CVE-2024-56631

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

scsi: sg: Fix slab-use-after-free read in sg_release()

Fix a use-after-free bug in sg_release(), detected by syzbot with KASAN:

BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in lock_release+0x151/0xa30 kernel/locking/lockdep.c:5838 __mutex_unlock_slowpath+0xe2/0x750 kernel/locking/mutex.c:912 sg_release+0x1f4/0x2e0 drivers/scsi/sg.c:407

In sg_release(), the function kref_put(&sfp->f_ref, sg_remove_sfp) is called before releasing the open_rel_lock mutex. The kref_put() call may decrement the reference count of sfp to zero, triggering its cleanup through sg_remove_sfp(). This cleanup includes scheduling deferred work via sg_remove_sfp_usercontext(), which ultimately frees sfp.

After kref_put(), sg_release() continues to unlock open_rel_lock and may reference sfp or sdp. If sfp has already been freed, this results in a slab-use-after-free error.

Move the kref_put(&sfp->f_ref, sg_remove_sfp) call after unlocking the open_rel_lock mutex. This ensures:

• No references to sfp or sdp occur after the reference count is decremented.

• Cleanup functions such as sg_remove_sfp() and sg_remove_sfp_usercontext() can safely execute without impacting the mutex handling in sg_release().

The fix has been tested and validated by syzbot. This patch closes the bug reported at the following syzkaller link and ensures proper sequencing of resource cleanup and mutex operations, eliminating the risk of use-after-free errors in sg_release().

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/1f5e2f1ca5875728fcf62bc1a054707444ab4960
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/59b30afa578637169e2819536bb66459fdddc39d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f10593ad9bc36921f623361c9e3dd96bd52d85ee