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fix(pdu): retain unknown protocol bits in the GCC negotiation echo fields - #1846

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Marc-André Moreau (mamoreau-devolutions) merged 1 commit into
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lamco-admin:fix/gcc-protocol-echo-retain
Aug 30, 2026
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fix(pdu): retain unknown protocol bits in the GCC negotiation echo fields#1846
Marc-André Moreau (mamoreau-devolutions) merged 1 commit into
Devolutions:masterfrom
lamco-admin:fix/gcc-protocol-echo-retain

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The two GCC core-data fields that echo the X.224 negotiation values are decoded strictly: serverSelectedProtocol in the client core data and clientRequestedProtocols in the server core data both reject the whole settings exchange when the value carries a bit outside the five defined PROTOCOL_* flags. The negotiation layer itself already decodes this exact type with from_bits_retain in both the RDP Negotiation Request and Response, so a value the library accepts leniently at X.224 becomes connection-fatal when echoed back one phase later.

The strictness also works against the field's purpose. [MS-RDPBCGR] 3.3.5.3.3's mandated handling of serverSelectedProtocol is a value comparison: if the field does not contain the same value the server transmitted in the RDP Negotiation Response, the server SHOULD drop the connection. That comparison needs the value to survive decode; rejecting unknown bits at parse time replaces the spec's check with a decode error. The client-side echo is symmetric: the client knows what it requested and compares, rather than validating the bit set.

The exposure is demonstrated by history: the PROTOCOL_* list has grown three times (RDSTLS, HYBRID_EX, RDSAAD), and each addition would have made older strict decoders refuse newer peers whose negotiation had already succeeded.

Both sites switch to from_bits_retain, the crate-wide policy since #1144; re-encoding a decoded block reproduces the wire value.

This continues the interop line of #1489, #1458, #1837, #1843, #1844 and #1845.

Tests: one per direction, each verifying that a fixture with an undefined protocol bit decodes, that the bit is retained, and that re-encoding reproduces the exact input bytes. Both fail with the strict from_bits restored.

cargo xtask check fmt/lints/tests/typos/locks all pass.

…elds

The two GCC core-data fields that echo the X.224 negotiation values are
decoded strictly: serverSelectedProtocol in the client core data and
clientRequestedProtocols in the server core data both rejected the whole
settings exchange when the value carried a bit outside the five defined
PROTOCOL_* flags. The negotiation layer itself already decodes this
exact type with from_bits_retain in both the RDP Negotiation Request and
Response, so a value the library accepted leniently at X.224 became
connection-fatal when echoed back one phase later.

The strictness also worked against the field's purpose. [MS-RDPBCGR]
3.3.5.3.3's mandated handling of serverSelectedProtocol is a value
comparison: if the field does not contain the same value the server
transmitted in the RDP Negotiation Response, the server SHOULD drop the
connection. That comparison needs the value to survive decode; rejecting
unknown bits at parse time replaces the spec's check with a decode
error. The client-side echo is symmetric: the client knows what it
requested and compares, rather than validating the bit set.

The exposure is demonstrated by history: the PROTOCOL_* list has grown
three times (RDSTLS, HYBRID_EX, RDSAAD), and each addition would have
made older strict decoders refuse newer peers whose negotiation had
already succeeded.

Switch both sites to from_bits_retain, the crate-wide policy since
Devolutions#1144; re-encoding a decoded block reproduces the wire value.

This continues the interop line of Devolutions#1489, Devolutions#1458, Devolutions#1837, Devolutions#1843, Devolutions#1844
and Devolutions#1845.
@github-actions github-actions Bot added maintainer-required Maintainer review or intervention is required risk/unknown Risk could not be determined automatically; needs maintainer-level scrutiny scope/core Touches the core architectural tier size/S Size: up to 199 counted lines and 5 files; exceeds XS in either measure labels Aug 30, 2026
@mamoreau-devolutions
Marc-André Moreau (mamoreau-devolutions) merged commit 9af9931 into Devolutions:master Aug 30, 2026
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Marc-André Moreau (mamoreau-devolutions) pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Aug 30, 2026
…ropping the session (#1847)

The fast-path input decoder rejects the whole event stream when a
keyboard or synchronize event carries an eventFlags bit outside the
defined set, and a decode error there is session-fatal mid-use: input
events arrive continuously, so a single unknown flag bit from a client
drops a live session with work in progress.

The strictness is also internally inconsistent: the slow-path decoders
for the very same events already tolerate unknown bits. Slow-path
keyboard flags (scan_code.rs), synchronize toggle flags (sync.rs) and
unicode keyboard flags (unicode.rs) all decode with from_bits_retain, so
the identical keystroke is tolerated on one path and connection-fatal on
the other.

The spec's only mandated strictness in this area is about event types,
not flags: [MS-RDPBCGR] 3.3.5.8.2 says the server SHOULD drop the
connection when an event structure does not match one of the known
types. That check is the existing eventCode rejection, which stays
exactly as it is. The eventFlags tables (2.2.8.1.2.2.1 and
2.2.8.1.2.2.5) carry no receiver-validation language.

All three flag sites (scancode, sync, unicode) switch to
from_bits_retain, the crate-wide policy since #1144. The retained bits
fit the 5-bit header field, so re-encoding reproduces the wire value,
and the server-side consumers read these flags with contains(), so
retained bits flow through harmlessly.

This continues the interop line of #1489, #1458, #1837, #1843, #1844,
#1845 and #1846, and it is the last flag-site conversion of that series.

Tests: a keyboard event and a synchronize event, each with an undefined
bit in the 5-bit field, decode successfully, retain the bit, and
re-encode byte-identically. Both fail with the strict from_bits
restored.

`cargo xtask check fmt/lints/tests/typos/locks` all pass.
@glamberson
Greg Lamberson (glamberson) deleted the fix/gcc-protocol-echo-retain branch August 30, 2026 15:04
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