CVE-2025-21915

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

cdx: Fix possible UAF error in driver_override_show()

Fixed a possible UAF problem in driver_override_show() in drivers/cdx/cdx.c

This function driver_override_show() is part of DEVICE_ATTR_RW, which includes both driver_override_show() and driver_override_store(). These functions can be executed concurrently in sysfs.

The driver_override_store() function uses driver_set_override() to update the driver_override value, and driver_set_override() internally locks the device (device_lock(dev)). If driver_override_show() reads cdx_dev->driver_override without locking, it could potentially access a freed pointer if driver_override_store() frees the string concurrently. This could lead to printing a kernel address, which is a security risk since DEVICE_ATTR can be read by all users.

Additionally, a similar pattern is used in drivers/amba/bus.c, as well as many other bus drivers, where device_lock() is taken in the show function, and it has been working without issues.

This potential bug was detected by our experimental static analysis tool, which analyzes locking APIs and paired functions to identify data races and atomicity violations.

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/0439d541aa8d3444ad41c39e39eb71acb57acde3
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8473135f89c0949436a22adb05b8cece2fb3da91
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/91d44c1afc61a2fec37a9c7a3485368309391e0b
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/d7b339bbc887bcfc1a5b620bfc70c6fbb8f733bf