[analyzer][doc] Add user documenation for taint analysis

[gamesh411]

Summary

Checker alpha.security.taint.TaintPropagation now has user documentation for
taint analysis with an example showing external YAML configuration format.
The format of the taint configuration file is now documented under the user
documentation of Clang SA.

[steakhal]

Excellent work. Don't be afraid of the number of nits I dump on you!
Good job.

clang/docs/analyzer/checkers.rst

2345

Same for the rest.

2358

Per https://reviews.llvm.org/D113004#inline-1078695 we should not advocate users use the -Xclang machinery, we should rather refer to it by other tools such as scan-build. However, we haven't reached a consensus about this decision yet.
Consider moving some parts of this doc to the proposed Configuration documentation file - housing the more user-facing analyzer options.

2363

Please note that this configuration file is not stable (yet).
We might change it in a non-backward compatible way without any notice in the upcoming releases.

clang/docs/analyzer/user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration.rst

19

41–51

Since there the SrcArgs is empty, fread will work as an unconditional propagator - aka. a taint source.
It's probably better to phrase it something like that.

By doing so you could signify that in the next example you have a non-empty SrcArgs list, thus the propagation is conditional.

I think it would be better to follow this pattern in the corresponding section later as well.

49

76

The literature probably refers to cleansing functions as sanitizers. Wikipedia

89

Previously it was referred to by the key word. Chose one for consistency.

89

I would rather use the operation or function call instead of event everywhere.

91

92

This sentence definitely needs some polishing.

1. It should emphasize that a source is an unconditional propagation - at least in the current design.
2. The user might want to enlist or mark a specific function as taint source but definitely not identify them.

94

102

109

114

In the following section, you have an empty line after this marker line. Consolidate these.

117

You sometimes use parameter and in other cases argument seemingly interchangeably. You should consider consolidating these.

133

It's not exactly for this patch, but we should investigate If we could infer this index from the declaration of the function.

[gamesh411]

clang/docs/analyzer/checkers.rst

2358

Removed the command-line invocation part, and just left a mention to the configuration option.

clang/docs/analyzer/user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration.rst

133

Good idea, this seems like the way forward, I agree.

[gamesh411]

Fix the review comments of @steakhal

[whisperity]

clang/docs/analyzer/checkers.rst

2348–2349

What does it mean that these are "default propagations"? That taint passes through calls to them trivially?

2352

execvp and execvP? What is the capital P for? I can't find this overload in the POSIX docs.

2360

Perhaps we should link to the in-house YAML doc (http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml) first, and have the user move to other sources from there?

clang/docs/analyzer/user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration.rst

5

The Clang Static [...]?

5

uses, or can use?

6

Clang -> Clang SA / CSA?

6

So the checker has the defaults all the time, or only by enabling the alias can I get the defaults?

7

Ditto about YAML.

13

I think this wanted to be an anchor? Also see how the syntax highlighting broke in the next section.

23

AFAIK, RST anchors are global identifiers for the project, so maybe we should take care in adding "clang-sa" or some other sort of namespaceing...

(Although this might depend on how exactly the docs are built!)

30

Filters are not mentioned earlier.

31–36

If none of the comments themselves are just commented out ("optional") keys in the YAML, it would be better readable with a bit of formatting.

41

Why is this comment at indent 0?

51

What are these magic numbers and what is their meaning?

125–126

Ensure that the numeric literal shows up as "code" with double backtick.

[gamesh411]

tidy up based on comments from whispy

clang/docs/analyzer/checkers.rst

2348–2349

Added just 2 sentences about what default means.
Please see them a bit further up in the new version of the patch.

2352

I have found a refence to this function inside TargetLibraryInfoTest.cpp.

926   │   case LibFunc_execv:
927   │   case LibFunc_execvp:
928   │     return (NumParams == 2 && FTy.getParamType(0)->isPointerTy() &&
929   │             FTy.getParamType(1)->isPointerTy() &&
930   │             FTy.getReturnType()->isIntegerTy(32));
931   │   case LibFunc_execvP:
932   │   case LibFunc_execvpe:
933   │   case LibFunc_execve:
934   │     return (NumParams == 3 && FTy.getParamType(0)->isPointerTy() &&
935   │             FTy.getParamType(1)->isPointerTy() &&
936   │             FTy.getParamType(2)->isPointerTy() &&
937   │             FTy.getReturnType()->isIntegerTy(32));

It seems like an OSX-specific spelling and seems like it has the semantics of execve.
During the implementation of this patch, I just collected the references to functions inside GenericTaintChecker.cpp.

clang/docs/analyzer/user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration.rst

5

For brevity and clarity, I will leave it at uses, it is just a generic statement about the availability of taint analysis as a method, and I think it would not improve the understanding to change it to can use. IMHO it is implicit, and can use would make people wonder as to what does Clang need to use it etc.

6

Good point, added a line to clarify this.

23

added clangsa- prefix

30

Added a mention with references in the Overview section.

31–36

Reformatted the examples section according to your suggestions.

41

It is because Propagations YAML-keys are used to define both sources and propagations. So to comment the "source-section" 0-indent is used, and to comment on individual entries within, 2-indent comments are used.

I have consolidated the indents and introduced vertical whitespace instead of multiple indentation levels.

51

Added an extra comment on top of the example YAML file.

[gamesh411]

fix indentation warning
make inline code formatting look better

[gamesh411]

update with arc diff $(git merge-base HEAD upstream) --update D113251
in order to satisfy workflow pre-merge checks

clang/docs/analyzer/checkers.rst

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 Checkers implementing `taint analysis <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taint_checking>`_.
 
 .. _alpha-security-taint-TaintPropagation:
 
 alpha.security.taint.TaintPropagation (C, C++)
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
+
 Taint analysis identifies untrusted sources of information (taint sources), rules as to how the untrusted data flows along the execution path (propagation rules), and points of execution where the use of tainted data is risky (taints sinks).
 The most notable examples of taint sources are:
+
   - network originating data
   - environment variables
   - database originating data
 
 ``GenericTaintChecker`` is the main implementation checker for this rule, and it generates taint information used by other checkers.
 
 .. code-block:: c
 

 
  void test() {
    size_t ts;
    scanf("%zd", &ts); // 'ts' marked as tainted
    int *p = (int *)malloc(ts * sizeof(int));
      // warn: untrusted data as buffer size
  }
 
+There are built-in sources, propagations and sinks defined in code inside ``GenericTaintChecker``.
+These operations are handled even if no external taint configuration is provided.
+
 Default sources defined by ``GenericTaintChecker``:
 ``fdopen``, ``fopen``, ``freopen``, ``getch``, ``getchar``, ``getchar_unlocked``, ``gets``, ``scanf``, ``socket``, ``wgetch``
 
 Default propagations defined by ``GenericTaintChecker``:
 ``atoi``, ``atol``, ``atoll``, ``fgetc``, ``fgetln``, ``fgets``, ``fscanf``, ``sscanf``, ``getc``, ``getc_unlocked``, ``getdelim``, ``getline``, ``getw``, ``pread``, ``read``, ``strchr``, ``strrchr``, ``tolower``, ``toupper``
 
 Default sinks defined in ``GenericTaintChecker``:
 ``printf``, ``setproctitle``, ``system``, ``popen``, ``execl``, ``execle``, ``execlp``, ``execv``, ``execvp``, ``execvP``, ``execve``, ``dlopen``, ``memcpy``, ``memmove``, ``strncpy``, ``strndup``, ``malloc``, ``calloc``, ``alloca``, ``memccpy``, ``realloc``, ``bcopy``
 
 The user can configure taint sources, sinks, and propagation rules by providing a configuration file via checker option ``alpha.security.taint.TaintPropagation:Config``.
 
-External taint configuration is in `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ format. The taint-related options defined in the config file extend but do not override the built-in sources, rules, sinks.
+External taint configuration is in `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ format. The taint-related options defined in the config file extend but do not override the built-in sources, rules, sinks.
 The format of the external taint configuration file is not stable, and could change without any notice even in a non-backward compatible way.
 
-For a more detailed description of configuration options, please see the :doc:`user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration`. For an example see :ref:`taint-configuration-example`.
+For a more detailed description of configuration options, please see the :doc:`user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration`. For an example see :ref:`clangsa-taint-configuration-example`.
 
 alpha.unix
 ^^^^^^^^^^^
 
 .. _alpha-unix-BlockInCriticalSection:
 
 alpha.unix.BlockInCriticalSection (C)
 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Check for calls to blocking functions inside a critical section.

clang/docs/analyzer/user-docs/TaintAnalysisConfiguration.rst

 ============================
 Taint Analysis Configuration
 ============================
 
-Clang Static Analyzer uses taint analysis to detect security-related issues in code.
-The backbone of taint analysis in Clang is the `GenericTaintChecker`, which the user can access via the :ref:`alpha-security-taint-TaintPropagation` checker alias and this checker has a default taint-related configuration.
-The checker also provides a configuration interface for extending the default settings by providing a configuration file in `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ format.
+The Clang Static Analyzer uses taint analysis to detect security-related issues in code.
+The backbone of taint analysis in the Clang SA is the `GenericTaintChecker`, which the user can access via the :ref:`alpha-security-taint-TaintPropagation` checker alias and this checker has a default taint-related configuration.
+The built-in default settings are defined in code, and they are always in effect once the checker is enabled, either directly or via the alias.
+The checker also provides a configuration interface for extending the default settings by providing a configuration file in `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ format.
 This documentation describes the syntax of the configuration file and gives the informal semantics of the configuration options.
 
 .. contents::
    :local:
 
-.. _taint-configuration-overview
+.. _clangsa-taint-configuration-overview:
 
 Overview
 ________
 
 Taint analysis works by checking for the occurrence of special operations during the symbolic execution of the program.
 Taint analysis defines sources, sinks, and propagation rules. It identifies errors by detecting a flow of information that originates from a taint source, reaches a taint sink, and propagates through the program paths via propagation rules.
 A source, sink, or an operation that propagates taint is mainly domain-specific knowledge, but there are some built-in defaults provided by :ref:`alpha-security-taint-TaintPropagation`.
+It is possible to express that a statement sanitizes tainted values by providing a ``Filters`` section in the external configuration (see :ref:`clangsa-taint-configuration-example` and :ref:`clangsa-taint-filter-details`).
+There are no default filters defined in the built-in settings.
 The checker's documentation also specifies how to provide a custom taint configuration with command-line options.
 
-.. _taint-configuration-example:
+.. _clangsa-taint-configuration-example:
 
 Example configuration file
 __________________________
 
 .. code-block:: yaml
 
+  # The entries that specify arguments use 0-based indexing when specifying
+  # input arguments, and -1 is used to denote the return value.
+
   Filters:
-    # signature:
-    # void cleanse_first_arg(int* arg)
+    # Filter functions
+    # Taint is sanitized when tainted variables are pass arguments to filters.
+
+    # Filter function
+    #   void cleanse_first_arg(int* arg)
     #
-    # example:
-    # int x; // x is tainted
-    # cleanse_first_arg(&x); // x is not tainted anymore
+    # Result example:
+    #   int x; // x is tainted
+    #   cleanse_first_arg(&x); // x is not tainted after the call
     - Name: cleanse_first_arg
       Args: [0]
 
   Propagations:
-  # sources:
+    # Source functions
     # The omission of SrcArgs key indicates unconditional taint propagation,
     # which is conceptually what a source does.
-    # signature:
-    # size_t fread(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, FILE * stream)
+
+    # Source function
+    #   size_t fread(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, FILE * stream)
     #
-    # example:
-    # FILE* f = fopen("file.txt");
-    # char buf[1024];
-    # size_t read = fread(buf, sizeof(buf[0]), sizeof(buf)/sizeof(buf[0]), f);
-    # // both read and buf are tainted
+    # Result example:
+    #   FILE* f = fopen("file.txt");
+    #   char buf[1024];
+    #   size_t read = fread(buf, sizeof(buf[0]), sizeof(buf)/sizeof(buf[0]), f);
+    #   // both read and buf are tainted
     - Name: fread
       DstArgs: [0, -1]
 
-  # propagations:
+    # Propagation functions
     # The presence of SrcArgs key indicates conditional taint propagation,
     # which is conceptually what a propagator does.
-    # signature:
-    # char *dirname(char *path)
+
+    # Propagation function
+    #   char *dirname(char *path)
     #
-    # example:
-    # char* path = read_path();
-    # char* dir = dirname(path);
-    # // dir is tainted if path was tainted
+    # Result example:
+    #   char* path = read_path();
+    #   char* dir = dirname(path);
+    #   // dir is tainted if path was tainted
     - Name: dirname
       SrcArgs: [0]
       DstArgs: [-1]
 
   Sinks:
-    # siganture:
-    # int system(const char* command)
+    # Sink functions
+    # If taint reaches any of the arguments specified, a warning is emitted.
+
+    # Sink function
+    #   int system(const char* command)
     #
-    # example:
-    # const char* command = read_command();
-    # system(command); // emit diagnostic if command is tainted
+    # Result example:
+    #   const char* command = read_command();
+    #   system(command); // emit diagnostic if command is tainted
     - Name: system
       Args: [0]
 
 In the example file above, the entries under the `Propagation` key implement the conceptual sources and propagations, and sinks have their dedicated `Sinks` key.
 The user can define operations (function calls) where the tainted values should be cleansed by listing entries under the `Filters` key.
 Filters model the sanitization of values done by the programmer, and providing these is key to avoiding false-positive findings.
 
 Configuration file syntax and semantics
 _______________________________________
 
-The configuration file should have valid `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ syntax.
+The configuration file should have valid `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ syntax.
 
 The configuration file can have the following top-level keys:
  - Filters
  - Propagations
  - Sinks
 
-Under the `Filters` key, the user can specify a list of operations that remove taint (see :ref:`taint-filter-details` for details).
+Under the `Filters` key, the user can specify a list of operations that remove taint (see :ref:`clangsa-taint-filter-details` for details).
 
-Under the `Propagations` key, the user can specify a list of operations that introduce and propagate taint (see :ref:`taint-propagation-details` for details).
+Under the `Propagations` key, the user can specify a list of operations that introduce and propagate taint (see :ref:`clangsa-taint-propagation-details` for details).
 The user can mark taint sources with a `SrcArgs` key in the `Propagation` key, while propagations have none.
 The lack of the `SrcArgs` key means unconditional propagation, which is how sources are modeled.
 The semantics of propagations are such, that if any of the source arguments are tainted (specified by indexes in `SrcArgs`) then all of the destination arguments (specified by indexes in `DstArgs`) also become tainted.
 
-Under the `Sinks` key, the user can specify a list of operations where the checker should emit a bug report if tainted data reaches it (see :ref:`taint-sink-details` for details).
+Under the `Sinks` key, the user can specify a list of operations where the checker should emit a bug report if tainted data reaches it (see :ref:`clangsa-taint-sink-details` for details).
 
-.. _taint-filter-details:
+.. _clangsa-taint-filter-details:
 
 Filter syntax and semantics
 ###########################
 
-An entry under `Filters` is a `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
+An entry under `Filters` is a `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
  - `Name` is a string that specifies the name of a function.
    Encountering this function during symbolic execution the checker will sanitize taint from the memory region referred to by the given arguments or return a sanitized value.
- - `Args` is a list of numbers in the range of [-1..int_max].
+ - `Args` is a list of numbers in the range of ``[-1..int_max]``.
    It indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
-   The number -1 signifies the return value; other numbers identify call arguments.
+   The number ``-1`` signifies the return value; other numbers identify call arguments.
    The values of these arguments are considered clean after the function call.
 
 The following keys are optional:
  - `Scope` is a string that specifies the prefix of the function's name in its fully qualified name. This option restricts the set of matching function calls. It can encode not only namespaces but struct/class names as well to match member functions.
 
- .. _taint-propagation-details:
+ .. _clangsa-taint-propagation-details:
 
 Propagation syntax and semantics
 ################################
 
-An entry under `Propagation` is a `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
+An entry under `Propagation` is a `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
  - `Name` is a string that specifies the name of a function.
    Encountering this function during symbolic execution propagate taint from one or more arguments to other arguments and possibly the return value.
    It helps model the taint-related behavior of functions that are not analyzable otherwise.
 
 The following keys are optional:
  - `Scope` is a string that specifies the prefix of the function's name in its fully qualified name. This option restricts the set of matching function calls.
- - `SrcArgs` is a list of numbers in the range of [0..int_max] that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
+ - `SrcArgs` is a list of numbers in the range of ``[0..int_max]`` that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
    Taint-propagation considers the values of these arguments during the evaluation of the function call.
    If any `SrcArgs` arguments are tainted, the checker will consider all `DstArgs` arguments tainted after the call.
- - `DstArgs` is a list of numbers in the range of [-1..int_max] that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
-   The number -1 specifies the return value of the function.
+ - `DstArgs` is a list of numbers in the range of ``[-1..int_max]`` that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
+   The number ``-1`` specifies the return value of the function.
    If any `SrcArgs` arguments are tainted, the checker will consider all `DstArgs` arguments tainted after the call.
  - `VariadicType` is a string that can be one of ``None``, ``Dst``, ``Src``.
    It is used in conjunction with `VariadicIndex` to specify arguments inside a variadic argument.
    The value of ``Src`` will treat every call site argument that is part of a variadic argument list as a source concerning propagation rules (as if specified by `SrcArg`).
    The value of ``Dst`` will treat every call site argument that is part of a variadic argument list a destination concerning propagation rules.
    The value of ``None`` will not consider the arguments that are part of a variadic argument list (this option is redundant but can be used to temporarily switch off handling of a particular variadic argument option without removing the VariadicIndex key).
- - `VariadicIndex` is a number in the range of [0..int_max]. It indicates the starting index of the variadic argument in the signature of the function.
+ - `VariadicIndex` is a number in the range of ``[0..int_max]``. It indicates the starting index of the variadic argument in the signature of the function.
 
 
-.. _taint-sink-details:
+.. _clangsa-taint-sink-details:
 
 Sink syntax and semantics
 #########################
 
-An entry under `Sinks` is a `YAML <https://yaml.org/>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
+An entry under `Sinks` is a `YAML <http://llvm.org/docs/YamlIO.html#introduction-to-yaml>`_ object with the following mandatory keys:
  - `Name` is a string that specifies the name of a function.
    Encountering this function during symbolic execution will emit a taint-related diagnostic if any of the arguments specified with `Args` are tainted at the call site.
- - `Args` is a list of numbers in the range of [0..int_max] that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
+ - `Args` is a list of numbers in the range of ``[0..int_max]`` that indicates the indexes of arguments in the function call.
    The checker reports an error if any of the specified arguments are tainted.
 
 The following keys are optional:
  - `Scope` is a string that specifies the prefix of the function's name in its fully qualified name. This option restricts the set of matching function calls.