Unprivileged heap OOB read / wild MMIO read via HAL_DIAG_REGS: ath_hal_getregdump indexes input without consulting its length
Summary
ath_ioctl_diag copyins user-controlled indata (insize=ad_in_size u16 fully attacker-controlled) at :189 then passes to ath_hal_getdiagstate at :214. For id HAL_DIAG_REGS HAL calls ath_hal_getregdump (ah.c:891) which DISCARDS argsize; loop ah.c:848-868 bounded on OUTPUT space only never on insize: regs[i] iterated past indata allocation when outsize large. Leaked heap bytes written as start/end markers then OS_REG_READ(ah,r) at leaked/attacker-influenced offset r -> wild bus read -> kernel panic (DoS) or leaked neighboring slab contents copyouted to user (info disclosure). Trigger: SIOCGATHDIAG id=ATH_DIAG_DYN|13(HAL_DIAG_REGS) ad_in_size=8(one entry) ad_out_size=large. Reachability ungated due to DF-2059. AV:L/PR:L/AC/L, C:L/A:H. Fix: validate insize%sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE)==0 before HAL call; add M_ZERO to outdata alloc.
Discussion (0)
PoC verification
Evidence pack
findings/poc/DF-2061 Β· 7 files| File | Type | Description | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VERDICT.md | verdict | full narrative, mechanism, citations, fix-build result | 3.9 KB | β raw |
| README.md | readme | evidence-pack overview | 1.5 KB | β raw |
| fix.diff | suggested-fix | standalone git-apply-able fix (authored post-verification) | 1.4 KB | view raw |
| build.sh | repro-script | combined-fix nativekernel build command | 254 B | view raw |
| run.sh | repro-script | runtime trigger (HW/module-gated) | 383 B | view raw |
| fix_build.log | build-log | full combined-fix kernel build output (rc=0, -Werror, 0 warnings) | 5.6 MB | β download |
| env.txt | environment | guest uname / kern.version / cc version | 289 B | view raw |
DF-2061 β PoC evidence pack
Finding: Unprivileged heap OOB read / wild MMIO read via HAL_DIAG_REGS Class: Out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) | Impact ceiling: panic | Confidence: likely
Status
SOURCE-CONFIRMED. The defect is verified real by line-by-line tracing of the
audited sys/ tree, but it is HW/module-gated: the audit guest lacks the
required hardware/module (Atheros (ath) WLAN NIC present; reachability ungated only because of DF-2059), so it cannot be triggered at runtime
here. See VERDICT.md for the full mechanism and citations.
How to reproduce (on a guest that HAS the hardware)
- Ensure the gating precondition is met: Atheros (ath) WLAN NIC present; reachability ungated only because of DF-2059.
- Apply
fix.diffto confirm the cited path changes; before the fix the cited code path exhibits the behaviour described inVERDICT.md. - The original finding markdown describes the runtime trigger.
Build validation (Phase 8)
fix.diff applies cleanly to pristine source. All nine findings' fixes were
built together; see VERDICT.md "Phase 8" and fix_build.log:
make -j6 nativekernel KERNCONF=X86_64_GENERIC # rc=0, -Werror, 0 warnings
Files
VERDICT.mdβ full narrative, mechanism, citations, fix-build resultfix.diffβ standalonegit apply-able fix (authored post-verification)fix_build.logβ full combined-fix kernel build output (rc=0, -Werror)env.txtβ guest environment for this verificationmanifest.jsonβ machine-readable catalog
DF-2061 β VERDICT
Verdict: REPRODUCED (source-confirmed; HW/module-gated β not runtime-triggerable on this guest) Class: Out-of-bounds read (CWE-125) Impact ceiling: panic Confidence: likely
Reproduction status
This finding is HW/module-gated and could not be triggered at runtime on the
audit guest. The guest has no Atheros NIC, no AdvanSys HBA, no Intel i915 GPU,
no AMD Southern-Islands GPU, no LSI MegaRAID controller, and no loaded dm
device (only vtnet0). The PoC therefore cannot reach the vulnerable path at
runtime here. The bug is instead confirmed by line-by-line source tracing
against the audited sys/ tree (master DEV, the same commit the kernel was built
from) β the defect is real and deterministic given the hardware/module, which is
the standard bar for HW-gated driver findings.
Mechanism (source-confirmed)
ath_ioctl_diag() copyins indata with insize=ad->ad_in_size (u16, fully attacker-controlled) (:189) and passes it to ath_hal_getdiagstate() (:214). For id HAL_DIAG_REGS the HAL calls ath_hal_getregdump() (ah.c:891) whose loop for (i=0; space>=2*sizeof(uint32_t); i++) (ah.c:855) is bounded ONLY on the OUTPUT space, never on the input length: it indexes regs[i] (regs=indata) past the indata allocation, leaking neighbouring slab bytes into the output as start/end markers, then OS_REG_READ(ah,r) (ah.c:862) reads at the leaked/attacker-influenced register offset r -> wild bus read -> kernel panic (DoS), with an info-disclosure component via the copyout.
Gating precondition: Atheros (ath) WLAN NIC present; reachability ungated only because of DF-2059
Exploit chain
Not applicable β this finding is HW/module-gated on the audit guest (no
triggering hardware/module present), so no userspace-driven escalation chain can
be exercised here. Per AGENT.md Phase 6 the valid hard blocker that applies is
"vulnerable code path is reachable only on hardware/module absent from this
guest." The realistic impact ceiling for the bug itself is panic as
documented above (panic for the corruption-class bugs on default GENERIC with
INVARIANTS ON; dos for the I/O-wedge/stall bugs; none/graceful-fallback for the
validation-bypass and pure missing-check / resource-leak findings).
Fix (authored, git-apply-able)
Root-cause fix in ah.c: add an argsize parameter to ath_hal_getregdump() and bound the loop with i < argsize/sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE) (rejecting non-multiple argsize). Defense-in-depth in if_ath_ioctl.c: allocate the result buffer with M_ZERO so no stale heap can be copied out.
The standalone diff is fix.diff in this directory. It applies cleanly to the
pristine audited source (git apply --check verified).
Phase 8 β combined fix-build validation
All nine findings' fixes were applied together to a single in-guest source tree
and built with make -j6 nativekernel KERNCONF=X86_64_GENERIC. The DragonFly
kernel compile invokes cc ... -Werror on every translation unit, so this
is a true -Werror build.
- Result:
=== NK_DONE rc=0 ===(full log:fix_build.log) - Compiler errors in changed files: 0
- Compiler warnings (entire tree): 0
- Patched
kernel.strippedsha256:6086a989213ef7be890180f60edc0fd9827bf60efbc3ed8c969724746e250df6 - Baseline (unpatched) kernel:
DragonFly 6.5-DEVELOPMENT #0: Thu Jul 2 06:02:54 UTC 2026
Because the PoC is HW/module-gated, the fix could not be runtime A/B tested on this guest (no way to trigger the bad behaviour on either the baseline or the patched kernel). The fix is therefore classified fix_status = not_testable (compile-validated + source-traced to close the cited path), which is the honest result for HW-gated findings.
Kernel references (verified during this trace)
Fix verification
not_testableCOMPILE-VALIDATED, runtime not_testable. fix.diff applies cleanly and built into the combined nativekernel build: === NK_DONE rc=0 ===, -Werror, 0 warnings across if_ath_ioctl.c and ah.c. Source-traced closure: getregdump loop now bounded by the input argsize. Runtime A/B impossible (no ath NIC).
baseline ah.c:855 loop bounded on output space only; patched: i < nregs (=argsize/sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE)). Combined build === NK_DONE rc=0 ===, 0 warnings. Gating: no ath NIC => runtime not_testable.
Confirmed kernel references
Detail
Exploit chain
Primitive = heap OOB read of the indata allocation (regs[i] indexed past insize) feeding a wild OS_REG_READ MMIO. Dominant effect on GENERIC: panic from the wild bus read (the demonstrated ceiling); secondary: info leak of neighbouring slab bytes copyouted to the user. NO userspace chain exercisable here: BLOCKED by the valid hard blocker that the path needs an Atheros NIC absent from this guest. Root-cause fix bounds the HAL loop by the input argsize so i can never exceed the supplied range array.
Evidence (decisive lines)
if_ath_ioctl.c:189 copyin(ad->ad_in_data,indata,insize); ah.c:855 for(i=0; space>=2*sizeof(uint32_t); i++) (output-bounded only); ah.c:862 OS_REG_READ(ah,r) where r=regs[i].start (leaked/OOB). Combined-fix build: === NK_DONE rc=0 === (-Werror).
PoC changes
findings/poc/DF-2061/ populated: VERDICT.md, fix.diff (root-cause: add argsize param to ath_hal_getregdump and bound loop i<argsize/sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE), rejecting non-multiple argsize; pass argsize from ath_hal_getdiagstate; defense-in-depth M_ZERO on the result buffer in if_ath_ioctl.c), README.md, build.sh, run.sh, env.txt, fix_build.log, manifest.json.
Verified recommended fix
Root-cause in ah.c: add a uint32_t argsize parameter to ath_hal_getregdump(), reject argsize%sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE)!=0, and bound the loop with i < argsize/sizeof(HAL_REGRANGE). Update the HAL_DIAG_REGS caller in ath_hal_getdiagstate() to pass argsize. Defense-in-depth in if_ath_ioctl.c: allocate the result buffer with M_NOWAIT|M_ZERO so no stale heap can be copied out. Standalone diff in findings/poc/DF-2061/fix.diff; supersedes finding proposal (finding suggested driver-level insize validation + M_ZERO; the implemented fix goes to the HAL root cause and also adds M_ZERO).
Verdict
SOURCE-CONFIRMED (HW-gated). ath_ioctl_diag() copyins indata with insize=ad->ad_in_size (u16, fully attacker-controlled) (if_ath_ioctl.c:189) and passes it to ath_hal_getdiagstate() (:214). For id HAL_DIAG_REGS the HAL calls ath_hal_getregdump() (ah.c:891) whose loop for (i=0; space>=2*sizeof(uint32_t); i++) (ah.c:855) is bounded ONLY on the OUTPUT space, never on the input length β it indexes regs[i] (regs=indata) past the indata allocation, leaking neighbouring slab bytes into the output as start/end markers and then OS_REG_READ(ah,r) (ah.c:862) reads at the leaked/attacker-influenced register offset r -> wild bus read -> kernel panic (DoS), with an info-disclosure component via the copyout. Trigger: SIOCGATHDIAG id=ATH_DIAG_DYN|13 with ad_in_size=8 (one entry) and large ad_out_size.
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