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authorBorislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@alien8.de>2023-06-28 11:02:39 +0200
committerBorislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@alien8.de>2023-07-27 11:07:14 +0200
commitfb3bd914b3ec28f5fb697ac55c4846ac2d542855 (patch)
tree7f5bfb82aa0ee0ce648eaf7ac79af55bdced1d9d /Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln
parent0e52740ffd10c6c316837c6c128f460f1aaba1ea (diff)
x86/srso: Add a Speculative RAS Overflow mitigation
Add a mitigation for the speculative return address stack overflow vulnerability found on AMD processors. The mitigation works by ensuring all RET instructions speculate to a controlled location, similar to how speculation is controlled in the retpoline sequence. To accomplish this, the __x86_return_thunk forces the CPU to mispredict every function return using a 'safe return' sequence. To ensure the safety of this mitigation, the kernel must ensure that the safe return sequence is itself free from attacker interference. In Zen3 and Zen4, this is accomplished by creating a BTB alias between the untraining function srso_untrain_ret_alias() and the safe return function srso_safe_ret_alias() which results in evicting a potentially poisoned BTB entry and using that safe one for all function returns. In older Zen1 and Zen2, this is accomplished using a reinterpretation technique similar to Retbleed one: srso_untrain_ret() and srso_safe_ret(). Signed-off-by: Borislav Petkov (AMD) <bp@alien8.de>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst1
-rw-r--r--Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/srso.rst133
2 files changed, 134 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
index e0614760a99e..ff4d3fa2a75c 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/index.rst
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ are configurable at compile, boot or run time.
l1d_flush.rst
processor_mmio_stale_data.rst
cross-thread-rsb.rst
+ srso
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/srso.rst b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/srso.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..32eb5e6db272
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/hw-vuln/srso.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+Speculative Return Stack Overflow (SRSO)
+========================================
+
+This is a mitigation for the speculative return stack overflow (SRSO)
+vulnerability found on AMD processors. The mechanism is by now the well
+known scenario of poisoning CPU functional units - the Branch Target
+Buffer (BTB) and Return Address Predictor (RAP) in this case - and then
+tricking the elevated privilege domain (the kernel) into leaking
+sensitive data.
+
+AMD CPUs predict RET instructions using a Return Address Predictor (aka
+Return Address Stack/Return Stack Buffer). In some cases, a non-architectural
+CALL instruction (i.e., an instruction predicted to be a CALL but is
+not actually a CALL) can create an entry in the RAP which may be used
+to predict the target of a subsequent RET instruction.
+
+The specific circumstances that lead to this varies by microarchitecture
+but the concern is that an attacker can mis-train the CPU BTB to predict
+non-architectural CALL instructions in kernel space and use this to
+control the speculative target of a subsequent kernel RET, potentially
+leading to information disclosure via a speculative side-channel.
+
+The issue is tracked under CVE-2023-20569.
+
+Affected processors
+-------------------
+
+AMD Zen, generations 1-4. That is, all families 0x17 and 0x19. Older
+processors have not been investigated.
+
+System information and options
+------------------------------
+
+First of all, it is required that the latest microcode be loaded for
+mitigations to be effective.
+
+The sysfs file showing SRSO mitigation status is:
+
+ /sys/devices/system/cpu/vulnerabilities/spec_rstack_overflow
+
+The possible values in this file are:
+
+ - 'Not affected' The processor is not vulnerable
+
+ - 'Vulnerable: no microcode' The processor is vulnerable, no
+ microcode extending IBPB functionality
+ to address the vulnerability has been
+ applied.
+
+ - 'Mitigation: microcode' Extended IBPB functionality microcode
+ patch has been applied. It does not
+ address User->Kernel and Guest->Host
+ transitions protection but it does
+ address User->User and VM->VM attack
+ vectors.
+
+ (spec_rstack_overflow=microcode)
+
+ - 'Mitigation: safe RET' Software-only mitigation. It complements
+ the extended IBPB microcode patch
+ functionality by addressing User->Kernel
+ and Guest->Host transitions protection.
+
+ Selected by default or by
+ spec_rstack_overflow=safe-ret
+
+ - 'Mitigation: IBPB' Similar protection as "safe RET" above
+ but employs an IBPB barrier on privilege
+ domain crossings (User->Kernel,
+ Guest->Host).
+
+ (spec_rstack_overflow=ibpb)
+
+ - 'Mitigation: IBPB on VMEXIT' Mitigation addressing the cloud provider
+ scenario - the Guest->Host transitions
+ only.
+
+ (spec_rstack_overflow=ibpb-vmexit)
+
+In order to exploit vulnerability, an attacker needs to:
+
+ - gain local access on the machine
+
+ - break kASLR
+
+ - find gadgets in the running kernel in order to use them in the exploit
+
+ - potentially create and pin an additional workload on the sibling
+ thread, depending on the microarchitecture (not necessary on fam 0x19)
+
+ - run the exploit
+
+Considering the performance implications of each mitigation type, the
+default one is 'Mitigation: safe RET' which should take care of most
+attack vectors, including the local User->Kernel one.
+
+As always, the user is advised to keep her/his system up-to-date by
+applying software updates regularly.
+
+The default setting will be reevaluated when needed and especially when
+new attack vectors appear.
+
+As one can surmise, 'Mitigation: safe RET' does come at the cost of some
+performance depending on the workload. If one trusts her/his userspace
+and does not want to suffer the performance impact, one can always
+disable the mitigation with spec_rstack_overflow=off.
+
+Similarly, 'Mitigation: IBPB' is another full mitigation type employing
+an indrect branch prediction barrier after having applied the required
+microcode patch for one's system. This mitigation comes also at
+a performance cost.
+
+Mitigation: safe RET
+--------------------
+
+The mitigation works by ensuring all RET instructions speculate to
+a controlled location, similar to how speculation is controlled in the
+retpoline sequence. To accomplish this, the __x86_return_thunk forces
+the CPU to mispredict every function return using a 'safe return'
+sequence.
+
+To ensure the safety of this mitigation, the kernel must ensure that the
+safe return sequence is itself free from attacker interference. In Zen3
+and Zen4, this is accomplished by creating a BTB alias between the
+untraining function srso_untrain_ret_alias() and the safe return
+function srso_safe_ret_alias() which results in evicting a potentially
+poisoned BTB entry and using that safe one for all function returns.
+
+In older Zen1 and Zen2, this is accomplished using a reinterpretation
+technique similar to Retbleed one: srso_untrain_ret() and
+srso_safe_ret().