In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
RDMA/rxe: Fix race condition in QP timer handlers
I encontered the following warning: WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:249 at rxe_sched_task+0x1c8/0x238 [rdma_rxe], CPU#0: swapper/0/0 ... libsha1 [last unloaded: ip6_udp_tunnel] CPU: 0 UID: 0 PID: 0 Comm: swapper/0 Tainted: G C 6.19.0-rc5-64k-v8+ #37 PREEMPT Tainted: [C]=CRAP Hardware name: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.2 Call trace: rxe_sched_task+0x1c8/0x238 [rdma_rxe] (P) retransmit_timer+0x130/0x188 [rdma_rxe] call_timer_fn+0x68/0x4d0 __run_timers+0x630/0x888 ... WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:38 at rxe_sched_task+0x1c0/0x238 [rdma_rxe], CPU#0: swapper/0/0 ... WARNING: drivers/infiniband/sw/rxe/rxe_task.c:111 at do_work+0x488/0x5c8 [rdma_rxe], CPU#3: kworker/u17:4/93400 ... refcount_t: underflow; use-after-free. WARNING: lib/refcount.c:28 at refcount_warn_saturate+0x138/0x1a0, CPU#3: kworker/u17:4/93400
The issue is caused by a race condition between retransmit_timer() and rxe_destroy_qp, leading to the Queue Pair's (QP) reference count dropping to zero during timer handler execution.
It seems this warning is harmless because rxe_qp_do_cleanup() will flush all pending timers and requests.
Example of flow causing the issue:
CPU0 CPU1 retransmit_timer() { spin_lock_irqsave rxe_destroy_qp() __rxe_cleanup() __rxe_put() // qp->ref_count decrease to 0 rxe_qp_do_cleanup() { if (qp->valid) { rxe_sched_task() { WARN_ON(rxe_read(task->qp) <= 0); } } spin_unlock_irqrestore } spin_lock_irqsave qp->valid = 0 spin_unlock_irqrestore }
Ensure the QP's reference count is maintained and its validity is checked within the timer callbacks by adding calls to rxe_get(qp) and corresponding rxe_put(qp) after use.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.4 | 6.6.128 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.7 | 6.12.75 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.13 | 6.18.14 |
| linux / linux_kernel | 6.19 | 6.19.4 |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
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