CVE-2026-53125

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

md: fix array_state=clear sysfs deadlock

When clear is written to array_state, md_attr_store() breaks sysfs active protection so the array can delete itself from its own sysfs store method.

However, md_attr_store() currently drops the mddev reference before calling sysfs_unbreak_active_protection(). Once do_md_stop(…, 0) has made the mddev eligible for delayed deletion, the temporary kobject reference taken by sysfs_break_active_protection() can become the last kobject reference protecting the md kobject.

That allows sysfs_unbreak_active_protection() to drop the last kobject reference from the current sysfs writer context. kobject teardown then recurses into kernfs removal while the current sysfs node is still being unwound, and lockdep reports recursive locking on kn->active with kernfs_drain() in the call chain.

Reproducer on an existing level:

1. Create an md0 linear array and activate it: mknod /dev/md0 b 9 0 echo none > /sys/block/md0/md/metadata_version echo linear > /sys/block/md0/md/level echo 1 > /sys/block/md0/md/raid_disks echo $(cat /sys/class/block/sdb/dev) > /sys/block/md0/md/new_dev echo $(($(cat /sys/class/block/sdb/size) / 2)) > /sys/block/md0/md/dev-sdb/size echo 0 > /sys/block/md0/md/dev-sdb/slot echo active > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state
2. Wait briefly for the array to settle, then clear it: sleep 2 echo clear > /sys/block/md0/md/array_state

The warning looks like:

WARNING: possible recursive locking detected bash/588 is trying to acquire lock: (kn->active#65) at __kernfs_remove+0x157/0x1d0 but task is already holding lock: (kn->active#65) at sysfs_unbreak_active_protection+0x1f/0x40 … Call Trace: kernfs_drain __kernfs_remove kernfs_remove_by_name_ns sysfs_remove_group sysfs_remove_groups __kobject_del kobject_put md_attr_store kernfs_fop_write_iter vfs_write ksys_write

Restore active protection before mddev_put() so the extra sysfs kobject reference is dropped while the mddev is still held alive. The actual md kobject deletion is then deferred until after the sysfs write path has fully returned.

Weakness

The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.

Affected Software

Extended Description

Locking is a type of synchronization behavior that ensures that multiple independently-operating processes or threads do not interfere with each other when accessing the same resource. All processes/threads are expected to follow the same steps for locking. If these steps are not followed precisely - or if no locking is done at all - then another process/thread could modify the shared resource in a way that is not visible or predictable to the original process. This can lead to data or memory corruption, denial of service, etc.

Potential Mitigations

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/25.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/26.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/27.html

References

• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/2aa72276fab9851dbd59c2daeb4b590c5a113908
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/62c44566da7493ee48ef17e8507bb798338a07cb
• https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/92ad0ec509ffb188d8f849b63148664df37b4a52