perf/core: Drop kernel samples even though :u is specified

When doing sampling, for example:

  perf record -e cycles:u ...

On workloads that do a lot of kernel entry/exits we see kernel
samples, even though :u is specified. This is due to skid existing.

This might be a security issue because it can leak kernel addresses even
though kernel sampling support is disabled.

The patch drops the kernel samples if exclude_kernel is specified.

For example, test on Haswell desktop:

  perf record -e cycles:u <mgen>
  perf report --stdio

Before patch applied:

    99.77%  mgen     mgen              [.] buf_read
     0.20%  mgen     mgen              [.] rand_buf_init
     0.01%  mgen     [kernel.vmlinux]  [k] apic_timer_interrupt
     0.00%  mgen     mgen              [.] last_free_elem
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so      [.] __random_r
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so      [.] _int_malloc
     0.00%  mgen     mgen              [.] rand_array_init
     0.00%  mgen     [kernel.vmlinux]  [k] page_fault
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so      [.] __random
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so      [.] __strcasestr
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so        [.] strcmp
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so        [.] _dl_start
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so      [.] sched_setaffinity@@GLIBC_2.3.4
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so        [.] _start

We can see kernel symbols apic_timer_interrupt and page_fault.

After patch applied:

    99.79%  mgen     mgen           [.] buf_read
     0.19%  mgen     mgen           [.] rand_buf_init
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] __random_r
     0.00%  mgen     mgen           [.] rand_array_init
     0.00%  mgen     mgen           [.] last_free_elem
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] vfprintf
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] rand
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] __random
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] _int_malloc
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] _IO_doallocbuf
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so     [.] do_lookup_x
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so     [.] open_verify.constprop.7
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so     [.] _dl_important_hwcaps
     0.00%  mgen     libc-2.23.so   [.] sched_setaffinity@@GLIBC_2.3.4
     0.00%  mgen     ld-2.23.so     [.] _start

There are only userspace symbols.

Signed-off-by: Jin Yao <yao.jin@linux.intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Cc: Alexander Shishkin <alexander.shishkin@linux.intel.com>
Cc: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@redhat.com>
Cc: Jiri Olsa <jolsa@redhat.com>
Cc: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>
Cc: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>
Cc: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
Cc: Vince Weaver <vincent.weaver@maine.edu>
Cc: acme@kernel.org
Cc: jolsa@kernel.org
Cc: kan.liang@intel.com
Cc: mark.rutland@arm.com
Cc: will.deacon@arm.com
Cc: yao.jin@intel.com
Link: http://lkml.kernel.org/r/1495706947-3744-1-git-send-email-yao.jin@linux.intel.com
Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar <mingo@kernel.org>

1 files changed, 21 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index 6e75a5c9412d..6c4e523dc1e2 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -7316,6 +7316,21 @@ int perf_event_account_interrupt(struct perf_event *event)
 	return __perf_event_account_interrupt(event, 1);
 }
 
+static bool sample_is_allowed(struct perf_event *event, struct pt_regs *regs)
+{
+	/*
+	 * Due to interrupt latency (AKA "skid"), we may enter the
+	 * kernel before taking an overflow, even if the PMU is only
+	 * counting user events.
+	 * To avoid leaking information to userspace, we must always
+	 * reject kernel samples when exclude_kernel is set.
+	 */
+	if (event->attr.exclude_kernel && !user_mode(regs))
+		return false;
+
+	return true;
+}
+
 /*
  * Generic event overflow handling, sampling.
  */
@@ -7337,6 +7352,12 @@ static int __perf_event_overflow(struct perf_event *event,
 	ret = __perf_event_account_interrupt(event, throttle);
 
 	/*
+	 * For security, drop the skid kernel samples if necessary.
+	 */
+	if (!sample_is_allowed(event, regs))
+		return ret;
+
+	/*
 	 * XXX event_limit might not quite work as expected on inherited
 	 * events
 	 */