[PATCH] Harden two-phase GID handling and fork-number validation in WAL replay/decode paths

From: Matt Suiche <matt(at)tolmo(dot)com>
To: pgsql-hackers(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: [PATCH] Harden two-phase GID handling and fork-number validation in WAL replay/decode paths
Date: 2026-07-27 08:06:55
Message-ID: CAGf6Lfx2kbQfcEnCi99V2i65JSWD6ij_E29F+UkY=TyMUyeG6A@mail.gmail.com
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Hello,

While fuzzing WAL replay and decode paths on master, we found that the
two-phase redo code and several fork-number consumers trust
record-supplied values that can, in crafted or corrupted WAL, exceed
the bounds the rest of the code assumes. The write-time path already
rejects oversized two-phase GIDs (twophase.c:371), but the replay and
restore paths do not re-validate, and `gxact->gid` (GIDSIZE bytes) is
filled with plain `strcpy`. Similarly, fork numbers from records index
the 4-entry `forkNames[]` without range checks on some paths.

Per a suggestion on the security list (where the WAL-trust posture was
noted, but hardening the two-phase replay code was encouraged), here
are two small patches:

- **0001-Validate-two-phase-GID-length-in-replay-paths.patch**
Reject `gidlen == 0 || gidlen >= GIDSIZE` in `PrepareRedoAdd()`,
`RecoverPreparedTransactions()` (state-file restore), and
`ParsePrepareRecord()` (the same pattern into a stack buffer in
xactdesc.c), and replace the `strcpy` calls with `strlcpy`.

- **0002-Validate-fork-numbers-in-WAL-decode-paths.patch**
Range-check the block-header fork nibble in `DecodeXLogRecord()`
(`report_invalid_record`, consistent with neighbouring checks), and
clamp defensively in `GetRelationPath()`, which is shared
frontend/backend code and the common sink for `forkNames[]`
indexing (e.g. from `xl_smgr_create.forkNum`).

Without these checks, a malformed `XLOG_XACT_PREPARE` record overflows
`gxact->gid` into neighbouring two-phase shared memory during redo
(reproduced: multi-KB overwrite, freelist corruption), and an
out-of-range fork number reads outside `forkNames[]`. With them, both
inputs are rejected cleanly at replay/decode time (in redo, the ERROR
is promoted to FATAL, aborting recovery rather than corrupting state).

Verified against master (38afc3dcb): the tree builds cleanly,
`PREPARE TRANSACTION` / `COMMIT PREPARED` / recovery of prepared
transactions work normally, and crafted records that previously
corrupted shared memory are now rejected with the new error messages.

Best regards,
--
*Matt Suiche*

*Tolmo, Inc.*

Attachment Content-Type Size
0002-Validate-fork-numbers-in-WAL-decode-paths.patch application/octet-stream 1.6 KB
0001-Validate-two-phase-GID-length-in-replay-paths.patch application/octet-stream 3.1 KB

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