CVE-2025-39927

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

ceph: fix race condition validating r_parent before applying state

Add validation to ensure the cached parent directory inode matches the directory info in MDS replies. This prevents client-side race conditions where concurrent operations (e.g. rename) cause r_parent to become stale between request initiation and reply processing, which could lead to applying state changes to incorrect directory inodes.

[ idryomov: folded a kerneldoc fixup and a follow-up fix from Alex to move CEPH_CAP_PIN reference when r_parent is updated:

When the parent directory lock is not held, req->r_parent can become stale and is updated to point to the correct inode. However, the associated CEPH_CAP_PIN reference was not being adjusted. The CEPH_CAP_PIN is a reference on an inode that is tracked for accounting purposes. Moving this pin is important to keep the accounting balanced. When the pin was not moved from the old parent to the new one, it created two problems: The reference on the old, stale parent was never released, causing a reference leak. A reference for the new parent was never acquired, creating the risk of a reference underflow later in ceph_mdsc_release_request(). This patch corrects the logic by releasing the pin from the old parent and acquiring it for the new parent when r_parent is switched. This ensures reference accounting stays balanced. ]

Weakness

The product contains a concurrent code sequence that 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 operating concurrently.

Affected Software

Extended Description

A race condition occurs within concurrent environments, and it 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. 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/15f519e9f883b316d86e2bb6b767a023aafd9d83
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2bfe45987eb346e299d9f763f9cd05f77011519f
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/db378e6f83ec705c6091c65d482d555edc2b0a72