From: Aldo Ariel Panzardo <qwe.aldo@gmail.com>
To: gregkh@linuxfoundation.org, rafael@kernel.org, dakr@kernel.org
Cc: driver-core@lists.linux.dev, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
stable@vger.kernel.org, Aldo Ariel Panzardo <qwe.aldo@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH] debugfs: fix UAF and double-free in debugfs_str read/write
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:58:27 -0300 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260925175831.3701812-1-qwe.aldo@gmail.com> (raw)
debugfs_write_file_str() stores the new string via rcu_assign_pointer()
and frees the old one after synchronize_rcu(). However,
debugfs_read_file_str() dereferences file->private_data without holding
an RCU read-side critical section, so synchronize_rcu() in a concurrent
writer can return—and kfree() the old pointer—before the reader finishes
using it (use-after-free).
Additionally, two concurrent writers both read the same `old` pointer
before either calls rcu_assign_pointer(). When both subsequently call
kfree(old) a double-free results.
Fix both issues:
- Read path: wrap the pointer dereference and string copy inside
rcu_read_lock()/rcu_read_unlock(), using rcu_dereference() and
GFP_ATOMIC to keep the allocation within the critical section.
- Write path: serialize concurrent writers with inode_lock(), and use
rcu_dereference_protected() to read `old` under the held lock. The
lock is released before synchronize_rcu()+kfree() so readers are not
blocked during the grace period.
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Aldo Ariel Panzardo <qwe.aldo@gmail.com>
---
fs/debugfs/file.c | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-)
--- a/fs/debugfs/file.c
+++ b/fs/debugfs/file.c
@@ -1018,34 +1018,32 @@
size_t count, loff_t *ppos)
{
struct dentry *dentry = F_DENTRY(file);
- char *str, *copy = NULL;
- int copy_len, len;
+ char *str, *copy;
+ int len;
ssize_t ret;
ret = debugfs_file_get(dentry);
if (unlikely(ret))
return ret;
- str = *(char **)file->private_data;
+ /*
+ * Pair with rcu_assign_pointer() in debugfs_write_file_str().
+ * Without this critical section, synchronize_rcu() in a concurrent
+ * writer can complete and free the string before we finish reading it.
+ */
+ rcu_read_lock();
+ str = rcu_dereference(*(char __rcu **)file->private_data);
len = strlen(str) + 1;
- copy = kmalloc(len, GFP_KERNEL);
- if (!copy) {
- debugfs_file_put(dentry);
- return -ENOMEM;
- }
+ copy = kmemdup(str, len, GFP_ATOMIC);
+ rcu_read_unlock();
- copy_len = strscpy(copy, str, len);
debugfs_file_put(dentry);
- if (copy_len < 0) {
- kfree(copy);
- return copy_len;
- }
-
- copy[copy_len] = '\n';
+ if (!copy)
+ return -ENOMEM;
+ copy[len - 1] = '\n';
ret = simple_read_from_buffer(user_buf, count, ppos, copy, len);
kfree(copy);
-
return ret;
}
@@ -1061,40 +1059,48 @@
if (unlikely(r))
return r;
- old = *(char **)file->private_data;
+ /*
+ * Serialize concurrent writers: without this lock two simultaneous
+ * calls can both read the same 'old' pointer and double-free it.
+ */
+ inode_lock(file_inode(file));
+ old = rcu_dereference_protected(*(char __rcu **)file->private_data,
+ lockdep_is_held(&file_inode(file)->i_rwsem));
/* only allow strict concatenation */
r = -EINVAL;
if (pos && pos != strlen(old))
- goto error;
+ goto unlock;
r = -E2BIG;
if (pos + count + 1 > PAGE_SIZE)
- goto error;
+ goto unlock;
r = -ENOMEM;
new = kmalloc(pos + count + 1, GFP_KERNEL);
if (!new)
- goto error;
+ goto unlock;
if (pos)
memcpy(new, old, pos);
r = -EFAULT;
if (copy_from_user(new + pos, user_buf, count))
- goto error;
+ goto unlock;
new[pos + count] = '\0';
strim(new);
rcu_assign_pointer(*(char __rcu **)file->private_data, new);
+ inode_unlock(file_inode(file));
synchronize_rcu();
kfree(old);
debugfs_file_put(dentry);
return count;
-error:
+unlock:
+ inode_unlock(file_inode(file));
kfree(new);
debugfs_file_put(dentry);
return r;
--
2.43.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-09-25 17:58 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 2+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-09-25 17:58 Aldo Ariel Panzardo [this message]
2026-09-26 6:53 ` Greg KH
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