Hello,

On Thu, May 14, 2026 at 02:07:47AM +0200, [email protected] wrote:
> # QXL DRM: `apply_reloc` and `apply_surf_reloc` write to `info->dst_offset` 
> without validating against BO size
> 
> ## Summary
> 
> The QXL DRM driver's relocation processing in 
> `drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c` writes 64-bit and 32-bit values to 
> `reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)` after mapping 
> `info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK` into kernel space via 
> `qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page`. The `dst_offset` is taken verbatim from the 
> user-supplied `drm_qxl_reloc` ioctl argument and is never validated against 
> the destination buffer object's size before the write.
> 
> An aspirational comment at the top of `apply_reloc` explicitly notes that 
> "`dst` must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram", but the 
> validation has not been implemented since the driver was introduced in 2013.
> 
> ## Impact
> 
> This is **not** a host-VM-escape primitive (the writes hit guest-controlled 
> VRAM emulated by QEMU, not host kernel memory). It is a **guest-side memory 
> corruption** primitive:
> 
> - A guest userspace process with `DRM_AUTH` (any logged-in user) can write 
> attacker-chosen 64-bit/32-bit values to arbitrary offsets within the QXL VRAM 
> aperture.
> - Targets reachable within the aperture include other guest processes' QXL 
> buffer objects, QXL release-command BOs queued for the host, and ring buffers 
> that QEMU consumes.
> - Corrupting QXL command structures that QEMU/SPICE then parses **moves the 
> attack surface** to QEMU's QXL parser (separate codebase; historically 
> vulnerable). This kernel bug is therefore a viable priming primitive for a 
> guest-to-host escape chain whose terminal step lives in QEMU.
> 
> CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write). Realistic CVSS 3.1: 
> `AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H` ≈ **5.5 Medium** for the kernel-side 
> bug in isolation. If chained with a QEMU QXL parser bug: higher.
> 
> This is submitted as **hardening / defense-in-depth**, not as a 
> self-contained RCE/VM-escape claim.
> 
> ## Affected versions
> 
> Linux mainline HEAD (audited 2026-05-13). The pattern is unchanged since the 
> QXL DRM driver merged in v3.10 (2013). Commit history is sparse on this file; 
> the issue is structural.
> 
> ## Vulnerable code
> 
> `drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_ioctl.c:73-110`:
> 
> ```c
> struct qxl_reloc_info {
>     int type;
>     struct qxl_bo *dst_bo;
>     uint32_t dst_offset;          /* <-- user-controlled, copied from 
> drm_qxl_reloc.dst_offset (__u64) */
>     struct qxl_bo *src_bo;
>     int src_offset;
> };
> 
> /*
>  * dst must be validated, i.e. whole bo on vram/surfacesram (right now all 
> bo's
>  * are on vram).
>  * *(dst + dst_off) = qxl_bo_physical_address(src, src_off)
>  */
> static void
> apply_reloc(struct qxl_device *qdev, struct qxl_reloc_info *info)
> {
>     void *reloc_page;
> 
>     reloc_page = qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo,
>                                          info->dst_offset & PAGE_MASK);
>     *(uint64_t *)(reloc_page + (info->dst_offset & ~PAGE_MASK)) =
>         qxl_bo_physical_address(qdev, info->src_bo, info->src_offset);
>     qxl_bo_kunmap_atomic_page(qdev, info->dst_bo, reloc_page);
> }
> ```
> 
> `apply_surf_reloc` (Lines 98-110) has the identical pattern for a `uint32_t` 
> write.
> 
> ### How `dst_offset` reaches `apply_reloc`
> 
> The user-space struct is defined in `include/uapi/drm/qxl_drm.h`:
> 
> ```c
> struct drm_qxl_reloc {
>     __u64 src_offset;
>     __u64 dst_offset;        /* user-controlled */
>     __u32 src_handle;
>     __u32 dst_handle;
>     __u32 reloc_type;
>     __u32 pad;
> };
> ```
> 
> `qxl_process_single_command` (`qxl_ioctl.c:141-269`) copies the user 
> `drm_qxl_reloc` array into `reloc_info`, narrows `dst_offset` from `__u64` to 
> `uint32_t` (silent truncation -- still gives the attacker the full 32-bit / 4 
> GB range), and then calls `apply_reloc`/`apply_surf_reloc`. No bounds check 
> against `dst_bo->tbo.base.size` exists anywhere in the call chain. 
> `qxl_release_reserve_list` only handles TTM placement validation.
> 
> ### Mapping behaviour
> 
> `qxl_bo_kmap_atomic_page` (`drivers/gpu/drm/qxl/qxl_object.c`) computes 
> `offset = (bo->tbo.resource->start << PAGE_SHIFT) + page_offset` and maps via 
> `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` on the QXL device's full VRAM aperture 
> (`vram_mapping`). The `BUG_ON(offset >= mapping->size)` inside 
> `io_mapping_map_atomic_wc` (see `include/linux/io-mapping.h`) only fires if 
> the offset exceeds the *entire* aperture, not the specific BO. Writes within 
> the aperture but outside the BO succeed and land on whatever data occupies 
> those pages.
> 
> ## Proposed fix
> 
> Add the validation the comment promised, in the per-reloc-info-fill loop in 
> `qxl_process_single_command` (around line 228-244):
> 
> ```c
> +   if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_BO &&
> +       (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint64_t) > 
> reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
> +        reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint64_t))) {
> +       ret = -EINVAL;
> +       goto out_free_bos;
> +   }
> +   if (reloc_info[i].type == QXL_RELOC_TYPE_SURF &&
> +       (reloc_info[i].dst_offset + sizeof(uint32_t) > 
> reloc_info[i].dst_bo->tbo.base.size ||
> +        reloc_info[i].dst_offset > U32_MAX - sizeof(uint32_t))) {
> +       ret = -EINVAL;
> +       goto out_free_bos;
> +   }
> ```

Please turn this fix into a regular patch that can be applied. If it's
accepted by maintainers, it will save them some time and will have you
credited for finding and fixing this bug.

> Equivalent to checking `dst_offset` plus the write size fits inside the 
> resolved BO. Also enforce a reasonable upper bound on `cmd->relocs_num` to 
> prevent allocation DoS.
> 
> ## Discovery
> 
> Static analysis of QXL DRM ioctl handlers.
> 
> ## Disclosure
> 
> Per Linux kernel security policy, report to `[email protected]` and the QXL 
> maintainers (Gerd Hoffmann, [email protected]).

Thanks for your report. However, this report is already public via the
virtualization list, so no need to involve security@, and it can be
dropped from future responses:

   
https://lore.kernel.org/virtualization/[email protected]/T/#u

Willy

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