# kconfig-hardened-check
+
+[](https://codecov.io/gh/a13xp0p0v/kconfig-hardened-check)
+
## Motivation
-There are plenty of Linux kernel hardening config options. A lot of them are
+There are plenty of security hardening options in the Linux kernel. A lot of them are
not enabled by the major distros. We have to enable these options ourselves to
make our systems more secure.
But nobody likes checking configs manually. So let the computers do their job!
__kconfig-hardened-check.py__ helps me to check the Linux kernel Kconfig option list
-against my hardening preferences, which are based on the
+against my security hardening preferences, which are based on the
- [KSPP recommended settings][1],
- [CLIP OS kernel configuration][2],
- - last public [grsecurity][3] patch (options which they disable).
+ - last public [grsecurity][3] patch (options which they disable),
+ - [SECURITY_LOCKDOWN_LSM][5] patchset,
+ - direct feedback from Linux kernel maintainers (Daniel Vetter in [issue #38][6]).
I also created [__Linux Kernel Defence Map__][4] that is a graphical representation of the
-relationships between these hardening features and the corresponding vulnerability classes
+relationships between security hardening features and the corresponding vulnerability classes
or exploitation techniques.
## Supported microarchitectures
## Usage
```
-usage: kconfig-hardened-check [-h] [-p {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM}] [-c CONFIG]
- [--debug] [--json]
+usage: kconfig-hardened-check [-h] [--version] [-p {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM}]
+ [-c CONFIG]
+ [-m {verbose,json,show_ok,show_fail}]
-Checks the hardening options in the Linux kernel config
+A tool for checking the security hardening options of the Linux kernel
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
+ --version show program's version number and exit
-p {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM}, --print {X86_64,X86_32,ARM64,ARM}
- print hardening preferences for selected architecture
+ print security hardening preferences for the selected architecture
-c CONFIG, --config CONFIG
- check the config_file against these preferences
- --debug enable verbose debug mode
- --json print results in JSON format
+ check the kernel config file against these preferences
+ -m {verbose,json,show_ok,show_fail}, --mode {verbose,json,show_ok,show_fail}
+ choose the report mode
```
-## Output for `Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver with HWE)` kernel config
+## Output for `Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa)` kernel config
```
-$ ./bin/kconfig-hardened-check -c kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-bionic-generic.config
-[+] Trying to detect architecture in "kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-bionic-generic.config"...
+$ ./bin/kconfig-hardened-check -c kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-focal.config
+[+] Config file to check: kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-focal.config
[+] Detected architecture: X86_64
-[+] Trying to detect kernel version in "kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-bionic-generic.config"...
-[+] Found version line: "# Linux/x86 5.3.0-28-generic Kernel Configuration"
-[+] Detected kernel version: 5.3
-[+] Checking "kconfig_hardened_check/config_files/distros/ubuntu-bionic-generic.config" against X86_64 hardening preferences...
+[+] Detected kernel version: 5.4
=========================================================================================================================
option name | desired val | decision | reason | check result
=========================================================================================================================
CONFIG_BUG | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_STRICT_KERNEL_RWX | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_STACKPROTECTOR_STRONG | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_SLUB_DEBUG | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_STRICT_MODULE_RWX | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_GCC_PLUGINS | y |defconfig | self_protection | FAIL: not found
+CONFIG_STACKPROTECTOR_STRONG | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_STRICT_KERNEL_RWX | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_STRICT_MODULE_RWX | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_REFCOUNT_FULL | y |defconfig | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_IOMMU_SUPPORT | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_BASE | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_VMAP_STACK | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_MICROCODE | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_RETPOLINE | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_X86_SMAP | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_X86_UMIP | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK: CONFIG_X86_INTEL_UMIP "y"
CONFIG_SYN_COOKIES | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_X86_UMIP | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK: CONFIG_X86_INTEL_UMIP "y"
CONFIG_PAGE_TABLE_ISOLATION | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_MEMORY | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_INTEL_IOMMU | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_AMD_IOMMU | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_VMAP_STACK | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_BASE | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_THREAD_INFO_IN_TASK | y |defconfig | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_SECURITY_DMESG_RESTRICT | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_BUG_ON_DATA_CORRUPTION | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_DEBUG_WX | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_SCHED_STACK_END_CHECK | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_SLAB_FREELIST_RANDOM | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_SHUFFLE_PAGE_ALLOCATOR | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_FORTIFY_SOURCE | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_LATENT_ENTROPY | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
CONFIG_DEBUG_LIST | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_DEBUG_SG | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_DEBUG_CREDENTIALS | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_DEBUG_NOTIFIERS | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_INIT_ON_ALLOC_DEFAULT_ON | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_LATENT_ENTROPY | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
+CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY_FALLBACK | is not set | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_HARDENED_USERCOPY_PAGESPAN | is not set | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_MODULE_SIG | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_ALL | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_SHA512 | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_FORCE | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
-CONFIG_INIT_STACK_ALL | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_INIT_ON_ALLOC_DEFAULT_ON | y | kspp | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_INIT_ON_FREE_DEFAULT_ON | y | kspp | self_protection | OK: CONFIG_PAGE_POISONING "y"
+CONFIG_INIT_STACK_ALL_ZERO | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
+CONFIG_INIT_ON_FREE_DEFAULT_ON | y | kspp | self_protection | OK: CONFIG_PAGE_POISONING_ZERO "y"
CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_STACKLEAK_METRICS | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK is needed
-CONFIG_STACKLEAK_RUNTIME_DISABLE | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK is needed
+CONFIG_RANDOMIZE_KSTACK_OFFSET_DEFAULT | y | kspp | self_protection | FAIL: not found
CONFIG_DEFAULT_MMAP_MIN_ADDR | 65536 | kspp | self_protection | OK
-CONFIG_SECURITY_DMESG_RESTRICT | y | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS | y |maintainer| self_protection | FAIL: not found
+CONFIG_UBSAN_SANITIZE_ALL | y |maintainer| self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS not "y"
+CONFIG_UBSAN_TRAP | y |maintainer| self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_UBSAN_BOUNDS not "y"
CONFIG_DEBUG_VIRTUAL | y | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER | y | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_EFI_DISABLE_PCI_DMA | y | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: not found
CONFIG_SLAB_MERGE_DEFAULT | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT_PERFORMANCE | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT is needed
-CONFIG_RANDOM_TRUST_BOOTLOADER | is not set | clipos | self_protection | OK: not found
+CONFIG_RANDOM_TRUST_BOOTLOADER | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_RANDOM_TRUST_CPU | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_INTEL_IOMMU_SVM | y | clipos | self_protection | OK
+CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT_PERFORMANCE | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_RANDSTRUCT not "y"
+CONFIG_STACKLEAK_METRICS | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK not "y"
+CONFIG_STACKLEAK_RUNTIME_DISABLE | is not set | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: CONFIG_GCC_PLUGIN_STACKLEAK not "y"
CONFIG_INTEL_IOMMU_DEFAULT_ON | y | clipos | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
-CONFIG_SLUB_DEBUG_ON | y | my | self_protection | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_INTEL_IOMMU_SVM | y | clipos | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_RESET_ATTACK_MITIGATION | y | my | self_protection | OK
CONFIG_AMD_IOMMU_V2 | y | my | self_protection | FAIL: "m"
CONFIG_SECURITY | y |defconfig | security_policy | OK
CONFIG_SECURITY_YAMA | y | kspp | security_policy | OK
CONFIG_SECURITY_WRITABLE_HOOKS | is not set | my | security_policy | OK: not found
-CONFIG_SECURITY_LOCKDOWN_LSM | y | clipos | security_policy | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_SECURITY_LOCKDOWN_LSM_EARLY | y | clipos | security_policy | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_LOCK_DOWN_KERNEL_FORCE_CONFIDENTIALITY| y | clipos | security_policy | FAIL: not found
-CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN | y | my | security_policy | FAIL: "is not set"
-CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN_ENFORCE | y | my | security_policy | FAIL: CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN is needed
+CONFIG_SECURITY_LOCKDOWN_LSM | y | clipos | security_policy | OK
+CONFIG_SECURITY_LOCKDOWN_LSM_EARLY | y | clipos | security_policy | OK
+CONFIG_LOCK_DOWN_KERNEL_FORCE_CONFIDENTIALITY| y | clipos | security_policy | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_SECURITY_SAFESETID | y | my | security_policy | OK
+CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN | y | my | security_policy | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN_ENFORCE | y | my | security_policy | FAIL: CONFIG_SECURITY_LOADPIN not "y"
CONFIG_SECCOMP | y |defconfig | cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_SECCOMP_FILTER | y |defconfig | cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_STRICT_DEVMEM | y |defconfig | cut_attack_surface | OK
-CONFIG_MODULES | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_DEVMEM | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_IO_STRICT_DEVMEM | y | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "is not set"
-CONFIG_LEGACY_VSYSCALL_NONE | y | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_ACPI_CUSTOM_METHOD | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_COMPAT_BRK | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_DEVKMEM | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_X86_X32 | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_MODIFY_LDT_SYSCALL | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_OABI_COMPAT | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | OK: not found
-CONFIG_X86_PTDUMP | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_MODULES | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_DEVMEM | is not set | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_IO_STRICT_DEVMEM | y | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "is not set"
+CONFIG_LEGACY_VSYSCALL_NONE | y | kspp | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "is not set"
CONFIG_ZSMALLOC_STAT | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_PAGE_OWNER | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_DEBUG_KMEMLEAK | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | OK
CONFIG_DEVPORT | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_DEBUG_FS | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_NOTIFIER_ERROR_INJECTION | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
-CONFIG_ACPI_TABLE_UPGRADE | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_X86_IOPL_IOPERM | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | OK: not found
-CONFIG_EFI_TEST | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
-CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_MMIOTRACE_TEST | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | OK
-CONFIG_X86_INTEL_TSX_MODE_OFF | y | clipos | cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_X86_PTDUMP | is not set |grsecurity| cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_DRM_LEGACY | is not set |maintainer| cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_FB | is not set |maintainer| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_VT | is not set |maintainer| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_BLK_DEV_FD | is not set |maintainer| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
+CONFIG_AIO | is not set |grapheneos| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_STAGING | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_KSM | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_KALLSYMS | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_USER_NS | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_X86_MSR | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
CONFIG_X86_CPUID | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
+CONFIG_IO_URING | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_X86_IOPL_IOPERM | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | OK: not found
+CONFIG_ACPI_TABLE_UPGRADE | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_EFI_CUSTOM_SSDT_OVERLAYS | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | OK: not found
CONFIG_LDISC_AUTOLOAD | is not set | clipos | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_AIO | is not set |grapheneos| cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_X86_INTEL_TSX_MODE_OFF | y | clipos | cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_EFI_TEST | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
+CONFIG_BPF_SYSCALL | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
+CONFIG_MMIOTRACE_TEST | is not set | lockdown | cut_attack_surface | OK
+CONFIG_TRIM_UNUSED_KSYMS | y | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: not found
CONFIG_MMIOTRACE | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_LIVEPATCH | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_IP_DCCP | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
CONFIG_IP_SCTP | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
CONFIG_FTRACE | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
-CONFIG_BPF_JIT | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "y"
CONFIG_VIDEO_VIVID | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
+CONFIG_INPUT_EVBUG | is not set | my | cut_attack_surface | FAIL: "m"
CONFIG_INTEGRITY | y |defconfig |userspace_hardening | OK
CONFIG_ARCH_MMAP_RND_BITS | 32 | clipos |userspace_hardening | FAIL: "28"
-[+] config check is finished: 'OK' - 55 / 'FAIL' - 77
+[+] Config check is finished: 'OK' - 59 / 'FAIL' - 85
```
## kconfig-hardened-check versioning
-I usually update the kernel hardening recommendations after each Linux kernel release.
+I usually update the kernel security hardening recommendations after each Linux kernel release.
So the version of `kconfig-hardened-check` is associated with the corresponding version of the kernel.
-The version format is: __[major_number].[kernel_version]__
-
-The current version of `kconfig-hardened-check` is __0.5.5__, it's marked with the git tag.
+The version format is: __[major_number].[kernel_version].[kernel_patchlevel]__
## Questions and answers
- A twitter thread about `CONFIG_USER_NS` and security: https://twitter.com/robertswiecki/status/1095447678949953541
+ - A good overview of the trade-off between having user namespaces enabled, disabled and available only for root: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/84522#issuecomment-614640601
+
<br />
__Q:__ Why `CONFIG_GCC_PLUGINS` is automatically disabled during the kernel compilation?
attacks for the whole system (kernel oops is not a rare situation). I think having `CONFIG_BUG` is enough here --
if we have a kernel oops in the process context, the offending/attacking process is killed.
+<br />
+
+__Q:__ What about performance impact of these security hardening options?
+
+__A:__ Ike Devolder [@BlackIkeEagle][7] made some performance tests and described the results in [this article][8].
+
+<br />
+
+__Q:__ Why enabling `CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER` breaks various things in my GNU/Linux system?
+Do I really need that feature?
+
+__A:__ Linux kernel usermode helpers can be used for privilege escalation in kernel exploits
+([example 1][9], [example 2][10]). `CONFIG_STATIC_USERMODEHELPER` prevents that method. But it
+requires the corresponding support in the userspace: see the [example implementation][11] by
+Tycho Andersen [@tych0][12].
+
+<br />
+
+__Q:__ Does my kernel have all those mitigations of Transient Execution Vulnerabilities in my hardware?
+
+__A:__ Checking the kernel config is not enough to answer this question.
+I highly recommend using [spectre-meltdown-checker][13] tool maintained by Stéphane Lesimple [@speed47][14].
+
+
[1]: http://kernsec.org/wiki/index.php/Kernel_Self_Protection_Project/Recommended_Settings
[2]: https://docs.clip-os.org/clipos/kernel.html#configuration
[3]: https://grsecurity.net/
[4]: https://github.com/a13xp0p0v/linux-kernel-defence-map
+[5]: https://lwn.net/Articles/791863/
+[6]: https://github.com/a13xp0p0v/kconfig-hardened-check/issues/38
+[7]: https://github.com/BlackIkeEagle
+[8]: https://blog.herecura.eu/blog/2020-05-30-kconfig-hardening-tests/
+[9]: https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-cache-invalidation-bug-in-linux.html
+[10]: https://a13xp0p0v.github.io/2020/02/15/CVE-2019-18683.html
+[11]: https://github.com/tych0/huldufolk
+[12]: https://github.com/tych0
+[13]: https://github.com/speed47/spectre-meltdown-checker
+[14]: https://github.com/speed47
projects / kconfig-hardened-check.git / blobdiff