Debian Bug report logs - #383296
manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>

To: submit@bugs.debian.org

Subject: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:01:09 +1000

Package: manpages
Version: 1.70-1
Severity: normal

The man page netlink(7) refers to nlmsg_pid and nl_pid as process IDs.
This is completely incorrect.  Treating them as process IDs can lead
to security holes.  So please ask upstream to correct this as soon as
possible.

Thanks,

-- System Information
Debian Release: 3.1
Kernel Version: Linux gondolin 2.6.17-rc4 #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed May 17 17:28:00 EST 2006 i686 GNU/Linux

Message #10 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Michael Kerrisk <mtk-manpages@gmx.net>

To: herbert@gondor.apana.org.au, 383296@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 14:19:32 +0200

herbert@gondor.apana.org.au wrote:
> Package: manpages
> Version: 1.70-1
> Severity: normal
> 
> The man page netlink(7) refers to nlmsg_pid and nl_pid as process IDs.
> This is completely incorrect.  Treating them as process IDs can lead
> to security holes.  So please ask upstream to correct this as soon as
> possible.

Hello Herbert

Can you provide a patch with the sort of wording you think is correct?

Thanks

Michael

Message #15 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Herbert Xu <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>

To: Michael Kerrisk <mtk-manpages@gmx.net>

Cc: 383296@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 01:21:28 +1000

On Tue, Sep 26, 2006 at 02:19:32PM +0200, Michael Kerrisk wrote:
>
> > The man page netlink(7) refers to nlmsg_pid and nl_pid as process IDs.
> > This is completely incorrect.  Treating them as process IDs can lead
> > to security holes.  So please ask upstream to correct this as soon as
> > possible.
> 
> Can you provide a patch with the sort of wording you think is correct?

The point is that these fields are simply opaque values that identify
a specific netlink socket.  So please refer to them as the netlink
socket address.

Cheers,
-- 
Visit Openswan at http://www.openswan.org/
Email: Herbert Xu ~{PmV>HI~} <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>
Home Page: http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/
PGP Key: http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/pubkey.txt

Message #20 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Martin Schulze <joey@infodrom.org>

To: Herbert Xu <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>

Cc: Michael Kerrisk <mtk-manpages@gmx.net>, 383296@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:29:20 +0200

Herbert Xu wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 26, 2006 at 02:19:32PM +0200, Michael Kerrisk wrote:
> >
> > > The man page netlink(7) refers to nlmsg_pid and nl_pid as process IDs.
> > > This is completely incorrect.  Treating them as process IDs can lead
> > > to security holes.  So please ask upstream to correct this as soon as
> > > possible.
> > 
> > Can you provide a patch with the sort of wording you think is correct?
> 
> The point is that these fields are simply opaque values that identify
> a specific netlink socket.  So please refer to them as the netlink
> socket address.

The kernel header of 2.6.20 says in include/linux/netlink.h

/* Sending process PID */

If it should be changed in the corresponding manpage, I guess that it should
be changed in the kernel as well (if not first).

Apart from that, the manpage netlink(7) contains the following note:

       nlmsg_seq  and  nlmsg_pid  are used to track messages.  nlmsg_pid shows
       the origin of the message.  Note that there isn't  a  1:1  relationship
       between  nlmsg_pid and the PID of the process if the message originated
       from a netlink socket.  See the ADDRESS  FORMATS  section  for  further
       information.

which explains that's nlmsg_pid is not exactly a process ID.

Could you propose an improved text instead.

Regards,

	Joey

-- 
Given enough thrust pigs will fly, but it's not necessarily a good idea.

Please always Cc to me when replying to me on the lists.

Message #29 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Herbert Xu <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>

To: Martin Schulze <joey@infodrom.org>

Cc: Michael Kerrisk <mtk-manpages@gmx.net>, 383296@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Sat, 5 May 2007 16:01:05 +1000

On Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 05:29:20PM +0200, Martin Schulze wrote:
> 
> The kernel header of 2.6.20 says in include/linux/netlink.h
> 
> /* Sending process PID */
> 
> If it should be changed in the corresponding manpage, I guess that it should
> be changed in the kernel as well (if not first).

Thanks for pointing that out.  I've made a patch to fix that.

> Apart from that, the manpage netlink(7) contains the following note:
> 
>        nlmsg_seq  and  nlmsg_pid  are used to track messages.  nlmsg_pid shows
>        the origin of the message.  Note that there isn't  a  1:1  relationship
>        between  nlmsg_pid and the PID of the process if the message originated
>        from a netlink socket.  See the ADDRESS  FORMATS  section  for  further
>        information.
> 
> which explains that's nlmsg_pid is not exactly a process ID.

We should simply call these numbers port IDs and remove all references
to the word process.

Cheers,
-- 
Visit Openswan at http://www.openswan.org/
Email: Herbert Xu ~{PmV>HI~} <herbert@gondor.apana.org.au>
Home Page: http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/
PGP Key: http://gondor.apana.org.au/~herbert/pubkey.txt

Message #34 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Simon Paillard <spaillard@debian.org>

To: 383296@bugs.debian.org

Cc: "Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)" <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:03:26 +0200

forwarded 383296 linux-man@vger.kernel.org
thanks

On Sat, May 05, 2007 at 04:01:05PM +1000, Herbert Xu wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 05:29:20PM +0200, Martin Schulze wrote:
> > 
> > The kernel header of 2.6.20 says in include/linux/netlink.h
> > 
> > /* Sending process PID */
> > 
> > If it should be changed in the corresponding manpage, I guess that it should
> > be changed in the kernel as well (if not first).
> 
> Thanks for pointing that out.  I've made a patch to fix that.

Applied some years ago:
http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git;a=commitdiff;h=cf130cb102487723bdfc53e4abde1227a7563797

> > Apart from that, the manpage netlink(7) contains the following note:
> > 
> >        nlmsg_seq  and  nlmsg_pid  are used to track messages.  nlmsg_pid shows
> >        the origin of the message.  Note that there isn't  a  1:1  relationship
> >        between  nlmsg_pid and the PID of the process if the message originated
> >        from a netlink socket.  See the ADDRESS  FORMATS  section  for  further
> >        information.
> > 
> > which explains that's nlmsg_pid is not exactly a process ID.
> 
> We should simply call these numbers port IDs and remove all references
> to the word process.

Trivial fix sent upstream to update struct comments, not sure how
Michael wants to update the wording around.

-- 
Simon Paillard

Message #45 received at 383296@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: "Michael Kerrisk (man-pages)" <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>

To: Simon Paillard <spaillard@debian.org>

Cc: 383296@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#383296: manpages: nlmsg_pid/nl_pid is *not* the process ID

Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:09:25 +0200

tags 383296 fixed-upstream
thanks

I've applied the patch below. Will be in upstream 3.42.

Thanks,

Michael

--- a/man7/netlink.7
+++ b/man7/netlink.7
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 .\" Based on the original comments from Alexey Kuznetsov
 .\" Modified 2005-12-27 by Hasso Tepper <hasso@estpak.ee>
 .\" $Id: netlink.7,v 1.8 2000/06/22 13:23:00 ak Exp $
-.TH NETLINK  7 2012-04-14 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
+.TH NETLINK  7 2012-07-28 "Linux" "Linux Programmer's Manual"
 .SH NAME
 netlink \- Communication between kernel and userspace (AF_NETLINK)
 .SH SYNOPSIS
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ struct nlmsghdr {
     __u16 nlmsg_type;   /* Type of message content. */
     __u16 nlmsg_flags;  /* Additional flags. */
     __u32 nlmsg_seq;    /* Sequence number. */
-    __u32 nlmsg_pid;    /* PID of the sending process. */
+    __u32 nlmsg_pid;    /* Sender port ID. */
 };
 .fi
 .in
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ not equal 0).
 struct sockaddr_nl {
     sa_family_t     nl_family;  /* AF_NETLINK */
     unsigned short  nl_pad;     /* Zero. */
-    pid_t           nl_pid;     /* Process ID. */
+    pid_t           nl_pid;     /* Port ID. */
     __u32           nl_groups;  /* Multicast groups mask. */
 };
 .fi

Message #54 received at 383296-close@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Simon Paillard <spaillard@debian.org>

To: 383296-close@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#383296: fixed in manpages 3.42-1

Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2012 16:17:41 +0000

Source: manpages
Source-Version: 3.42-1

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
manpages, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive.

A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 383296@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Simon Paillard <spaillard@debian.org> (supplier of updated manpages package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@debian.org)


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

Format: 1.8
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:50:38 +0200
Source: manpages
Binary: manpages manpages-dev
Architecture: source all
Version: 3.42-1
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: low
Maintainer: Martin Schulze <joey@debian.org>
Changed-By: Simon Paillard <spaillard@debian.org>
Description: 
 manpages   - Manual pages about using a GNU/Linux system
 manpages-dev - Manual pages about using GNU/Linux for development
Closes: 383296 526778 538641 609033 660479 671514 671515 673436 673873 673875 674051 679498
Changes: 
 manpages (3.42-1) unstable; urgency=low
 .
   [ Simon Paillard ]
   * Add myself to Uploaders
   * Imported Upstream version 3.42:
     . new manpages: get_robust_list.2 mallinfo.3 malloc_info.3 malloc_stats.3
     . remove outdated links: path_resolution.2 epoll.4 fifo.4 futex.4
       complex.5 environ.5
     . Fix repeated word in memchr.3 (Closes: #679498)
     . isgreater.3: arguments must be real-floating (Closes: #609033)
     . utf-8.7: clarifications (Closes: #538641)
     . getaddrinfo.3: note that AI_ADDRCONFIG is not affected by loopback
       addresses (Closes: #660479)
     . Fix "rtnetlink(7): Line in table too long" (Closes: #674051)
     . Fix "netlink(7): Line in table is too long" (Closes: #673875)
     . Fix "netdevice(7): Line in table too long" (Closes: #673873)
     . Fix "suffixes(7): Warnings from "grotty"" (Closes: #673436)
     . Fix "ioctl_list(2): table wider than line width" (Closes: #671515)
     . Fix groff warnings console_codes(4) (Closes: #671514)
     . netlink.7: *_pid fields are not process but port id (Closes: #383296)
   * Drop obsolete formatting patch: gettimeofday.2 wprintf.3 setnetgrent.3
   * Drop patch getgid.2, getuid.2: now documented by upstream credentials(7)
   * Drop inconsistent coding style patch: bsearch.3 qsort.3
   * iconv.3: remove Debian patch, accepted upstream and moved to NOTES
   * Remove old links added 10y ago due to debian specific man-db
   * fclose.3: drop debian patches, mark the remaining as rejected upstream
   * Remove mallinfo.3 from missing.7, added in upstream 3.41
   * Drop outdated debian/readme
   * getifaddrs.3, rtnetlink.7: stats interface is struct rtnl_link_stats, not
     net_device_stats (Closes: #526778) - thanks to Julien Cristau
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 ca33acaa9708ea04d659ada3e49a2b808ade03dc 1748638 manpages_3.42.orig.tar.gz
 78f668751bc17c5ec2d6eb9f9f4e0c45581bcc1c 46466 manpages_3.42-1.diff.gz
 35199833a71faeb1d1d02210309ac61c8ec52adc 784438 manpages_3.42-1_all.deb
 29def2ec668e3b6d4f746e56793501e3171c3c99 1728792 manpages-dev_3.42-1_all.deb
Checksums-Sha256: 
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 e366548e907776780d8558d9ab2918d49c28b7f9f926a4bdbe8559cc27165a1d 1748638 manpages_3.42.orig.tar.gz
 d5d96fc20ef2192af599b57a174e510b9868a0ff718662034dfceb4907835e68 46466 manpages_3.42-1.diff.gz
 dbd074db50d0086168e0c1df6a0d2bbf0ff396bdf6ebc20d41ee814f4ab1c3e3 784438 manpages_3.42-1_all.deb
 b0b0bef7ac02ef1bb314856db094c85a33a53f40e3601c1080ec21738d865443 1728792 manpages-dev_3.42-1_all.deb
Files: 
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 94b82badf5d39c826aa728c7e57f3d9f 46466 doc important manpages_3.42-1.diff.gz
 c96c0a4dfcfef21a1dbae4f982fe0816 784438 doc important manpages_3.42-1_all.deb
 b1ff58b81d31410b5593ee97d4617f67 1728792 doc optional manpages-dev_3.42-1_all.deb

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