qemu: add `args_allowlist` to sandbox VM command line inputs

The QEMU driver allows arbitrary command line options, but many of
these options give access to host resources that operators may not
want to expose such as devices. Add an optional allowlist to the
plugin configuration so that operators can limit the resources for
QEMU.

.changelog/11542.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:security
+Allow limiting QEMU arguments to reduce access to host resources. [CVE-2021-43415](https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-43415)
+```

drivers/qemu/driver.go

@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ var (
 	// configSpec is the hcl specification returned by the ConfigSchema RPC
 	configSpec = hclspec.NewObject(map[string]*hclspec.Spec{
 		"image_paths":    hclspec.NewAttr("image_paths", "list(string)", false),
+		"args_allowlist": hclspec.NewAttr("args_allowlist", "list(string)", false),
 	})
 
 	// taskConfigSpec is the hcl specification for the driver config section of
@@ -136,6 +137,11 @@ type TaskState struct {
 type Config struct {
 	// ImagePaths is an allow-list of paths qemu is allowed to load an image from
 	ImagePaths []string `codec:"image_paths"`
+
+	// ArgsAllowList is an allow-list of arguments the jobspec can
+	// include in arguments to qemu, so that cluster operators can can
+	// prevent access to devices
+	ArgsAllowList []string `codec:"args_allowlist"`
 }
 
 // Driver is a driver for running images via Qemu
@@ -338,6 +344,26 @@ func isAllowedImagePath(allowedPaths []string, allocDir, imagePath string) bool
 	return false
 }
 
+// validateArgs ensures that all QEMU command line params are in the
+// allowlist. This function must be called after all interpolation has
+// taken place.
+func validateArgs(pluginConfigAllowList, args []string) error {
+	if len(pluginConfigAllowList) > 0 {
+		allowed := map[string]struct{}{}
+		for _, arg := range pluginConfigAllowList {
+			allowed[arg] = struct{}{}
+		}
+		for _, arg := range args {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(strings.TrimSpace(arg), "-") {
+				if _, ok := allowed[arg]; !ok {
+					return fmt.Errorf("%q is not in args_allowlist", arg)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (d *Driver) StartTask(cfg *drivers.TaskConfig) (*drivers.TaskHandle, *drivers.DriverNetwork, error) {
 	if _, ok := d.tasks.Get(cfg.ID); ok {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("taskConfig with ID '%s' already started", cfg.ID)
@@ -355,6 +381,10 @@ func (d *Driver) StartTask(cfg *drivers.TaskConfig) (*drivers.TaskHandle, *drive
 	handle := drivers.NewTaskHandle(taskHandleVersion)
 	handle.Config = cfg
 
+	if err := validateArgs(d.config.ArgsAllowList, driverConfig.Args); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
 	// Get the image source
 	vmPath := driverConfig.ImagePath
 	if vmPath == "" {

drivers/qemu/driver_test.go

@@ -453,3 +453,32 @@ func TestIsAllowedImagePath(t *testing.T) {
 		require.Falsef(t, isAllowedImagePath(allowedPaths, allocDir, p), "path should be not allowed: %v", p)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestArgsAllowList(t *testing.T) {
+
+	pluginConfigAllowList := []string{"-drive", "-net", "-snapshot"}
+
+	validArgs := [][]string{
+		{"-drive", "/path/to/wherever", "-snapshot"},
+		{"-net", "tap,vlan=0,ifname=tap0"},
+	}
+
+	invalidArgs := [][]string{
+		{"-usbdevice", "mouse"},
+		{"-singlestep"},
+		{"--singlestep"},
+		{" -singlestep"},
+		{"\t-singlestep"},
+	}
+
+	for _, args := range validArgs {
+		require.NoError(t, validateArgs(pluginConfigAllowList, args))
+		require.NoError(t, validateArgs([]string{}, args))
+
+	}
+	for _, args := range invalidArgs {
+		require.Error(t, validateArgs(pluginConfigAllowList, args))
+		require.NoError(t, validateArgs([]string{}, args))
+	}
+
+}

website/content/docs/drivers/qemu.mdx

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ The `qemu` driver supports the following configuration in the job spec:
   forcefully terminated. (Note that
   [prior to qemu 2.10.1](https://github.com/qemu/qemu/commit/ad9579aaa16d5b385922d49edac2c96c79bcfb6),
   the monitor socket path is limited to 108 characters. Graceful shutdown will
-  be disabled if qemu is < 2.10.1 and the generated monitor path exceeds this
+  be disabled if QEMU is < 2.10.1 and the generated monitor path exceeds this
   length. You may encounter this issue if you set long
   [data_dir](/docs/configuration#data_dir)
   or
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ The `qemu` driver supports the following configuration in the job spec:
   }
   ```
 
-- `args` - (Optional) A list of strings that is passed to qemu as command line
+- `args` - (Optional) A list of strings that is passed to QEMU as command line
   options.
 
 ## Examples
@@ -145,12 +145,19 @@ job "docs" {
 plugin "qemu" {
   config {
     image_paths = ["/mnt/image/paths"]
+    args_allowlist = ["-drive", "-usbdevice"]
   }
 }
 ```
 
-- `image_paths` (`[]string`: `[]`) - Specifies the host paths the QEMU driver is
-  allowed to load images from.
+- `image_paths` (`[]string`: `[]`) - Specifies the host paths the QEMU
+  driver is allowed to load images from.
+- `args_allowlist` (`[]string`: `[]`) - Specifies the command line
+  flags that the [`args`] option is permitted to pass to QEMU. If
+  unset, a job submitter can pass any command line flag into QEMU,
+  including flags that provide the VM with access to host devices such
+  as USB drives. Refer to the [QEMU documentation] for the available
+  flags.
 
 ## Resource Isolation
 
@@ -162,3 +169,11 @@ Virtualization provides the highest level of isolation for workloads that
 require additional security, and resource use is constrained by the QEMU
 hypervisor rather than the host kernel. VM network traffic still flows through
 the host's interface(s).
+
+Note that the strong isolation provided by virtualization only applies
+to the workload once the VM is started. Operators should use the
+`args_allowlist` option to prevent job submitters from accessing
+devices and resources they are not allowed to access.
+
+[`args`]: /docs/drivers/qemu#args
+[QEMU documentation]: https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/system/invocation.html