CVE-2021-46959 spi: Fix use-after-free with devm_spi_alloc_*
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Linux kernel SPI subsystem allows attackers to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code via improper device cleanup.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2021-46959?
CVE-2021-46959 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Linux kernel, published on 29 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
spi: Fix use-after-free with devm_spi_alloc_*
We can't rely on the contents of the devres list during spi_unregister_controller(), as the list is already torn down at the time we perform devres_find() for devm_spi_release_controller. This causes devices registered with devm_spi_alloc_{master,slave}() to be mistakenly identified as legacy, non-devm managed devices and have their reference counters decremented below 0.
------------[ cut here ]------------ WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 660 at lib/refcount.c:28 refcount_warn_saturate+0x108/0x174 [<b0396f04>] (refcount_warn_saturate) from [<b03c56a4>] (kobject_put+0x90/0x98) [<b03c5614>] (kobject_put) from [<b0447b4c>] (put_device+0x20/0x24) r4:b6700140 [<b0447b2c>] (put_device) from [<b07515e8>] (devm_spi_release_controller+0x3c/0x40) [<b07515ac>] (devm_spi_release_controller) from [<b045343c>] (release_nodes+0x84/0xc4) r5:b6700180 r4:b6700100 [<b04533b8>] (release_nodes) from [<b0454160>] (devres_release_all+0x5c/0x60) r8:b1638c54 r7:b117ad94 r6:b1638c10 r5:b117ad94 r4:b163dc10 [<b0454104>] (devres_release_all) from [<b044e41c>] (__device_release_driver+0x144/0x1ec) r5:b117ad94 r4:b163dc10 [<b044e2d8>] (__device_release_driver) from [<b044f70c>] (device_driver_detach+0x84/0xa0) r9:00000000 r8:00000000 r7:b117ad94 r6:b163dc54 r5:b1638c10 r4:b163dc10 [<b044f688>] (device_driver_detach) from [<b044d274>] (unbind_store+0xe4/0xf8)
Instead, determine the devm allocation state as a flag on the controller which is guaranteed to be stable during cleanup.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-46959?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Linux kernel.
How do I fix CVE-2021-46959?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2021-46959 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-46959 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Linux kernel
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-46959, GHSA-p64f-v3w3-f3gw, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-46959.