github / github/codeql

[False Negative/Question] Taint steps added by `isAdditionalFlowStep` ignore tainted content

未关闭
#22,596 0 条评论 0 个 reaction 已指派 0 人 在 GitHub 查看
question
主要语言
CodeQL
星标
10.1k
派生
2.1k
平均合并
2 天 15 小时
30 天内合并 PR
141

描述

When modelling a gRPC library in Go, I noticed that steps added to global taint tracking via the `isAdditionalFlowStep` predicate do not cover cases where the object passed to the step has tainted content, but is not considered tainted itself.

Example code for the issue below:
```go
type Container = struct{ Value int }

func link_in(Container) {
// magic CodeQL does not understand
}

func link_out() Container {
// more magic
// returns the argument of link_in
panic(0)
}

func main() {
a := Container{Value: taint()}

link_in(a)
a_ := link_out()

sink(a_.Value)
}
```
The `link_in` and `link_out` functions represent two places that pass data between them, but which CodeQL does not connect out of the box. Adding an additional flow step to establish this connection will only work if we consider the entire `Container` struct to be tainted; the taint on `Container.Value` in the example above is ignored.

After experimenting a bit, this behaviour seems consistent across different languages, which leads me to believe it was an intentional decision. However, I do not fully understand the reasoning behind it. Many libraries wrap their data in some kind of container (for example, the code emitted by the Go gRPC tooling generates custom structs for the message types in the protobuf), and the mechanisms provided by flow summaries are not always sufficient to model this (The above example can be solved by introducing a write/read to a synthetic global variable unique to this function pair, however that only works if the functions with this special behaviour are known in advance).

Since flow summaries can handle tainted content, would it be possible to do the same for `isAdditionalFlowStep`? Dropping the taint to the level of the entire containing struct is not always a worthwhile option, so this mechanism would be very helpful when modelling more complex library behaviour.

If this is a deliberate design decision, I feel like it should be mentioned in the data-flow tutorial.

贡献指南

打开贡献指南

调研方向

Start with the isAdditionalFlowStep predicate and compare its behavior with flow summaries in the CodeQL data-flow documentation. Reproduce the Go Container example and determine whether nested tainted content is intentionally excluded or should be supported. Done means the behavior and rationale are clarified, with a documented or implemented resolution.

由索引模型根据 Issue 内容生成。

评估

领域
devtools, security
Issue 类型
功能
难度
5/5
预计耗时
一周以上
活跃度
活跃
描述清晰度
基本清楚
新手友好度
35/100

把新 issue 发到你的邮箱

精选适合新手参与的 GitHub issue 摘要。