Vulnerability Database

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

usbnet: Fix linkwatch use-after-free on disconnect

usbnet uses the work usbnet_deferred_kevent() to perform tasks which may sleep. On disconnect, completion of the work was originally awaited in ->ndo_stop(). But in 2003, that was moved to ->disconnect() by historic commit "[PATCH] USB: usbnet, prevent exotic rtnl deadlock":

https://git.kernel.org/tglx/history/c/0f138bbfd83c

The change was made because back then, the kernel's workqueue implementation did not allow waiting for a single work. One had to wait for completion of all work by calling flush_scheduled_work(), and that could deadlock when waiting for usbnet_deferred_kevent() with rtnl_mutex held in ->ndo_stop().

The commit solved one problem but created another: It causes a use-after-free in USB Ethernet drivers aqc111.c, asix_devices.c, ax88179_178a.c, ch9200.c and smsc75xx.c:

• If the drivers receive a link change interrupt immediately before disconnect, they raise EVENT_LINK_RESET in their (non-sleepable) ->status() callback and schedule usbnet_deferred_kevent().
• usbnet_deferred_kevent() invokes the driver's ->link_reset() callback, which calls netif_carrier_{on,off}().
• That in turn schedules the work linkwatch_event().

Because usbnet_deferred_kevent() is awaited after unregister_netdev(), netif_carrier_{on,off}() may operate on an unregistered netdev and linkwatch_event() may run after free_netdev(), causing a use-after-free.

In 2010, usbnet was changed to only wait for a single instance of usbnet_deferred_kevent() instead of all work by commit 23f333a2bfaf ("drivers/net: don't use flush_scheduled_work()").

Unfortunately the commit neglected to move the wait back to ->ndo_stop(). Rectify that omission at long last.