CVE-2022-48759

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

rpmsg: char: Fix race between the release of rpmsg_ctrldev and cdev

struct rpmsg_ctrldev contains a struct cdev. The current code frees the rpmsg_ctrldev struct in rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device(), but the cdev is a managed object, therefore its release is not predictable and the rpmsg_ctrldev could be freed before the cdev is entirely released, as in the backtrace below.

[ 93.625603] ODEBUG: free active (active state 0) object type: timer_list hint: delayed_work_timer_fn+0x0/0x7c [ 93.636115] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 12 at lib/debugobjects.c:488 debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.644799] Modules linked in: veth xt_cgroup xt_MASQUERADE rfcomm algif_hash algif_skcipher af_alg uinput ip6table_nat fuse uvcvideo videobuf2_vmalloc venus_enc venus_dec videobuf2_dma_contig hci_uart btandroid btqca snd_soc_rt5682_i2c bluetooth qcom_spmi_temp_alarm snd_soc_rt5682v [ 93.715175] CPU: 0 PID: 12 Comm: kworker/0:1 Tainted: G B 5.4.163-lockdep #26 [ 93.723855] Hardware name: Google Lazor (rev3 - 8) with LTE (DT) [ 93.730055] Workqueue: events kobject_delayed_cleanup [ 93.735271] pstate: 60c00009 (nZCv daif +PAN +UAO) [ 93.740216] pc : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.744890] lr : debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.749555] sp : ffffffacf5bc7940 [ 93.752978] x29: ffffffacf5bc7940 x28: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.758448] x27: ffffffacdb11a800 x26: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.763916] x25: ffffffd0734f856c x24: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.769389] x23: 0000000000000000 x22: ffffffd0733c35b0 [ 93.774860] x21: ffffffd0751994a0 x20: ffffffd075ec27c0 [ 93.780338] x19: ffffffd075199100 x18: 00000000000276e0 [ 93.785814] x17: 0000000000000000 x16: dfffffd000000000 [ 93.791291] x15: ffffffffffffffff x14: 6e6968207473696c [ 93.796768] x13: 0000000000000000 x12: ffffffd075e2b000 [ 93.802244] x11: 0000000000000001 x10: 0000000000000000 [ 93.807723] x9 : d13400dff1921900 x8 : d13400dff1921900 [ 93.813200] x7 : 0000000000000000 x6 : 0000000000000000 [ 93.818676] x5 : 0000000000000080 x4 : 0000000000000000 [ 93.824152] x3 : ffffffd0732a0fa4 x2 : 0000000000000001 [ 93.829628] x1 : ffffffacf5bc7580 x0 : 0000000000000061 [ 93.835104] Call trace: [ 93.837644] debug_print_object+0x13c/0x1b0 [ 93.841963] __debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x25c/0x3c0 [ 93.846987] debug_check_no_obj_freed+0x18/0x20 [ 93.851669] slab_free_freelist_hook+0xbc/0x1e4 [ 93.856346] kfree+0xfc/0x2f4 [ 93.859416] rpmsg_ctrldev_release_device+0x78/0xb8 [ 93.864445] device_release+0x84/0x168 [ 93.868310] kobject_cleanup+0x12c/0x298 [ 93.872356] kobject_delayed_cleanup+0x10/0x18 [ 93.876948] process_one_work+0x578/0x92c [ 93.881086] worker_thread+0x804/0xcf8 [ 93.884963] kthread+0x2a8/0x314 [ 93.888303] ret_from_fork+0x10/0x18

The cdev_device_add/del() API was created to address this issue (see commit 233ed09d7fda (chardev: add helper function to register char devs with a struct device)), use it instead of cdev add/del().

Weakness

The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.

Affected Software

Extended Description

A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and it is effectively a property of a code sequence. Depending on the context, a code sequence may be in the form of a function call, a small number of instructions, a series of program invocations, etc. A race condition violates these properties, which are closely related:

A race condition exists when an “interfering code sequence” can still access the shared resource, violating exclusivity. The interfering code sequence could be “trusted” or “untrusted.” A trusted interfering code sequence occurs within the product; it cannot be modified by the attacker, and it can only be invoked indirectly. An untrusted interfering code sequence can be authored directly by the attacker, and typically it is external to the vulnerable product.

Potential Mitigations

• Minimize the usage of shared resources in order to remove as much complexity as possible from the control flow and to reduce the likelihood of unexpected conditions occurring.
• Additionally, this will minimize the amount of synchronization necessary and may even help to reduce the likelihood of a denial of service where an attacker may be able to repeatedly trigger a critical section (CWE-400).

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/26.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/29.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dbb206730f3e5ce90014ad569ddf8167ec4124a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70cb4295ec806b663665e1d2ed15caab6159880e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74d85e9fbc7022a4011102c7474a9c7aeb704a35
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85aba11a8ea92a8eef2de95ebbe063086fd62d9c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7fb2dad571d1e21173c06cef0bced77b323990a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6cdc6ae542845d4d0ac8b6d99362bde7042a3c7
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da27b834c1e0222e149e06caddf7718478086d1b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1dbb206730f3e5ce90014ad569ddf8167ec4124a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70cb4295ec806b663665e1d2ed15caab6159880e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/74d85e9fbc7022a4011102c7474a9c7aeb704a35
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/85aba11a8ea92a8eef2de95ebbe063086fd62d9c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b7fb2dad571d1e21173c06cef0bced77b323990a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d6cdc6ae542845d4d0ac8b6d99362bde7042a3c7
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/da27b834c1e0222e149e06caddf7718478086d1b