From: Tuo Li <islituo@gmail.com>
To: andrew+netdev@lunn.ch, "David S. Miller" <davem@davemloft.net>,
Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>, Paolo Abeni <pabeni@redhat.com>,
Simon Horman <horms@kernel.org>,
boehm.jakub@gmail.com
Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, LKML <linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>
Subject: [BUG] net: plip: a possible race in plip_preempt() leading to UAF
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2025 16:19:25 +0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <5724b1b3-05c2-41fe-8f5c-879b3e6fd318@gmail.com> (raw)
Hello,
While analyzing Linux 6.16 with a static analysis tool, I noticed a
potential data race in plip_preempt() that may lead to a use-after-free.
Consider the following execution sequence in drivers/net/plip.c:
1. In plip_preempt(), nl->connection is checked to be not PLIP_CN_NONE and
nl->port_owner is set to 0 at Line 1184, indicating that the bus can be
released.
2. Before returning, an interrupt occurs and plip_interrupt() is invoked.
3. Inside plip_interrupt(), rcv->state is set to PLIP_PK_TRIGGER at Line
949 and nl->connection is updated to PLIP_CN_RECEIVE. Then plip_bh() is
scheduled at Line 952.
4. If plip_bh() runs and the parport bus has been preempted by another
device, the subsequent call to plip_receive_packet() at Line 376 may access
released resources, leading to a potential UAF.
One possible way to prevent this race is to hold nl->lock while updating
nl->port_owner in plip_preempt():
static int
plip_preempt(void *handle)
{
struct net_device *dev = (struct net_device *)handle;
struct net_local *nl = netdev_priv(dev);
unsigned long flags;
spin_lock_irqsave (&nl->lock, flags);
/* Stand our ground if a datagram is on the wire */
if (nl->connection != PLIP_CN_NONE) {
nl->should_relinquish = 1;
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&nl->lock, flags);
return 1;
}
nl->port_owner = 0; /* Remember that we released the bus */
spin_unlock_irqrestore(&nl->lock, flags);
return 0;
}
Additionally, plip_receive_packet() (Line 376) may need to verify that
nl->port_owner is still valid before accessing the bus.
However, I am unsure how to proceed once nl->port_owner is found to be 0,
so I am reporting this as a possible bug.
I am also not sure whether this possible data race is real. Any feedback
would be appreciated, thanks!
Best wishes,
Tuo Li
reply other threads:[~2025-09-17 8:20 UTC|newest]
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