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In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Mar 18, 2025 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Mar 18, 2025

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

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

ibmvnic: fix race between xmit and reset

There is a race between reset and the transmit paths that can lead to
ibmvnic_xmit() accessing an scrq after it has been freed in the reset
path. It can result in a crash like:

Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0)
BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000
Faulting instruction address: 0xc0080000016189f8
Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1]
...
NIP [c0080000016189f8] ibmvnic_xmit+0x60/0xb60 [ibmvnic]
LR [c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
Call Trace:
[c008000001618f08] ibmvnic_xmit+0x570/0xb60 [ibmvnic] (unreliable)
[c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
[c000000000c9cfcc] sch_direct_xmit+0xec/0x330
[c000000000bfe640] __dev_xmit_skb+0x3a0/0x9d0
[c000000000c00ad4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x394/0x730
[c008000002db813c] __bond_start_xmit+0x254/0x450 [bonding]
[c008000002db8378] bond_start_xmit+0x40/0xc0 [bonding]
[c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280
[c000000000c00ca4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x564/0x730
[c000000000cf97e0] neigh_hh_output+0xd0/0x180
[c000000000cfa69c] ip_finish_output2+0x31c/0x5c0
[c000000000cfd244] __ip_queue_xmit+0x194/0x4f0
[c000000000d2a3c4] __tcp_transmit_skb+0x434/0x9b0
[c000000000d2d1e0] __tcp_retransmit_skb+0x1d0/0x6a0
[c000000000d2d984] tcp_retransmit_skb+0x34/0x130
[c000000000d310e8] tcp_retransmit_timer+0x388/0x6d0
[c000000000d315ec] tcp_write_timer_handler+0x1bc/0x330
[c000000000d317bc] tcp_write_timer+0x5c/0x200
[c000000000243270] call_timer_fn+0x50/0x1c0
[c000000000243704] __run_timers.part.0+0x324/0x460
[c000000000243894] run_timer_softirq+0x54/0xa0
[c000000000ea713c] __do_softirq+0x15c/0x3e0
[c000000000166258] __irq_exit_rcu+0x158/0x190
[c000000000166420] irq_exit+0x20/0x40
[c00000000002853c] timer_interrupt+0x14c/0x2b0
[c000000000009a00] decrementer_common_virt+0x210/0x220
--- interrupt: 900 at plpar_hcall_norets_notrace+0x18/0x2c

The immediate cause of the crash is the access of tx_scrq in the following
snippet during a reset, where the tx_scrq can be either NULL or an address
that will soon be invalid:

ibmvnic_xmit()
{
	...
	tx_scrq = adapter->tx_scrq[queue_num];
	txq = netdev_get_tx_queue(netdev, queue_num);
	ind_bufp = &tx_scrq->ind_buf;

	if (test_bit(0, &adapter->resetting)) {
	...
}

But beyond that, the call to ibmvnic_xmit() itself is not safe during a
reset and the reset path attempts to avoid this by stopping the queue in
ibmvnic_cleanup(). However just after the queue was stopped, an in-flight
ibmvnic_complete_tx() could have restarted the queue even as the reset is
progressing.

Since the queue was restarted we could get a call to ibmvnic_xmit() which
can then access the bad tx_scrq (or other fields).

We cannot however simply have ibmvnic_complete_tx() check the ->resetting
bit and skip starting the queue. This can race at the "back-end" of a good
reset which just restarted the queue but has not cleared the ->resetting
bit yet. If we skip restarting the queue due to ->resetting being true,
the queue would remain stopped indefinitely potentially leading to transmit
timeouts.

IOW ->resetting is too broad for this purpose. Instead use a new flag
that indicates whether or not the queues are active. Only the open/
reset paths control when the queues are active. ibmvnic_complete_tx()
and others wake up the queue only if the queue is marked active.

So we will have:
A. reset/open thread in ibmvnic_cleanup() and __ibmvnic_open()

	->resetting = true
	->tx_queues_active = false
	disable tx queues
	...
	->tx_queues_active = true
	start tx queues

B. Tx interrupt in ibmvnic_complete_tx():

	if (->tx_queues_active)
		netif_wake_subqueue();

To ensure that ->tx_queues_active and state of the queues are consistent,
we need a lock which:

- must also be taken in the interrupt path (ibmvnic_complete_tx())
- shared across the multiple

---truncated---

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Feb 26, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Mar 18, 2025
Last updated Mar 18, 2025

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(4th percentile)

Weaknesses

Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

The product contains a code sequence that can run concurrently with other code, and the code sequence 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 that is operating concurrently. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2022-49201

GHSA ID

GHSA-5m5f-j2wx-5r78

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

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