CVE-2026-31728

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

usb: gadget: u_ether: Fix race between gether_disconnect and eth_stop

A race condition between gether_disconnect() and eth_stop() leads to a NULL pointer dereference. Specifically, if eth_stop() is triggered concurrently while gether_disconnect() is tearing down the endpoints, eth_stop() attempts to access the cleared endpoint descriptor, causing the following NPE:

Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference Call trace: __dwc3_gadget_ep_enable+0x60/0x788 dwc3_gadget_ep_enable+0x70/0xe4 usb_ep_enable+0x60/0x15c eth_stop+0xb8/0x108

Because eth_stop() crashes while holding the dev->lock, the thread running gether_disconnect() fails to acquire the same lock and spins forever, resulting in a hardlockup:

Core - Debugging Information for Hardlockup core(7) Call trace: queued_spin_lock_slowpath+0x94/0x488 _raw_spin_lock+0x64/0x6c gether_disconnect+0x19c/0x1e8 ncm_set_alt+0x68/0x1a0 composite_setup+0x6a0/0xc50

The root cause is that the clearing of dev->port_usb in gether_disconnect() is delayed until the end of the function.

Move the clearing of dev->port_usb to the very beginning of gether_disconnect() while holding dev->lock. This cuts off the link immediately, ensuring eth_stop() will see dev->port_usb as NULL and safely bail out.

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/6ad77458637b78ec655e3da5f112c862e6690a9d
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8ff689edfeceb5e3ec1623e09af2b2aa0f1098a8
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a259ba0bce3b192c04334499690372a250f7d0b1
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bbb09bb89ffa571475f66daca9482b974cd29d6a
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e1e7a66584bf0aff3becb73c19fa31527889fc9e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/e1eabb072c75681f78312c484ccfffb7430f206e
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f02980594deef751e42133714aee25228f1494c6
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f6813c2b2ae78def76b69e0f9d72f80e4a1c4aca