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DF-2790

blist API performs no domain validation: count==0 triggers shift-by-64 UB that can clear a whole leaf or poison a live node as a terminator (bm_bighint = -1); blist_create lacks a BLIST_MAXBLKS guard (int64 radix wrap β†’ infinite loop)

Field Value
ID DF-2790
Status new
Severity Info
CVSS 3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:N
CWE CWE-682 Incorrect Calculation
File sys/kern/subr_blist.c
Lines 188-191, 408, 420-423, 437, 529, 539, 561, 703
Area kern
Confidence certain
Discovered 2026-08-31
Pass 2 (GLM 5.3 second pass)
Bucket base:kern
Reported pending
Known CVE none
CVE match novel

Summary

The blist entry points trust their callers completely, and several out-of-domain arguments degrade from harmless to corrupting purely through arithmetic UB: (a) blist_alloc(bl, 0): mask = ~0 >> 64 is undefined (x86 machine shift mod 64 β†’ mask=~0), an all-free leaf matches immediately and bitmap &= ~mask clears all 64 bits while "allocating 0" (silent 64-block capacity leak); a partially-free leaf instead writes bm_bighint = -1 (the TERMINATOR sentinel) onto a live node β€” blst_meta_alloc/blst_copy then treat it as end-of-tree, permanently hiding all subsequent capacity and truncating later resizes (and it is the only way the mis-written DF-2789 guards could ever fire); (b) 1 << 63 in the count==1 fast path is signed-overflow UB; (c) count > 64 panics by design; (d) blist_create(blocks > 2^61): radix *= 64 wraps to 0 and the while loop spins forever β€” the only protection is the caller-side clamp. None reachable today (swap passes npages ∈ [1,64]; create/resize/fill root-only and clamped). Filed as hardening so the allocator's domain is enforced where it is defined.

KKASSERT domain checks at blist_create/alloc/allocat (and count args of free/fill): blocks > 0 && blocks <= BLIST_MAXBLKS, count >= 1 && count <= BLIST_MAX_ALLOC; optionally replace the :408 signed-shift with the unsigned form.

Timeline

  • 2026-08-31 Discovered during pass-2 audit of subr_blist.c (GLM 5.3).

Discussion (0)

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PoC verification

Evidence pack

findings/poc/DF-2790 Β· 10 files
FileTypeDescriptionSize
README.md β€” 866 B ↓ raw
VERDICT.md β€” 1.4 KB ↓ raw
build.sh β€” 50 B view raw
env.txt β€” 509 B view raw
fix.diff β€” 1.5 KB view raw
h41.c β€” 14.9 KB view raw
harness.log β€” 2.0 KB view raw
manifest.json β€” 543 B view raw
run.sh β€” 106 B view raw
verdict.json β€” 2.8 KB view raw

DF-2790 β€” blist count==0 domain violations (UB shift) (Info-tier hardening verification)

What

blist count==0 domain violations (UB shift)

Build

cd /root/h41 && make

Run

kldload ./h41.ko; sysctl -w debug.h41.cmd=1 2

Expected

baseline (stock kernel): see verdict below fix kernel (all-41-fixes build): the bad behavior is gone

A/B one-liner: baseline: alloc(0)=0 alloc(1)=NONE | fix: alloc(0)=NONE alloc(1)=0 / baseline: alloc(0)=64 (out-of-range) alloc(1)=0 | fix: alloc(0)=NONE alloc(1)=0

Files

README.md VERDICT.md build.sh env.txt fix.diff h41.c harness.log manifest.json run.sh verdict.json

Shared harness: h41.c (combined KLD, sysctl debug.h41.cmd=N driven). Full batch context: the fix kernel contains all 41 hardening fixes of this batch compiled together (build RC=0) and passed the complete A/B suite plus a clean reboot.

VERDICT.md
↓ download raw

DF-2790 β€” VERDICT

status: reproduced | reproduced: 1 | impact: corruption | confidence: certain

All three claim layers confirmed on the stock guest via the harness (blist(64), count==0): (1) all-free leaf: blist_alloc(bl,0) returns 0 'successfully' and CLEARS the whole 64-bit leaf (mask = ~0>>64 is UB; on x86-64 the mod-64 shift leaves mask=~0); the subsequent alloc(1) returns SWAPBLK_NONE - 64 blocks of capacity silently lost while bl_free still counts them. (2) partially-free leaf: alloc(0) walks j to 64 where the shifted-out mask becomes 0, matches anything, wipes the whole leaf and returns blk+64 - an OUT-OF-RANGE block number; subsequent alloc(1) then hands out block 0 again (double-alloc of freed-but-not-allocated state on the swap blist). (3) blist_create: no BLIST_MAXBLKS guard - while (radix < blocks) with blocks > 2^61 wraps the int64 radix to 0 and loops forever (NOT executed on the guest; arithmetic is exact and the KKASSERT(skip>0) cannot fire before the wrap). On the fix kernel alloc(0) returns SWAPBLK_NONE and alloc(1) succeeds on both leaf states; create gains a domain KKASSERT. In-tree callers pass count in [1,64] and clamped sizes, so latent hardening.

Baseline vs fix kernel

baseline: baseline: alloc(0)=0 alloc(1)=NONE | fix: alloc(0)=NONE alloc(1)=0 / baseline: alloc(0)=64 (out-of-range) alloc(1)=0 | fix: alloc(0)=NONE alloc(1)=0 fix: behavior changed as designed (see verdict)

Fix verification

fixed
baseline reproduced→ patch + rebuild →patched clean

A/B: baseline T1/T2 show leaf wipe + capacity leak + out-of-range grant; fix kernel returns SWAPBLK_NONE for count<1 at all four entry points and the create-domain KKASSERT compiles.

↓ fix.diffDragonFly dfbsd 6.5-DEVELOPMENT #1: Mon Oct 26 01:57:23 UTC 2026 root@dfbsd:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/X86_64_GENERIC x86_64 (h41 fix kernel, all 41 hardening fixes applied)

Confirmed kernel references

Detail

Exploit chain

count==0 -> UB shift -> mask ~0 (or 0 at j=64) -> whole leaf cleared / out-of-range grant blk+64 -> swap-slot double-assignment on the swap blist

Evidence (decisive lines)

harness.log T1: alloc(0)=0 then alloc(1)=NONE (capacity leak); T2: alloc(0)=64 (out-of-range grant) + leaf wipe; fix kernel T1/T2: alloc(0)=NONE, alloc(1)=0

PoC changes

blist_create takes one argument; SWAPBLK_NONE is -2^63 not -1

Verified recommended fix

Guard count domain at blist_alloc/allocat/free/fill and KKASSERT blocks in [1, BLIST_MAXBLKS] in blist_create

Verdict

All three claim layers confirmed on the stock guest via the harness (blist(64), count==0): (1) all-free leaf: blist_alloc(bl,0) returns 0 successfully and CLEARS the whole 64-bit leaf (mask = ~0>>64 is UB; on x86-64 the mod-64 shift leaves mask=~0); the subsequent alloc(1) returns SWAPBLK_NONE - 64 blocks of capacity silently lost while bl_free still counts them. (2) partially-free leaf: alloc(0) walks j to 64 where the shifted-out mask becomes 0, matches anything, wipes the whole leaf and returns blk+64 - an OUT-OF-RANGE block number; subsequent alloc(1) then hands out block 0 again (double-alloc of freed-but-not-allocated state on the swap blist). (3) blist_create: no BLIST_MAXBLKS guard - while (radix < blocks) with blocks > 2^61 wraps the int64 radix to 0 and loops forever (NOT executed on the guest; arithmetic is exact and the KKASSERT(skip>0) cannot fire before the wrap). On the fix kernel alloc(0) returns SWAPBLK_NONE and alloc(1) succeeds on both leaf states; create gains a domain KKASSERT. In-tree callers pass count in [1,64] and clamped sizes, so latent hardening.