CVE-2022-48950

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

perf: Fix perf_pending_task() UaF

Per syzbot it is possible for perf_pending_task() to run after the event is free()d. There are two related but distinct cases:

• the task_work was already queued before destroying the event;
• destroying the event itself queues the task_work.

The first cannot be solved using task_work_cancel() since perf_release() itself might be called from a task_work (____fput), which means the current->task_works list is already empty and task_work_cancel() wont be able to find the perf_pending_task() entry.

The simplest alternative is extending the perf_event lifetime to cover the task_work.

The second is just silly, queueing a task_work while you know the event is going away makes no sense and is easily avoided by re-arranging how the event is marked STATE_DEAD and ensuring it goes through STATE_OFF on the way down.

Weakness

Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code.

Affected Software

Extended Description

The use of previously-freed memory can have any number of adverse consequences, ranging from the corruption of valid data to the execution of arbitrary code, depending on the instantiation and timing of the flaw. The simplest way data corruption may occur involves the system’s reuse of the freed memory. Use-after-free errors have two common and sometimes overlapping causes:

In this scenario, the memory in question is allocated to another pointer validly at some point after it has been freed. The original pointer to the freed memory is used again and points to somewhere within the new allocation. As the data is changed, it corrupts the validly used memory; this induces undefined behavior in the process. If the newly allocated data happens to hold a class, in C++ for example, various function pointers may be scattered within the heap data. If one of these function pointers is overwritten with an address to valid shellcode, execution of arbitrary code can be achieved.

Potential Mitigations

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/517e6a301f34613bff24a8e35b5455884f2d83d8
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/78e1317a174edbfd1182599bf76c092a2877672c
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8bffa95ac19ff27c8261904f89d36c7fcf215d59