CVE-2022-49201

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

ibmvnic: fix race between xmit and reset

There is a race between reset and the transmit paths that can lead to ibmvnic_xmit() accessing an scrq after it has been freed in the reset path. It can result in a crash like:

Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000
Faulting instruction address: 0xc0080000016189f8
Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
...
NIP [c0080000016189f8] ibmvnic_xmit+0x60/0xb60 [ibmvnic]
LR [c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
Call Trace:
[c008000001618f08] ibmvnic_xmit+0x570/0xb60 [ibmvnic] (unreliable)
[c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
[c000000000c9cfcc] sch_direct_xmit+0xec/0x330
[c000000000bfe640] __dev_xmit_skb+0x3a0/0x9d0
[c000000000c00ad4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x394/0x730
[c008000002db813c] __bond_start_xmit+0x254/0x450 [bonding]
[c008000002db8378] bond_start_xmit+0x40/0xc0 [bonding]
[c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
[c000000000c00ca4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x564/0x730
[c000000000cf97e0] neigh_hh_output+0xd0/0x180
[c000000000cfa69c] ip_finish_output2+0x31c/0x5c0
[c000000000cfd244] __ip_queue_xmit+0x194/0x4f0
[c000000000d2a3c4] __tcp_transmit_skb+0x434/0x9b0
[c000000000d2d1e0] __tcp_retransmit_skb+0x1d0/0x6a0
[c000000000d2d984] tcp_retransmit_skb+0x34/0x130
[c000000000d310e8] tcp_retransmit_timer+0x388/0x6d0
[c000000000d315ec] tcp_write_timer_handler+0x1bc/0x330
[c000000000d317bc] tcp_write_timer+0x5c/0x200
[c000000000243270] call_timer_fn+0x50/0x1c0
[c000000000243704] __run_timers.part.0+0x324/0x460
[c000000000243894] run_timer_softirq+0x54/0xa0
[c000000000ea713c] __do_softirq+0x15c/0x3e0
[c000000000166258] __irq_exit_rcu+0x158/0x190
[c000000000166420] irq_exit+0x20/0x40
[c00000000002853c] timer_interrupt+0x14c/0x2b0
[c000000000009a00] decrementer_common_virt+0x210/0x220
--- interrupt: 900 at plpar_hcall_norets_notrace+0x18/0x2c

The immediate cause of the crash is the access of tx_scrq in the following snippet during a reset, where the tx_scrq can be either NULL or an address that will soon be invalid:

ibmvnic_xmit()
{
	...
	tx_scrq = adapter->tx_scrq[queue_num];
	txq = netdev_get_tx_queue(netdev, queue_num);
	ind_bufp = &tx_scrq->ind_buf;

	if (test_bit(0, &adapter->resetting)) {
	...
}

But beyond that, the call to ibmvnic_xmit() itself is not safe during a reset and the reset path attempts to avoid this by stopping the queue in ibmvnic_cleanup(). However just after the queue was stopped, an in-flight ibmvnic_complete_tx() could have restarted the queue even as the reset is progressing.

Since the queue was restarted we could get a call to ibmvnic_xmit() which can then access the bad tx_scrq (or other fields).

We cannot however simply have ibmvnic_complete_tx() check the ->resetting bit and skip starting the queue. This can race at the back-end of a good reset which just restarted the queue but has not cleared the ->resetting bit yet. If we skip restarting the queue due to ->resetting being true, the queue would remain stopped indefinitely potentially leading to transmit timeouts.

IOW ->resetting is too broad for this purpose. Instead use a new flag that indicates whether or not the queues are active. Only the open/ reset paths control when the queues are active. ibmvnic_complete_tx() and others wake up the queue only if the queue is marked active.

So we will have: A. reset/open thread in ibmvnic_cleanup() and __ibmvnic_open()

	->resetting = true
	->tx_queues_active = false
	disable tx queues
	...
	->tx_queues_active = true
	start tx queues

B. Tx interrupt in ibmvnic_complete_tx():

	if (->tx_queues_active)
		netif_wake_subqueue();

To ensure that ->tx_queues_active and state of the queues are consistent, we need a lock which:

- must also be taken in the interrupt path (ibmvnic_complete_tx())
- shared across the multiple

—truncated—

Weakness

The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence 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 that is operating concurrently.

Affected Software

Extended Description

This can have security implications when the expected synchronization is in security-critical code, such as recording whether a user is authenticated or modifying important state information that should not be influenced by an outsider. A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and 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. Programmers may assume that certain code sequences execute too quickly to be affected by an interfering code sequence; when they are not, this violates atomicity. For example, the single “x++” statement may appear atomic at the code layer, but it is actually non-atomic at the instruction layer, since it involves a read (the original value of x), followed by a computation (x+1), followed by a write (save the result to x). 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/1bd58abf595b6cf1ba6dd47ec887c4c009155fc9
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4219196d1f662cb10a462eb9e076633a3fc31a15
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/475f9cce98b63bc145b4efa66fa51175d4cb345f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8507c6ade73cdbbbda5c3d31d67f52f2e1cf03fe