erratum can be mounted from malicious +guests in a virtualized system. + + +iTLB multihit system information +-------------------------------- + +The Linux kernel provides a sysfs interface to enumerate the current iTLB +multihit status of the system:whether the system is vulnerable and which +mitigations are active. The relevant sysfs file is: + +/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/itlb_multihit + +The possible values in this file are: + +.. list-table:: + + * - Not affected + - The processor is not vulnerable. + * - KVM: Mitigation: Split huge pages + - Software changes mitigate this issue. + * - KVM: Vulnerable + - The processor is vulnerable, but no mitigation enabled + + +Enumeration of the erratum +-------------------------------- + +A new bit has been allocated in the IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES (PSCHANGE_MC_NO) msr +and will be set on CPU's which are mitigated against this issue. + + ======================================= =========== =============================== + IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES MSR Not present Possibly vulnerable,check model + IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES[PSCHANGE_MC_NO] '0' Likely vulnerable,check model + IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES[PSCHANGE_MC_NO] '1' Not vulnerable + ======================================= =========== =============================== + + +Mitigation mechanism +------------------------- + +This erratum can be mitigated by restricting the use of large page sizes to +non-executable pages. This forces all iTLB entries to be 4K, and removes +the possibility of multiple hits. + +In order to mitigate the vulnerability, KVM initially marks all huge pages +as non-executable. If the guest attempts to execute in one of those pages, +the page is broken down into 4K pages, which are then marked executable. + +If EPT is disabled or not available on the host, KVM is in control of TLB +flushes and the problematic situation cannot happen. However, the shadow +EPT paging mechanism used by nested virtualization is vulnerable, because +the nested guest can trigger multiple iTLB hits by modifying its own +(non-nested) page tables. For simplicity, KVM will make large pages +non-executable in all shadow paging modes. + +Mitigation control on the kernel command line and KVM - module parameter +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + +The KVM hypervisor mitigation mechanism for marking huge pages as +non-executable can be controlled with a module parameter "nx_huge_pages=". +The kernel command line allows to control the iTLB multihit mitigations at +boot time with the option "kvm.nx_huge_pages=". + +The valid arguments for these options are: + + ========== ================================================================ + force Mitigation is enabled. In this case, the mitigation implements + non-executable huge pages in Linux kernel KVM module. All huge + pages in the EPT are marked as non-executable. + If a guest attempts to execute in one of those pages, the page is + broken down into 4K pages, which are then marked executable. + + off Mitigation is disabled. + + auto Enable mitigation only if the platform is affected and the kernel + was not booted with the "mitigations=off" command line parameter. + This is the default option. + ========== ================================================================ + + +Mitigation selection guide +-------------------------- + +1. No virtualization in use +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + The system is protected by the kernel unconditionally and no further + action is required. + +2. Virtualization with trusted guests +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + If the guest comes from a trusted source, you may assume that the guest will + not attempt to maliciously exploit these errata and no further action is + required. + +3. Virtualization with untrusted guests +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + If the guest comes from an untrusted source, the guest host kernel will need + to apply iTLB multihit mitigation via the kernel command line or kvm + module parameter. diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/spectre.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/spectre.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..e05e581af5cf --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/spectre.rst @@ -0,0 +1,769 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +Spectre Side Channels +===================== + +Spectre is a class of side channel attacks that exploit branch prediction +and speculative execution on modern CPUs to read memory, possibly +bypassing access controls. Speculative execution side channel exploits +do not modify memory but attempt to infer privileged data in the memory. + +This document covers Spectre variant 1 and Spectre variant 2. + +Affected processors +------------------- + +Speculative execution side channel methods affect a wide range of modern +high performance processors, since most modern high speed processors +use branch prediction and speculative execution. + +The following CPUs are vulnerable: + + - Intel Core, Atom, Pentium, and Xeon processors + + - AMD Phenom, EPYC, and Zen processors + + - IBM POWER and zSeries processors + + - Higher end ARM processors + + - Apple CPUs + + - Higher end MIPS CPUs + + - Likely most other high performance CPUs. Contact your CPU vendor for details. + +Whether a processor is affected or not can be read out from the Spectre +vulnerability files in sysfs. See :ref:`spectre_sys_info`. + +Related CVEs +------------ + +The following CVE entries describe Spectre variants: + + ============= ======================= ========================== + CVE-2017-5753 Bounds check bypass Spectre variant 1 + CVE-2017-5715 Branch target injection Spectre variant 2 + CVE-2019-1125 Spectre v1 swapgs Spectre variant 1 (swapgs) + ============= ======================= ========================== + +Problem +------- + +CPUs use speculative operations to improve performance. That may leave +traces of memory accesses or computations in the processor's caches, +buffers, and branch predictors. Malicious software may be able to +influence the speculative execution paths, and then use the side effects +of the speculative execution in the CPUs' caches and buffers to infer +privileged data touched during the speculative execution. + +Spectre variant 1 attacks take advantage of speculative execution of +conditional branches, while Spectre variant 2 attacks use speculative +execution of indirect branches to leak privileged memory. +See :ref:`[1] <spec_ref1>` :ref:`[5] <spec_ref5>` :ref:`[7] <spec_ref7>` +:ref:`[10] <spec_ref10>` :ref:`[11] <spec_ref11>`. + +Spectre variant 1 (Bounds Check Bypass) +--------------------------------------- + +The bounds check bypass attack :ref:`[2] <spec_ref2>` takes advantage +of speculative execution that bypasses conditional branch instructions +used for memory access bounds check (e.g. checking if the index of an +array results in memory access within a valid range). This results in +memory accesses to invalid memory (with out-of-bound index) that are +done speculatively before validation checks resolve. Such speculative +memory accesses can leave side effects, creating side channels which +leak information to the attacker. + +There are some extensions of Spectre variant 1 attacks for reading data +over the network, see :ref:`[12] <spec_ref12>`. However such attacks +are difficult, low bandwidth, fragile, and are considered low risk. + +Note that, despite "Bounds Check Bypass" name, Spectre variant 1 is not +only about user-controlled array bounds checks. It can affect any +conditional checks. The kernel entry code interrupt, exception, and NMI +handlers all have conditional swapgs checks. Those may be problematic +in the context of Spectre v1, as kernel code can speculatively run with +a user GS. + +Spectre variant 2 (Branch Target Injection) +------------------------------------------- + +The branch target injection attack takes advantage of speculative +execution of indirect branches :ref:`[3] <spec_ref3>`. The indirect +branch predictors inside the processor used to guess the target of +indirect branches can be influenced by an attacker, causing gadget code +to be speculatively executed, thus exposing sensitive data touched by +the victim. The side effects left in the CPU's caches during speculative +execution can be measured to infer data values. + +.. _poison_btb: + +In Spectre variant 2 attacks, the attacker can steer speculative indirect +branches in the victim to gadget code by poisoning the branch target +buffer of a CPU used for predicting indirect branch addresses. Such +poisoning could be done by indirect branching into existing code, +with the address offset of the indirect branch under the attacker's +control. Since the branch prediction on impacted hardware does not +fully disambiguate branch address and uses the offset for prediction, +this could cause privileged code's indirect branch to jump to a gadget +code with the same offset. + +The most useful gadgets take an attacker-controlled input parameter (such +as a register value) so that the memory read can be controlled. Gadgets +without input parameters might be possible, but the attacker would have +very little control over what memory can be read, reducing the risk of +the attack revealing useful data. + +One other variant 2 attack vector is for the attacker to poison the +return stack buffer (RSB) :ref:`[13] <spec_ref13>` to cause speculative +subroutine return instruction execution to go to a gadget. An attacker's +imbalanced subroutine call instructions might "poison" entries in the +return stack buffer which are later consumed by a victim's subroutine +return instructions. This attack can be mitigated by flushing the return +stack buffer on context switch, or virtual machine (VM) exit. + +On systems with simultaneous multi-threading (SMT), attacks are possible +from the sibling thread, as level 1 cache and branch target buffer +(BTB) may be shared between hardware threads in a CPU core. A malicious +program running on the sibling thread may influence its peer's BTB to +steer its indirect branch speculations to gadget code, and measure the +speculative execution's side effects left in level 1 cache to infer the +victim's data. + +Attack scenarios +---------------- + +The following list of attack scenarios have been anticipated, but may +not cover all possible attack vectors. + +1. A user process attacking the kernel +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Spectre variant 1 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + + The attacker passes a parameter to the kernel via a register or + via a known address in memory during a syscall. Such parameter may + be used later by the kernel as an index to an array or to derive + a pointer for a Spectre variant 1 attack. The index or pointer + is invalid, but bound checks are bypassed in the code branch taken + for speculative execution. This could cause privileged memory to be + accessed and leaked. + + For kernel code that has been identified where data pointers could + potentially be influenced for Spectre attacks, new "nospec" accessor + macros are used to prevent speculative loading of data. + +Spectre variant 1 (swapgs) +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + + An attacker can train the branch predictor to speculatively skip the + swapgs path for an interrupt or exception. If they initialize + the GS register to a user-space value, if the swapgs is speculatively + skipped, subsequent GS-related percpu accesses in the speculation + window will be done with the attacker-controlled GS value. This + could cause privileged memory to be accessed and leaked. + + For example: + + :: + + if (coming from user space) + swapgs + mov %gs:<percpu_offset>, %reg + mov (%reg), %reg1 + + When coming from user space, the CPU can speculatively skip the + swapgs, and then do a speculative percpu load using the user GS + value. So the user can speculatively force a read of any kernel + value. If a gadget exists which uses the percpu value as an address + in another load/store, then the contents of the kernel value may + become visible via an L1 side channel attack. + + A similar attack exists when coming from kernel space. The CPU can + speculatively do the swapgs, causing the user GS to get used for the + rest of the speculative window. + +Spectre variant 2 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + + A spectre variant 2 attacker can :ref:`poison <poison_btb>` the branch + target buffer (BTB) before issuing syscall to launch an attack. + After entering the kernel, the kernel could use the poisoned branch + target buffer on indirect jump and jump to gadget code in speculative + execution. + + If an attacker tries to control the memory addresses leaked during + speculative execution, he would also need to pass a parameter to the + gadget, either through a register or a known address in memory. After + the gadget has executed, he can measure the side effect. + + The kernel can protect itself against consuming poisoned branch + target buffer entries by using return trampolines (also known as + "retpoline") :ref:`[3] <spec_ref3>` :ref:`[9] <spec_ref9>` for all + indirect branches. Return trampolines trap speculative execution paths + to prevent jumping to gadget code during speculative execution. + x86 CPUs with Enhanced Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation + (Enhanced IBRS) available in hardware should use the feature to + mitigate Spectre variant 2 instead of retpoline. Enhanced IBRS is + more efficient than retpoline. + + There may be gadget code in firmware which could be exploited with + Spectre variant 2 attack by a rogue user process. To mitigate such + attacks on x86, Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation (IBRS) feature + is turned on before the kernel invokes any firmware code. + +2. A user process attacking another user process +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + A malicious user process can try to attack another user process, + either via a context switch on the same hardware thread, or from the + sibling hyperthread sharing a physical processor core on simultaneous + multi-threading (SMT) system. + + Spectre variant 1 attacks generally require passing parameters + between the processes, which needs a data passing relationship, such + as remote procedure calls (RPC). Those parameters are used in gadget + code to derive invalid data pointers accessing privileged memory in + the attacked process. + + Spectre variant 2 attacks can be launched from a rogue process by + :ref:`poisoning <poison_btb>` the branch target buffer. This can + influence the indirect branch targets for a victim process that either + runs later on the same hardware thread, or running concurrently on + a sibling hardware thread sharing the same physical core. + + A user process can protect itself against Spectre variant 2 attacks + by using the prctl() syscall to disable indirect branch speculation + for itself. An administrator can also cordon off an unsafe process + from polluting the branch target buffer by disabling the process's + indirect branch speculation. This comes with a performance cost + from not using indirect branch speculation and clearing the branch + target buffer. When SMT is enabled on x86, for a process that has + indirect branch speculation disabled, Single Threaded Indirect Branch + Predictors (STIBP) :ref:`[4] <spec_ref4>` are turned on to prevent the + sibling thread from controlling branch target buffer. In addition, + the Indirect Branch Prediction Barrier (IBPB) is issued to clear the + branch target buffer when context switching to and from such process. + + On x86, the return stack buffer is stuffed on context switch. + This prevents the branch target buffer from being used for branch + prediction when the return stack buffer underflows while switching to + a deeper call stack. Any poisoned entries in the return stack buffer + left by the previous process will also be cleared. + + User programs should use address space randomization to make attacks + more difficult (Set /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space = 1 or 2). + +3. A virtualized guest attacking the host +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + The attack mechanism is similar to how user processes attack the + kernel. The kernel is entered via hyper-calls or other virtualization + exit paths. + + For Spectre variant 1 attacks, rogue guests can pass parameters + (e.g. in registers) via hyper-calls to derive invalid pointers to + speculate into privileged memory after entering the kernel. For places + where such kernel code has been identified, nospec accessor macros + are used to stop speculative memory access. + + For Spectre variant 2 attacks, rogue guests can :ref:`poison + <poison_btb>` the branch target buffer or return stack buffer, causing + the kernel to jump to gadget code in the speculative execution paths. + + To mitigate variant 2, the host kernel can use return trampolines + for indirect branches to bypass the poisoned branch target buffer, + and flushing the return stack buffer on VM exit. This prevents rogue + guests from affecting indirect branching in the host kernel. + + To protect host processes from rogue guests, host processes can have + indirect branch speculation disabled via prctl(). The branch target + buffer is cleared before context switching to such processes. + +4. A virtualized guest attacking other guest +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + A rogue guest may attack another guest to get data accessible by the + other guest. + + Spectre variant 1 attacks are possible if parameters can be passed + between guests. This may be done via mechanisms such as shared memory + or message passing. Such parameters could be used to derive data + pointers to privileged data in guest. The privileged data could be + accessed by gadget code in the victim's speculation paths. + + Spectre variant 2 attacks can be launched from a rogue guest by + :ref:`poisoning <poison_btb>` the branch target buffer or the return + stack buffer. Such poisoned entries could be used to influence + speculation execution paths in the victim guest. + + Linux kernel mitigates attacks to other guests running in the same + CPU hardware thread by flushing the return stack buffer on VM exit, + and clearing the branch target buffer before switching to a new guest. + + If SMT is used, Spectre variant 2 attacks from an untrusted guest + in the sibling hyperthread can be mitigated by the administrator, + by turning off the unsafe guest's indirect branch speculation via + prctl(). A guest can also protect itself by turning on microcode + based mitigations (such as IBPB or STIBP on x86) within the guest. + +.. _spectre_sys_info: + +Spectre system information +-------------------------- + +The Linux kernel provides a sysfs interface to enumerate the current +mitigation status of the system for Spectre: whether the system is +vulnerable, and which mitigations are active. + +The sysfs file showing Spectre variant 1 mitigation status is: + + /sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spectre_v1 + +The possible values in this file are: + + .. list-table:: + + * - 'Not affected' + - The processor is not vulnerable. + * - 'Vulnerable: __user pointer sanitization and usercopy barriers only; no swapgs barriers' + - The swapgs protections are disabled; otherwise it has + protection in the kernel on a case by case base with explicit + pointer sanitation and usercopy LFENCE barriers. + * - 'Mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization' + - Protection in the kernel on a case by case base with explicit + pointer sanitation, usercopy LFENCE barriers, and swapgs LFENCE + barriers. + +However, the protections are put in place on a case by case basis, +and there is no guarantee that all possible attack vectors for Spectre +variant 1 are covered. + +The spectre_v2 kernel file reports if the kernel has been compiled with +retpoline mitigation or if the CPU has hardware mitigation, and if the +CPU has support for additional process-specific mitigation. + +This file also reports CPU features enabled by microcode to mitigate +attack between user processes: + +1. Indirect Branch Prediction Barrier (IBPB) to add additional + isolation between processes of different users. +2. Single Thread Indirect Branch Predictors (STIBP) to add additional + isolation between CPU threads running on the same core. + +These CPU features may impact performance when used and can be enabled +per process on a case-by-case base. + +The sysfs file showing Spectre variant 2 mitigation status is: + + /sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spectre_v2 + +The possible values in this file are: + + - Kernel status: + + ==================================== ================================= + 'Not affected' The processor is not vulnerable + 'Vulnerable' Vulnerable, no mitigation + 'Mitigation: Full generic retpoline' Software-focused mitigation + 'Mitigation: Full AMD retpoline' AMD-specific software mitigation + 'Mitigation: Enhanced IBRS' Hardware-focused mitigation + ==================================== ================================= + + - Firmware status: Show if Indirect Branch Restricted Speculation (IBRS) is + used to protect against Spectre variant 2 attacks when calling firmware (x86 only). + + ========== ============================================================= + 'IBRS_FW' Protection against user program attacks when calling firmware + ========== ============================================================= + + - Indirect branch prediction barrier (IBPB) status for protection between + processes of different users. This feature can be controlled through + prctl() per process, or through kernel command line options. This is + an x86 only feature. For more details see below. + + =================== ======================================================== + 'IBPB: disabled' IBPB unused + 'IBPB: always-on' Use IBPB on all tasks + 'IBPB: conditional' Use IBPB on SECCOMP or indirect branch restricted tasks + =================== ======================================================== + + - Single threaded indirect branch prediction (STIBP) status for protection + between different hyper threads. This feature can be controlled through + prctl per process, or through kernel command line options. This is x86 + only feature. For more details see below. + + ==================== ======================================================== + 'STIBP: disabled' STIBP unused + 'STIBP: forced' Use STIBP on all tasks + 'STIBP: conditional' Use STIBP on SECCOMP or indirect branch restricted tasks + ==================== ======================================================== + + - Return stack buffer (RSB) protection status: + + ============= =========================================== + 'RSB filling' Protection of RSB on context switch enabled + ============= =========================================== + +Full mitigation might require a microcode update from the CPU +vendor. When the necessary microcode is not available, the kernel will +report vulnerability. + +Turning on mitigation for Spectre variant 1 and Spectre variant 2 +----------------------------------------------------------------- + +1. Kernel mitigation +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Spectre variant 1 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + + For the Spectre variant 1, vulnerable kernel code (as determined + by code audit or scanning tools) is annotated on a case by case + basis to use nospec accessor macros for bounds clipping :ref:`[2] + <spec_ref2>` to avoid any usable disclosure gadgets. However, it may + not cover all attack vectors for Spectre variant 1. + + Copy-from-user code has an LFENCE barrier to prevent the access_ok() + check from being mis-speculated. The barrier is done by the + barrier_nospec() macro. + + For the swapgs variant of Spectre variant 1, LFENCE barriers are + added to interrupt, exception and NMI entry where needed. These + barriers are done by the FENCE_SWAPGS_KERNEL_ENTRY and + FENCE_SWAPGS_USER_ENTRY macros. + +Spectre variant 2 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + + For Spectre variant 2 mitigation, the compiler turns indirect calls or + jumps in the kernel into equivalent return trampolines (retpolines) + :ref:`[3] <spec_ref3>` :ref:`[9] <spec_ref9>` to go to the target + addresses. Speculative execution paths under retpolines are trapped + in an infinite loop to prevent any speculative execution jumping to + a gadget. + + To turn on retpoline mitigation on a vulnerable CPU, the kernel + needs to be compiled with a gcc compiler that supports the + -mindirect-branch=thunk-extern -mindirect-branch-register options. + If the kernel is compiled with a Clang compiler, the compiler needs + to support -mretpoline-external-thunk option. The kernel config + CONFIG_RETPOLINE needs to be turned on, and the CPU needs to run with + the latest updated microcode. + + On Intel Skylake-era systems the mitigation covers most, but not all, + cases. See :ref:`[3] <spec_ref3>` for more details. + + On CPUs with hardware mitigation for Spectre variant 2 (e.g. Enhanced + IBRS on x86), retpoline is automatically disabled at run time. + + The retpoline mitigation is turned on by default on vulnerable + CPUs. It can be forced on or off by the administrator + via the kernel command line and sysfs control files. See + :ref:`spectre_mitigation_control_command_line`. + + On x86, indirect branch restricted speculation is turned on by default + before invoking any firmware code to prevent Spectre variant 2 exploits + using the firmware. + + Using kernel address space randomization (CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_SLAB=y + and CONFIG_SLAB_FREELIST_RANDOM=y in the kernel configuration) makes + attacks on the kernel generally more difficult. + +2. User program mitigation +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + User programs can mitigate Spectre variant 1 using LFENCE or "bounds + clipping". For more details see :ref:`[2] <spec_ref2>`. + + For Spectre variant 2 mitigation, individual user programs + can be compiled with return trampolines for indirect branches. + This protects them from consuming poisoned entries in the branch + target buffer left by malicious software. Alternatively, the + programs can disable their indirect branch speculation via prctl() + (See :ref:`Documentation/userspace-api/spec_ctrl.rst <set_spec_ctrl>`). + On x86, this will turn on STIBP to guard against attacks from the + sibling thread when the user program is running, and use IBPB to + flush the branch target buffer when switching to/from the program. + + Restricting indirect branch speculation on a user program will + also prevent the program from launching a variant 2 attack + on x86. All sand-boxed SECCOMP programs have indirect branch + speculation restricted by default. Administrators can change + that behavior via the kernel command line and sysfs control files. + See :ref:`spectre_mitigation_control_command_line`. + + Programs that disable their indirect branch speculation will have + more overhead and run slower. + + User programs should use address space randomization + (/proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space = 1 or 2) to make attacks more + difficult. + +3. VM mitigation +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + Within the kernel, Spectre variant 1 attacks from rogue guests are + mitigated on a case by case basis in VM exit paths. Vulnerable code + uses nospec accessor macros for "bounds clipping", to avoid any + usable disclosure gadgets. However, this may not cover all variant + 1 attack vectors. + + For Spectre variant 2 attacks from rogue guests to the kernel, the + Linux kernel uses retpoline or Enhanced IBRS to prevent consumption of + poisoned entries in branch target buffer left by rogue guests. It also + flushes the return stack buffer on every VM exit to prevent a return + stack buffer underflow so poisoned branch target buffer could be used, + or attacker guests leaving poisoned entries in the return stack buffer. + + To mitigate guest-to-guest attacks in the same CPU hardware thread, + the branch target buffer is sanitized by flushing before switching + to a new guest on a CPU. + + The above mitigations are turned on by default on vulnerable CPUs. + + To mitigate guest-to-guest attacks from sibling thread when SMT is + in use, an untrusted guest running in the sibling thread can have + its indirect branch speculation disabled by administrator via prctl(). + + The kernel also allows guests to use any microcode based mitigation + they choose to use (such as IBPB or STIBP on x86) to protect themselves. + +.. _spectre_mitigation_control_command_line: + +Mitigation control on the kernel command line +--------------------------------------------- + +Spectre variant 2 mitigation can be disabled or force enabled at the +kernel command line. + + nospectre_v1 + + [X86,PPC] Disable mitigations for Spectre Variant 1 + (bounds check bypass). With this option data leaks are + possible in the system. + + nospectre_v2 + + [X86] Disable all mitigations for the Spectre variant 2 + (indirect branch prediction) vulnerability. System may + allow data leaks with this option, which is equivalent + to spectre_v2=off. + + + spectre_v2= + + [X86] Control mitigation of Spectre variant 2 + (indirect branch speculation) vulnerability. + The default operation protects the kernel from + user space attacks. + + on + unconditionally enable, implies + spectre_v2_user=on + off + unconditionally disable, implies + spectre_v2_user=off + auto + kernel detects whether your CPU model is + vulnerable + + Selecting 'on' will, and 'auto' may, choose a + mitigation method at run time according to the + CPU, the available microcode, the setting of the + CONFIG_RETPOLINE configuration option, and the + compiler with which the kernel was built. + + Selecting 'on' will also enable the mitigation + against user space to user space task attacks. + + Selecting 'off' will disable both the kernel and + the user space protections. + + Specific mitigations can also be selected manually: + + retpoline + replace indirect branches + retpoline,generic + google's original retpoline + retpoline,amd + AMD-specific minimal thunk + + Not specifying this option is equivalent to + spectre_v2=auto. + +For user space mitigation: + + spectre_v2_user= + + [X86] Control mitigation of Spectre variant 2 + (indirect branch speculation) vulnerability between + user space tasks + + on + Unconditionally enable mitigations. Is + enforced by spectre_v2=on + + off + Unconditionally disable mitigations. Is + enforced by spectre_v2=off + + prctl + Indirect branch speculation is enabled, + but mitigation can be enabled via prctl + per thread. The mitigation control state + is inherited on fork. + + prctl,ibpb + Like "prctl" above, but only STIBP is + controlled per thread. IBPB is issued + always when switching between different user + space processes. + + seccomp + Same as "prctl" above, but all seccomp + threads will enable the mitigation unless + they explicitly opt out. + + seccomp,ibpb + Like "seccomp" above, but only STIBP is + controlled per thread. IBPB is issued + always when switching between different + user space processes. + + auto + Kernel selects the mitigation depending on + the available CPU features and vulnerability. + + Default mitigation: + If CONFIG_SECCOMP=y then "seccomp", otherwise "prctl" + + Not specifying this option is equivalent to + spectre_v2_user=auto. + + In general the kernel by default selects + reasonable mitigations for the current CPU. To + disable Spectre variant 2 mitigations, boot with + spectre_v2=off. Spectre variant 1 mitigations + cannot be disabled. + +Mitigation selection guide +-------------------------- + +1. Trusted userspace +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + If all userspace applications are from trusted sources and do not + execute externally supplied untrusted code, then the mitigations can + be disabled. + +2. Protect sensitive programs +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + For security-sensitive programs that have secrets (e.g. crypto + keys), protection against Spectre variant 2 can be put in place by + disabling indirect branch speculation when the program is running + (See :ref:`Documentation/userspace-api/spec_ctrl.rst <set_spec_ctrl>`). + +3. Sandbox untrusted programs +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + Untrusted programs that could be a source of attacks can be cordoned + off by disabling their indirect branch speculation when they are run + (See :ref:`Documentation/userspace-api/spec_ctrl.rst <set_spec_ctrl>`). + This prevents untrusted programs from polluting the branch target + buffer. All programs running in SECCOMP sandboxes have indirect + branch speculation restricted by default. This behavior can be + changed via the kernel command line and sysfs control files. See + :ref:`spectre_mitigation_control_command_line`. + +3. High security mode +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + + All Spectre variant 2 mitigations can be forced on + at boot time for all programs (See the "on" option in + :ref:`spectre_mitigation_control_command_line`). This will add + overhead as indirect branch speculations for all programs will be + restricted. + + On x86, branch target buffer will be flushed with IBPB when switching + to a new program. STIBP is left on all the time to protect programs + against variant 2 attacks originating from programs running on + sibling threads. + + Alternatively, STIBP can be used only when running programs + whose indirect branch speculation is explicitly disabled, + while IBPB is still used all the time when switching to a new + program to clear the branch target buffer (See "ibpb" option in + :ref:`spectre_mitigation_control_command_line`). This "ibpb" option + has less performance cost than the "on" option, which leaves STIBP + on all the time. + +References on Spectre +--------------------- + +Intel white papers: + +.. _spec_ref1: + +[1] `Intel analysis of speculative execution side channels <https://newsroom.intel.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2018/01/Intel-Analysis-of-Speculative-Execution-Side-Channels.pdf>`_. + +.. _spec_ref2: + +[2] `Bounds check bypass <https://software.intel.com/security-software-guidance/software-guidance/bounds-check-bypass>`_. + +.. _spec_ref3: + +[3] `Deep dive: Retpoline: A branch target injection mitigation <https://software.intel.com/security-software-guidance/insights/deep-dive-retpoline-branch-target-injection-mitigation>`_. + +.. _spec_ref4: + +[4] `Deep Dive: Single Thread Indirect Branch Predictors <https://software.intel.com/security-software-guidance/insights/deep-dive-single-thread-indirect-branch-predictors>`_. + +AMD white papers: + +.. _spec_ref5: + +[5] `AMD64 technology indirect branch control extension <https://developer.amd.com/wp-content/resources/Architecture_Guidelines_Update_Indirect_Branch_Control.pdf>`_. + +.. _spec_ref6: + +[6] `Software techniques for managing speculation on AMD processors <https://developer.amd.com/wp-content/resources/90343-B_SoftwareTechniquesforManagingSpeculation_WP_7-18Update_FNL.pdf>`_. + +ARM white papers: + +.. _spec_ref7: + +[7] `Cache speculation side-channels <https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates/speculative-processor-vulnerability/download-the-whitepaper>`_. + +.. _spec_ref8: + +[8] `Cache speculation issues update <https://developer.arm.com/support/arm-security-updates/speculative-processor-vulnerability/latest-updates/cache-speculation-issues-update>`_. + +Google white paper: + +.. _spec_ref9: + +[9] `Retpoline: a software construct for preventing branch-target-injection <https://support.google.com/faqs/answer/7625886>`_. + +MIPS white paper: + +.. _spec_ref10: + +[10] `MIPS: response on speculative execution and side channel vulnerabilities <https://www.mips.com/blog/mips-response-on-speculative-execution-and-side-channel-vulnerabilities/>`_. + +Academic papers: + +.. _spec_ref11: + +[11] `Spectre Attacks: Exploiting Speculative Execution <https://spectreattack.com/spectre.pdf>`_. + +.. _spec_ref12: + +[12] `NetSpectre: Read Arbitrary Memory over Network <https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.10535>`_. + +.. _spec_ref13: + +[13] `Spectre Returns! Speculation Attacks using the Return Stack Buffer <https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/woot18/woot18-paper-koruyeh.pdf>`_. diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..af6865b822d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/tsx_async_abort.rst @@ -0,0 +1,279 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +TAA - TSX Asynchronous Abort +====================================== + +TAA is a hardware vulnerability that allows unprivileged speculative access to +data which is available in various CPU internal buffers by using asynchronous +aborts within an Intel TSX transactional region. + +Affected processors +------------------- + +This vulnerability only affects Intel processors that support Intel +Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) when the TAA_NO bit (bit 8) +is 0 in the IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES MSR. On processors where the MDS_NO bit +(bit 5) is 0 in the IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES MSR, the existing MDS mitigations +also mitigate against TAA. + +Whether a processor is affected or not can be read out from the TAA +vulnerability file in sysfs. See :ref:`tsx_async_abort_sys_info`. + +Related CVEs +------------ + +The following CVE entry is related to this TAA issue: + + ============== ===== =================================================== + CVE-2019-11135 TAA TSX Asynchronous Abort (TAA) condition on some + microprocessors utilizing speculative execution may + allow an authenticated user to potentially enable + information disclosure via a side channel with + local access. + ============== ===== =================================================== + +Problem +------- + +When performing store, load or L1 refill operations, processors write +data into temporary microarchitectural structures (buffers). The data in +those buffers can be forwarded to load operations as an optimization. + +Intel TSX is an extension to the x86 instruction set architecture that adds +hardware transactional memory support to improve performance of multi-threaded +software. TSX lets the processor expose and exploit concurrency hidden in an +application due to dynamically avoiding unnecessary synchronization. + +TSX supports atomic memory transactions that are either committed (success) or +aborted. During an abort, operations that happened within the transactional region +are rolled back. An asynchronous abort takes place, among other options, when a +different thread accesses a cache line that is also used within the transactional +region when that access might lead to a data race. + +Immediately after an uncompleted asynchronous abort, certain speculatively +executed loads may read data from those internal buffers and pass it to dependent +operations. This can be then used to infer the value via a cache side channel +attack. + +Because the buffers are potentially shared between Hyper-Threads cross +Hyper-Thread attacks are possible. + +The victim of a malicious actor does not need to make use of TSX. Only the +attacker needs to begin a TSX transaction and raise an asynchronous abort +which in turn potenitally leaks data stored in the buffers. + +More detailed technical information is available in the TAA specific x86 +architecture section: :ref:`Documentation/x86/tsx_async_abort.rst <tsx_async_abort>`. + + +Attack scenarios +---------------- + +Attacks against the TAA vulnerability can be implemented from unprivileged +applications running on hosts or guests. + +As for MDS, the attacker has no control over the memory addresses that can +be leaked. Only the victim is responsible for bringing data to the CPU. As +a result, the malicious actor has to sample as much data as possible and +then postprocess it to try to infer any useful information from it. + +A potential attacker only has read access to the data. Also, there is no direct +privilege escalation by using this technique. + + +.. _tsx_async_abort_sys_info: + +TAA system information +----------------------- + +The Linux kernel provides a sysfs interface to enumerate the current TAA status +of mitigated systems. The relevant sysfs file is: + +/sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/tsx_async_abort + +The possible values in this file are: + +.. list-table:: + + * - 'Vulnerable' + - The CPU is affected by this vulnerability and the microcode and kernel mitigation are not applied. + * - 'Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode' + - The system tries to clear the buffers but the microcode might not support the operation. + * - 'Mitigation: Clear CPU buffers' + - The microcode has been updated to clear the buffers. TSX is still enabled. + * - 'Mitigation: TSX disabled' + - TSX is disabled. + * - 'Not affected' + - The CPU is not affected by this issue. + +.. _ucode_needed: + +Best effort mitigation mode +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +If the processor is vulnerable, but the availability of the microcode-based +mitigation mechanism is not advertised via CPUID the kernel selects a best +effort mitigation mode. This mode invokes the mitigation instructions +without a guarantee that they clear the CPU buffers. + +This is done to address virtualization scenarios where the host has the +microcode update applied, but the hypervisor is not yet updated to expose the +CPUID to the guest. If the host has updated microcode the protection takes +effect; otherwise a few CPU cycles are wasted pointlessly. + +The state in the tsx_async_abort sysfs file reflects this situation +accordingly. + + +Mitigation mechanism +-------------------- + +The kernel detects the affected CPUs and the presence of the microcode which is +required. If a CPU is affected and the microcode is available, then the kernel +enables the mitigation by default. + + +The mitigation can be controlled at boot time via a kernel command line option. +See :ref:`taa_mitigation_control_command_line`. + +.. _virt_mechanism: + +Virtualization mitigation +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Affected systems where the host has TAA microcode and TAA is mitigated by +having disabled TSX previously, are not vulnerable regardless of the status +of the VMs. + +In all other cases, if the host either does not have the TAA microcode or +the kernel is not mitigated, the system might be vulnerable. + + +.. _taa_mitigation_control_command_line: + +Mitigation control on the kernel command line +--------------------------------------------- + +The kernel command line allows to control the TAA mitigations at boot time with +the option "tsx_async_abort=". The valid arguments for this option are: + + ============ ============================================================= + off This option disables the TAA mitigation on affected platforms. + If the system has TSX enabled (see next parameter) and the CPU + is affected, the system is vulnerable. + + full TAA mitigation is enabled. If TSX is enabled, on an affected + system it will clear CPU buffers on ring transitions. On + systems which are MDS-affected and deploy MDS mitigation, + TAA is also mitigated. Specifying this option on those + systems will have no effect. + + full,nosmt The same as tsx_async_abort=full, with SMT disabled on + vulnerable CPUs that have TSX enabled. This is the complete + mitigation. When TSX is disabled, SMT is not disabled because + CPU is not vulnerable to cross-thread TAA attacks. + ============ ============================================================= + +Not specifying this option is equivalent to "tsx_async_abort=full". For +processors that are affected by both TAA and MDS, specifying just +"tsx_async_abort=off" without an accompanying "mds=off" will have no +effect as the same mitigation is used for both vulnerabilities. + +The kernel command line also allows to control the TSX feature using the +parameter "tsx=" on CPUs which support TSX control. MSR_IA32_TSX_CTRL is used +to control the TSX feature and the enumeration of the TSX feature bits (RTM +and HLE) in CPUID. + +The valid options are: + + ============ ============================================================= + off Disables TSX on the system. + + Note that this option takes effect only on newer CPUs which are + not vulnerable to MDS, i.e., have MSR_IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES.MDS_NO=1 + and which get the new IA32_TSX_CTRL MSR through a microcode + update. This new MSR allows for the reliable deactivation of + the TSX functionality. + + on Enables TSX. + + Although there are mitigations for all known security + vulnerabilities, TSX has been known to be an accelerator for + several previous speculation-related CVEs, and so there may be + unknown security risks associated with leaving it enabled. + + auto Disables TSX if X86_BUG_TAA is present, otherwise enables TSX + on the system. + ============ ============================================================= + +Not specifying this option is equivalent to "tsx=off". + +The following combinations of the "tsx_async_abort" and "tsx" are possible. For +affected platforms tsx=auto is equivalent to tsx=off and the result will be: + + ========= ========================== ========================================= + tsx=on tsx_async_abort=full The system will use VERW to clear CPU + buffers. Cross-thread attacks are still + possible on SMT machines. + tsx=on tsx_async_abort=full,nosmt As above, cross-thread attacks on SMT + mitigated. + tsx=on tsx_async_abort=off The system is vulnerable. + tsx=off tsx_async_abort=full TSX might be disabled if microcode + provides a TSX control MSR. If so, + system is not vulnerable. + tsx=off tsx_async_abort=full,nosmt Ditto + tsx=off tsx_async_abort=off ditto + ========= ========================== ========================================= + + +For unaffected platforms "tsx=on" and "tsx_async_abort=full" does not clear CPU +buffers. For platforms without TSX control (MSR_IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES.MDS_NO=0) +"tsx" command line argument has no effect. + +For the affected platforms below table indicates the mitigation status for the +combinations of CPUID bit MD_CLEAR and IA32_ARCH_CAPABILITIES MSR bits MDS_NO +and TSX_CTRL_MSR. + + ======= ========= ============= ======================================== + MDS_NO MD_CLEAR TSX_CTRL_MSR Status + ======= ========= ============= ======================================== + 0 0 0 Vulnerable (needs microcode) + 0 1 0 MDS and TAA mitigated via VERW + 1 1 0 MDS fixed, TAA vulnerable if TSX enabled + because MD_CLEAR has no meaning and + VERW is not guaranteed to clear buffers + 1 X 1 MDS fixed, TAA can be mitigated by + VERW or TSX_CTRL_MSR + ======= ========= ============= ======================================== + +Mitigation selection guide +-------------------------- + +1. Trusted userspace and guests +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +If all user space applications are from a trusted source and do not execute +untrusted code which is supplied externally, then the mitigation can be +disabled. The same applies to virtualized environments with trusted guests. + + +2. Untrusted userspace and guests +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +If there are untrusted applications or guests on the system, enabling TSX +might allow a malicious actor to leak data from the host or from other +processes running on the same physical core. + +If the microcode is available and the TSX is disabled on the host, attacks +are prevented in a virtualized environment as well, even if the VMs do not +explicitly enable the mitigation. + + +.. _taa_default_mitigations: + +Default mitigations +------------------- + +The kernel's default action for vulnerable processors is: + + - Deploy TSX disable mitigation (tsx_async_abort=full tsx=off). |