There is a race between virNetServerProcessClients (main thread) and
remoteDispatchAuthList/remoteDispatchAuthPolkit/remoteSASLFinish (worker
thread) that can lead to decrementing srv->nclients_unauth when it's
zero. Since virNetServerCheckLimits relies on the value
srv->nclients_unauth the underrun causes libvirtd to stop accepting
new connections forever.
Example race scenario (assuming libvirtd is using policykit and the
client is privileged):
1. The client calls the RPC remoteDispatchAuthList =>
remoteDispatchAuthList is executed on a worker thread (Thread
T1). We're assuming now the execution stops for some time before
the line 'virNetServerClientSetAuth(client, 0)'
2. The client closes the connection irregularly. This causes the
event loop to wake up and virNetServerProcessClient to be
called (on the main thread T0). During the
virNetServerProcessClients the srv lock is hold. The condition
virNetServerClientNeedAuth(client) will be checked and as the
authentication is not finished right now
virNetServerTrackCompletedAuthLocked(srv) will be called =>
--srv->nclients_unauth => 0
3. The Thread T1 continues, marks the client as authenticated, and
calls virNetServerTrackCompletedAuthLocked(srv) =>
--srv->nclients_unauth => --0 => wrap around as nclient_unauth is
unsigned
4. virNetServerCheckLimits(srv) will disable the services forever
To fix it, add an auth_pending field to the client struct so that it
is now possible to determine if the authentication process has already
been handled for this client.
Setting the authentication method to none for the client in
virNetServerProcessClients is not a proper way to indicate that the
counter has been decremented, as this would imply that the client is
authenticated.
Additionally, adjust the existing test cases for this new field.
Signed-off-by: Marc Hartmayer <mhartmay@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Reviewed-by: Boris Fiuczynski <fiuczy@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
Libvirt API for virtualization
Libvirt provides a portable, long term stable C API for managing the virtualization technologies provided by many operating systems. It includes support for QEMU, KVM, Xen, LXC, bhyve, Virtuozzo, VMware vCenter and ESX, VMware Desktop, Hyper-V, VirtualBox and the POWER Hypervisor.
For some of these hypervisors, it provides a stateful management daemon which runs on the virtualization host allowing access to the API both by non-privileged local users and remote users.
Layered packages provide bindings of the libvirt C API into other languages including Python, Perl, PHP, Go, Java, OCaml, as well as mappings into object systems such as GObject, CIM and SNMP.
Further information about the libvirt project can be found on the website:
License
The libvirt C API is distributed under the terms of GNU Lesser General
Public License, version 2.1 (or later). Some parts of the code that are
not part of the C library may have the more restrictive GNU General
Public License, version 2.1 (or later). See the files COPYING.LESSER
and COPYING for full license terms & conditions.
Installation
Libvirt uses the GNU Autotools build system, so in general can be built and installed with the usual commands. For example, to build in a manner that is suitable for installing as root, use:
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --localstatedir=/var
$ make
$ sudo make install
While to build & install as an unprivileged user
$ ./configure --prefix=$HOME/usr
$ make
$ make install
The libvirt code relies on a large number of 3rd party libraries. These will
be detected during execution of the configure script and a summary printed
which lists any missing (optional) dependencies.
Contributing
The libvirt project welcomes contributions in many ways. For most components the best way to contribute is to send patches to the primary development mailing list. Further guidance on this can be found on the website:
https://libvirt.org/contribute.html
Contact
The libvirt project has two primary mailing lists:
- libvirt-users@redhat.com (for user discussions)
- libvir-list@redhat.com (for development only)
Further details on contacting the project are available on the website: