apache / apache/nuttx

System calls require address checks

Open
#1,329 2 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
Area: Security
Dominant language
C
Stars
4k
Forks
1.7k
Avg merge
1d 17h
Merged PRs (30d)
237

Description

As a security measure, system calls such as read() or any other system call that modifies memory, must verify that the user-provided addresses lie in user-space. Otherwise, this opens a back door that may be exploited to take control of the OS or to crash the OS.

This applies only to PROTECTED and KERNEL build modes.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by tracing the read() system call and other system calls that modify memory, focusing on the PROTECTED and KERNEL build modes. The work is done when user-provided addresses are checked as user-space addresses before memory is modified, with the relevant system-call behavior covered by tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
embedded-iot, operating-systems, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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