[ovs-dev] [PATCH] ofp-actions: Fix use-after-free in decode_NOTE.

[Joe Stringer]

On 28 April 2016 at 18:29, Ansis Atteka <ansisatteka at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 28 April 2016 at 14:13, Joe Stringer <joe at ovn.org> wrote:
>> When decoding the 'note' action, variable-length data could be pushed to
>> a buffer immediately prior to calling ofpact_finish_NOTE(). The
>> ofpbuf_put() could cause reallocation, in which case the finish call
>> could access freed memory. Fix the issue by updating the local pointer
>> before passing it to ofpact_finish_NOTE().
>>
>> If the memory was reused, it may trigger an assert in ofpact_finish():
>>
>> assertion ofpact == ofpacts->header failed in ofpact_finish()
>>
>> With the included test, make check-valgrind reports:
>>
>> Invalid read of size 1
>>    at 0x500A9F: ofpact_finish_NOTE (ofp-actions.h:988)
>>    by 0x4FE5C1: decode_NXAST_RAW_NOTE (ofp-actions.c:4557)
>>    by 0x4FBC05: ofpact_decode (ofp-actions.inc2:3831)
>>    by 0x4F7E87: ofpacts_decode (ofp-actions.c:5780)
>>    by 0x4F709F: ofpacts_pull_openflow_actions__ (ofp-actions.c:5817)
>>    by 0x4F7856: ofpacts_pull_openflow_instructions (ofp-actions.c:6397)
>>    by 0x52CFF5: ofputil_decode_flow_mod (ofp-util.c:1727)
>>    by 0x5227A9: ofp_print_flow_mod (ofp-print.c:789)
>>    by 0x520823: ofp_to_string__ (ofp-print.c:3235)
>>    by 0x5204F6: ofp_to_string (ofp-print.c:3468)
>>    by 0x5925C8: do_recv (vconn.c:644)
>>    by 0x592372: vconn_recv (vconn.c:598)
>>    by 0x565CEA: rconn_recv (rconn.c:703)
>>    by 0x46CB62: ofconn_run (connmgr.c:1367)
>>    by 0x46C7AD: connmgr_run (connmgr.c:320)
>>    by 0x4224A9: ofproto_run (ofproto.c:1763)
>>    by 0x407C0D: bridge_run__ (bridge.c:2888)
>>    by 0x40767A: bridge_run (bridge.c:2943)
>>    by 0x4161B7: main (ovs-vswitchd.c:120)
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Joe Stringer <joe at ovn.org>
>> ---
>>  lib/ofp-actions.c     |  1 +
>>  tests/ofproto-dpif.at | 10 ++++++++++
>>  2 files changed, 11 insertions(+)
>>
>> diff --git a/lib/ofp-actions.c b/lib/ofp-actions.c
>> index 39b6fbca531e..10ef3ea808fd 100644
>> --- a/lib/ofp-actions.c
>> +++ b/lib/ofp-actions.c
>> @@ -4554,6 +4554,7 @@ decode_NXAST_RAW_NOTE(const struct nx_action_note *nan,
>>      note = ofpact_put_NOTE(out);
>>      note->length = length;
>>      ofpbuf_put(out, nan->note, length);
>> +    note = out->header;
>>      ofpact_finish_NOTE(out, &note);
>
> What you have looks good to me.

Thanks, I applied this to master. It didn't affect any existing
releases, as it was introduced by 2bd318dec242 ("ofp-actions: Make
composing actions harder to screw up.").

> I had to stop and think a little bit about the ofpact_finish()
> function's API. It gives freedom to its caller to specify whatever it
> wants as second 'ofpact' argument. However, at the end of the day
> ofpact_finish() asserts if second argument value does not match to the
> first argument's "->header" value. I think that in theory this
> function really needs only the first argument to do its job, because
> second argument is really implied from the first argument.

I guess there's a little more 'magic' to the way that ofpact_finish()
works in regards to the latter argument which is easy to miss since
it's hidden in some macros. The documentation for ofpact_finish_<ENUM>
in include/openvswitch/ofp-actions.h describes this behaviour.