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

cachefiles: fix slab-use-after-free in cachefiles_withdraw_cookie()

We got the following issue in our fault injection stress test:

================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in cachefiles_withdraw_cookie+0x4d9/0x600 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888118efc000 by task kworker/u78:0/109

CPU: 13 PID: 109 Comm: kworker/u78:0 Not tainted 6.8.0-dirty #566 Call Trace: kasan_report+0x93/0xc0 cachefiles_withdraw_cookie+0x4d9/0x600 fscache_cookie_state_machine+0x5c8/0x1230 fscache_cookie_worker+0x91/0x1c0 process_one_work+0x7fa/0x1800 […]

Allocated by task 117: kmalloc_trace+0x1b3/0x3c0 cachefiles_acquire_volume+0xf3/0x9c0 fscache_create_volume_work+0x97/0x150 process_one_work+0x7fa/0x1800 […]

Freed by task 120301: kfree+0xf1/0x2c0 cachefiles_withdraw_cache+0x3fa/0x920 cachefiles_put_unbind_pincount+0x1f6/0x250 cachefiles_daemon_release+0x13b/0x290 __fput+0x204/0xa00 task_work_run+0x139/0x230 do_exit+0x87a/0x29b0 […]

Following is the process that triggers the issue:

       p1                |             p2

                          fscache_begin_lookup
                           fscache_begin_volume_access
                            fscache_cache_is_live(fscache_cache)

cachefiles_daemon_release cachefiles_put_unbind_pincount cachefiles_daemon_unbind cachefiles_withdraw_cache fscache_withdraw_cache fscache_set_cache_state(cache, FSCACHE_CACHE_IS_WITHDRAWN); cachefiles_withdraw_objects(cache) fscache_wait_for_objects(fscache) atomic_read(&fscache_cache->object_count) == 0 fscache_perform_lookup cachefiles_lookup_cookie cachefiles_alloc_object refcount_set(&object->ref, 1); object->volume = volume fscache_count_object(vcookie->cache); atomic_inc(&fscache_cache->object_count) cachefiles_withdraw_volumes cachefiles_withdraw_volume fscache_withdraw_volume __cachefiles_free_volume kfree(cachefiles_volume) fscache_cookie_state_machine cachefiles_withdraw_cookie cache = object->volume->cache; // cachefiles_volume UAF !!!

After setting FSCACHE_CACHE_IS_WITHDRAWN, wait for all the cookie lookups to complete first, and then wait for fscache_cache->object_count == 0 to avoid the cookie exiting after the volume has been freed and triggering the above issue. Therefore call fscache_withdraw_volume() before calling cachefiles_withdraw_objects().

This way, after setting FSCACHE_CACHE_IS_WITHDRAWN, only the following two cases will occur:

1. fscache_begin_lookup fails in fscache_begin_volume_access().
2. fscache_withdraw_volume() will ensure that fscache_count_object() has been executed before calling fscache_wait_for_objects().

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/5d8f805789072ea7fd39504694b7bd17e5f751c4
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8de253177112a47c9af157d23ae934779188b4e1
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9e67589a4a7b7e5660b524d1d5fe61242bcbcc11
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ef81340401e8a371d6b17f69e76d861920972cfe