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

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

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

================================================================== BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in fscache_withdraw_volume+0x2e1/0x370 Read of size 4 at addr ffff88810680be08 by task ondemand-04-dae/5798

CPU: 0 PID: 5798 Comm: ondemand-04-dae Not tainted 6.8.0-dirty #565 Call Trace: kasan_check_range+0xf6/0x1b0 fscache_withdraw_volume+0x2e1/0x370 cachefiles_withdraw_volume+0x31/0x50 cachefiles_withdraw_cache+0x3ad/0x900 cachefiles_put_unbind_pincount+0x1f6/0x250 cachefiles_daemon_release+0x13b/0x290 __fput+0x204/0xa00 task_work_run+0x139/0x230

Allocated by task 5820: __kmalloc+0x1df/0x4b0 fscache_alloc_volume+0x70/0x600 __fscache_acquire_volume+0x1c/0x610 erofs_fscache_register_volume+0x96/0x1a0 erofs_fscache_register_fs+0x49a/0x690 erofs_fc_fill_super+0x6c0/0xcc0 vfs_get_super+0xa9/0x140 vfs_get_tree+0x8e/0x300 do_new_mount+0x28c/0x580 […]

Freed by task 5820: kfree+0xf1/0x2c0 fscache_put_volume.part.0+0x5cb/0x9e0 erofs_fscache_unregister_fs+0x157/0x1b0 erofs_kill_sb+0xd9/0x1c0 deactivate_locked_super+0xa3/0x100 vfs_get_super+0x105/0x140 vfs_get_tree+0x8e/0x300 do_new_mount+0x28c/0x580 […]

Following is the process that triggers the issue:

    mount failed         |         daemon exit

deactivate_locked_super cachefiles_daemon_release erofs_kill_sb erofs_fscache_unregister_fs fscache_relinquish_volume __fscache_relinquish_volume fscache_put_volume(fscache_volume, fscache_volume_put_relinquish) zero = __refcount_dec_and_test(&fscache_volume->ref, &ref); cachefiles_put_unbind_pincount cachefiles_daemon_unbind cachefiles_withdraw_cache cachefiles_withdraw_volumes list_del_init(&volume->cache_link) fscache_free_volume(fscache_volume) cache->ops->free_volume cachefiles_free_volume list_del_init(&cachefiles_volume->cache_link); kfree(fscache_volume) cachefiles_withdraw_volume fscache_withdraw_volume fscache_volume->n_accesses // fscache_volume UAF !!!

The fscache_volume in cache->volumes must not have been freed yet, but its reference count may be 0. So use the new fscache_try_get_volume() helper function try to get its reference count.

If the reference count of fscache_volume is 0, fscache_put_volume() is freeing it, so wait for it to be removed from cache->volumes.

If its reference count is not 0, call cachefiles_withdraw_volume() with reference count protection to avoid the above issue.

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/38b88d544216f806d93a273a62ff8ebe82254003
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/522018a0de6b6fcce60c04f86dfc5f0e4b6a1b36
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/90f17e47f1e209c6a3c92a1d038a0a80c95c460e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9dd7f5663899ea13a6a73216106d9c13c37453e3