xref: /linux/security/Kconfig.hardening (revision 71e2f4dd5a65bd8dbca0b77661e75eea471168f8)
1# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-only
2menu "Kernel hardening options"
3
4config GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK
5	bool
6	help
7	  While the kernel is built with warnings enabled for any missed
8	  stack variable initializations, this warning is silenced for
9	  anything passed by reference to another function, under the
10	  occasionally misguided assumption that the function will do
11	  the initialization. As this regularly leads to exploitable
12	  flaws, this plugin is available to identify and zero-initialize
13	  such variables, depending on the chosen level of coverage.
14
15	  This plugin was originally ported from grsecurity/PaX. More
16	  information at:
17	   * https://grsecurity.net/
18	   * https://pax.grsecurity.net/
19
20menu "Memory initialization"
21
22config CC_HAS_AUTO_VAR_INIT
23	def_bool $(cc-option,-ftrivial-auto-var-init=pattern)
24
25choice
26	prompt "Initialize kernel stack variables at function entry"
27	default GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK_BYREF_ALL if COMPILE_TEST && GCC_PLUGINS
28	default INIT_STACK_ALL if COMPILE_TEST && CC_HAS_AUTO_VAR_INIT
29	default INIT_STACK_NONE
30	help
31	  This option enables initialization of stack variables at
32	  function entry time. This has the possibility to have the
33	  greatest coverage (since all functions can have their
34	  variables initialized), but the performance impact depends
35	  on the function calling complexity of a given workload's
36	  syscalls.
37
38	  This chooses the level of coverage over classes of potentially
39	  uninitialized variables. The selected class will be
40	  initialized before use in a function.
41
42	config INIT_STACK_NONE
43		bool "no automatic initialization (weakest)"
44		help
45		  Disable automatic stack variable initialization.
46		  This leaves the kernel vulnerable to the standard
47		  classes of uninitialized stack variable exploits
48		  and information exposures.
49
50	config GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK_USER
51		bool "zero-init structs marked for userspace (weak)"
52		depends on GCC_PLUGINS
53		select GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK
54		help
55		  Zero-initialize any structures on the stack containing
56		  a __user attribute. This can prevent some classes of
57		  uninitialized stack variable exploits and information
58		  exposures, like CVE-2013-2141:
59		  https://git.kernel.org/linus/b9e146d8eb3b9eca
60
61	config GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK_BYREF
62		bool "zero-init structs passed by reference (strong)"
63		depends on GCC_PLUGINS
64		depends on !(KASAN && KASAN_STACK=1)
65		select GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK
66		help
67		  Zero-initialize any structures on the stack that may
68		  be passed by reference and had not already been
69		  explicitly initialized. This can prevent most classes
70		  of uninitialized stack variable exploits and information
71		  exposures, like CVE-2017-1000410:
72		  https://git.kernel.org/linus/06e7e776ca4d3654
73
74		  As a side-effect, this keeps a lot of variables on the
75		  stack that can otherwise be optimized out, so combining
76		  this with CONFIG_KASAN_STACK can lead to a stack overflow
77		  and is disallowed.
78
79	config GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK_BYREF_ALL
80		bool "zero-init anything passed by reference (very strong)"
81		depends on GCC_PLUGINS
82		depends on !(KASAN && KASAN_STACK=1)
83		select GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK
84		help
85		  Zero-initialize any stack variables that may be passed
86		  by reference and had not already been explicitly
87		  initialized. This is intended to eliminate all classes
88		  of uninitialized stack variable exploits and information
89		  exposures.
90
91	config INIT_STACK_ALL
92		bool "0xAA-init everything on the stack (strongest)"
93		depends on CC_HAS_AUTO_VAR_INIT
94		help
95		  Initializes everything on the stack with a 0xAA
96		  pattern. This is intended to eliminate all classes
97		  of uninitialized stack variable exploits and information
98		  exposures, even variables that were warned to have been
99		  left uninitialized.
100
101endchoice
102
103config GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK_VERBOSE
104	bool "Report forcefully initialized variables"
105	depends on GCC_PLUGIN_STRUCTLEAK
106	depends on !COMPILE_TEST	# too noisy
107	help
108	  This option will cause a warning to be printed each time the
109	  structleak plugin finds a variable it thinks needs to be
110	  initialized. Since not all existing initializers are detected
111	  by the plugin, this can produce false positive warnings.
112
113config GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK
114	bool "Poison kernel stack before returning from syscalls"
115	depends on GCC_PLUGINS
116	depends on HAVE_ARCH_STACKLEAK
117	help
118	  This option makes the kernel erase the kernel stack before
119	  returning from system calls. This has the effect of leaving
120	  the stack initialized to the poison value, which both reduces
121	  the lifetime of any sensitive stack contents and reduces
122	  potential for uninitialized stack variable exploits or information
123	  exposures (it does not cover functions reaching the same stack
124	  depth as prior functions during the same syscall). This blocks
125	  most uninitialized stack variable attacks, with the performance
126	  impact being driven by the depth of the stack usage, rather than
127	  the function calling complexity.
128
129	  The performance impact on a single CPU system kernel compilation
130	  sees a 1% slowdown, other systems and workloads may vary and you
131	  are advised to test this feature on your expected workload before
132	  deploying it.
133
134	  This plugin was ported from grsecurity/PaX. More information at:
135	   * https://grsecurity.net/
136	   * https://pax.grsecurity.net/
137
138config STACKLEAK_TRACK_MIN_SIZE
139	int "Minimum stack frame size of functions tracked by STACKLEAK"
140	default 100
141	range 0 4096
142	depends on GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK
143	help
144	  The STACKLEAK gcc plugin instruments the kernel code for tracking
145	  the lowest border of the kernel stack (and for some other purposes).
146	  It inserts the stackleak_track_stack() call for the functions with
147	  a stack frame size greater than or equal to this parameter.
148	  If unsure, leave the default value 100.
149
150config STACKLEAK_METRICS
151	bool "Show STACKLEAK metrics in the /proc file system"
152	depends on GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK
153	depends on PROC_FS
154	help
155	  If this is set, STACKLEAK metrics for every task are available in
156	  the /proc file system. In particular, /proc/<pid>/stack_depth
157	  shows the maximum kernel stack consumption for the current and
158	  previous syscalls. Although this information is not precise, it
159	  can be useful for estimating the STACKLEAK performance impact for
160	  your workloads.
161
162config STACKLEAK_RUNTIME_DISABLE
163	bool "Allow runtime disabling of kernel stack erasing"
164	depends on GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK
165	help
166	  This option provides 'stack_erasing' sysctl, which can be used in
167	  runtime to control kernel stack erasing for kernels built with
168	  CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK.
169
170config INIT_ON_ALLOC_DEFAULT_ON
171	bool "Enable heap memory zeroing on allocation by default"
172	help
173	  This has the effect of setting "init_on_alloc=1" on the kernel
174	  command line. This can be disabled with "init_on_alloc=0".
175	  When "init_on_alloc" is enabled, all page allocator and slab
176	  allocator memory will be zeroed when allocated, eliminating
177	  many kinds of "uninitialized heap memory" flaws, especially
178	  heap content exposures. The performance impact varies by
179	  workload, but most cases see <1% impact. Some synthetic
180	  workloads have measured as high as 7%.
181
182config INIT_ON_FREE_DEFAULT_ON
183	bool "Enable heap memory zeroing on free by default"
184	help
185	  This has the effect of setting "init_on_free=1" on the kernel
186	  command line. This can be disabled with "init_on_free=0".
187	  Similar to "init_on_alloc", when "init_on_free" is enabled,
188	  all page allocator and slab allocator memory will be zeroed
189	  when freed, eliminating many kinds of "uninitialized heap memory"
190	  flaws, especially heap content exposures. The primary difference
191	  with "init_on_free" is that data lifetime in memory is reduced,
192	  as anything freed is wiped immediately, making live forensics or
193	  cold boot memory attacks unable to recover freed memory contents.
194	  The performance impact varies by workload, but is more expensive
195	  than "init_on_alloc" due to the negative cache effects of
196	  touching "cold" memory areas. Most cases see 3-5% impact. Some
197	  synthetic workloads have measured as high as 8%.
198
199endmenu
200
201endmenu
202