From: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
To: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Cc: kvm@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Yan Zhao <yan.y.zhao@intel.com>,
Vishal Annapurve <vannapurve@google.com>,
Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
Subject: [PATCH] KVM: guest_memfd: Elaborate on how release() vs. get_pfn() is safe against UAF
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:22:29 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20251113232229.1698886-1-seanjc@google.com> (raw)
Add more context and information to the comment in kvm_gmem_release() that
explains why there's no synchronization on RCU _or_ kvm->srcu. Point (b)
from commit 67b43038ce14 ("KVM: guest_memfd: Remove RCU-protected attribute
from slot->gmem.file")
b) kvm->srcu ensures that kvm_gmem_unbind() and freeing of a memslot
occur after the memslot is no longer visible to kvm_gmem_get_pfn().
is especially difficult to fully grok, particularly in light of commit
ae431059e75d ("KVM: guest_memfd: Remove bindings on memslot deletion when
gmem is dying"), which addressed a race between unbind() and release().
No functional change intended.
Cc: Yan Zhao <yan.y.zhao@intel.com>
Cc: Vishal Annapurve <vannapurve@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
---
virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c | 20 ++++++++++++++------
1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
diff --git a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
index fdaea3422c30..2e09d7ec0cfc 100644
--- a/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
+++ b/virt/kvm/guest_memfd.c
@@ -338,17 +338,25 @@ static int kvm_gmem_release(struct inode *inode, struct file *file)
* dereferencing the slot for existing bindings needs to be protected
* against memslot updates, specifically so that unbind doesn't race
* and free the memslot (kvm_gmem_get_file() will return NULL).
- *
- * Since .release is called only when the reference count is zero,
- * after which file_ref_get() and get_file_active() fail,
- * kvm_gmem_get_pfn() cannot be using the file concurrently.
- * file_ref_put() provides a full barrier, and get_file_active() the
- * matching acquire barrier.
*/
mutex_lock(&kvm->slots_lock);
filemap_invalidate_lock(inode->i_mapping);
+ /*
+ * Note! synchronize_srcu() is _not_ needed after nullifying memslot
+ * bindings as slot->gmem.file cannot be set back to a non-null value
+ * without the memslot first being deleted. I.e. this relies on the
+ * synchronize_srcu_expedited() in kvm_swap_active_memslots() to ensure
+ * kvm_gmem_get_pfn() (which runs with kvm->srcu held for read) can't
+ * grab a reference to slot->gmem.file even if the struct file object
+ * is reallocated.
+ *
+ * file_ref_put() provides a full barrier, and __get_file_rcu() the
+ * matching acquire barrier, to ensure that kvm_gmem_get_file() (via
+ * __get_file_rcu()) sees refcount==0 or fails the "file reloaded"
+ * check (file != NULL due to nullifying the file pointer here).
+ */
xa_for_each(&f->bindings, index, slot)
WRITE_ONCE(slot->gmem.file, NULL);
base-commit: 16ec4fb4ac95d878b879192d280db2baeec43272
--
2.52.0.rc1.455.g30608eb744-goog
next reply other threads:[~2025-11-13 23:22 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 14+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-11-13 23:22 Sean Christopherson [this message]
2025-11-17 11:36 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-03 0:40 ` Ackerley Tng
2026-06-03 11:42 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-03 15:11 ` Ackerley Tng
2026-06-05 8:52 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-04 0:10 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-06-05 8:32 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-09 1:41 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-06-09 8:31 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-09 17:25 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-06-10 1:34 ` Yan Zhao
2026-06-03 15:37 ` Ackerley Tng
2026-06-03 23:29 ` Sean Christopherson
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