Re: [PATCH net v9 13/14] rxrpc: fix use-after-free in rxrpc_poke_conn()
From: netdev-bot+sashiko@kernel.org
Date: 2026-09-08 20:49:51
Also in:
lkml, stable
Thank you for your contribution! Sashiko AI review found 1 potential issue(s) to consider: Critical: 0 · High: 0 (1) · Medium: 0 · Low: 1 - [Low] Commit message mischaracterizes the applied fix: it claims to guard rxrpc_poke_conn() "with the same liveness/refcount check the… Pre-existing issues: - [High] Residual poke-reference leak after the rxrpc I/O thread exits: rxrpc_poke_conn() (net/rxrpc/conn_object.c:34-44) still takes a poke… -- rxrpc: fix use-after-free in rxrpc_poke_conn() This changes rxrpc_poke_conn() to take the poke reference with rxrpc_get_connection_maybe() instead of rxrpc_get_connection(), returning early if the refcount is already zero. The intent is to stop a connection being linked into local->conn_attend_q after it has started teardown. No Link: tags in the commit header. Two questions below, one about the changelog wording and one about a pre-existing lifetime issue that this hunk touches.
Guard rxrpc_poke_conn() with the same liveness/refcount check the sibling rxrpc_queue_conn() uses before taking the poke reference, so a connection past its last-active point is not poked/requeued after teardown began.
[Severity: Low]
Is this description of the applied change accurate? rxrpc_queue_conn()
gates on the active count and takes no reference at all:
net/rxrpc/conn_object.c:rxrpc_queue_conn() {
if (atomic_read(&conn->active) >= 0 &&
rxrpc_queue_work(&conn->processor))
rxrpc_see_connection(conn, why);
}
and rxrpc_see_connection() only does refcount_read() plus a tracepoint.
The patch instead adds a refcount gate
(rxrpc_get_connection_maybe() is __refcount_inc_not_zero()), which is a
different liveness signal.
Also, does the code achieve "a connection past its last-active point is not
poked/requeued"? rxrpc_service_connection_reaper() sets active to -1 while
the refcount is still non-zero:
net/rxrpc/conn_object.c:rxrpc_service_connection_reaper() {
...
active = 0;
if (!atomic_try_cmpxchg(&conn->active, &active, -1))
continue;
...
rxrpc_put_connection(conn, rxrpc_conn_put_service_reaped);
}
so such a connection still passes the new refcount test and is queued to
the I/O thread. Would it be clearer to describe the change as a
refcount_inc_not_zero gate rather than the same check as
rxrpc_queue_conn()?
quoted hunk ↗ jump to hunk
diff --git a/net/rxrpc/conn_object.c b/net/rxrpc/conn_object.c index 0ece717db0f85..1be50e0c9cee5 100644 --- a/net/rxrpc/conn_object.c +++ b/net/rxrpc/conn_object.c@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ void rxrpc_poke_conn(struct rxrpc_connection *conn, enum rxrpc_conn_trace why) spin_lock_irq(&local->lock); busy = !list_empty(&conn->attend_link); if (!busy) { - rxrpc_get_connection(conn, why); + if (!rxrpc_get_connection_maybe(conn, why)) { + spin_unlock_irq(&local->lock); + return; + } list_add_tail(&conn->attend_link, &local->conn_attend_q); } spin_unlock_irq(&local->lock);
[Severity: High]
This isn't a bug introduced by this patch, but can a poke reference still be
taken after the I/O thread has exited, and if so who drops it?
The only consumer of conn_attend_q is rxrpc_io_thread():
net/rxrpc/io_thread.c:rxrpc_io_thread() {
...
while ((conn = list_first_entry_or_null(&conn_attend_q,
struct rxrpc_connection,
attend_link))) {
spin_lock_irq(&local->lock);
list_del_init(&conn->attend_link);
spin_unlock_irq(&local->lock);
rxrpc_input_conn_event(conn, NULL);
rxrpc_put_connection(conn, rxrpc_conn_put_poke);
}
...
if (should_stop)
break;
...
rxrpc_destroy_local(local);
}
After that break, nothing drains conn_attend_q again. rxrpc_destroy_local()
purges rx_queue and the client conns but never unlinks attend_link or drops
poke refs:
net/rxrpc/local_object.c:rxrpc_destroy_local() {
local->dead = true;
mutex_lock(&rxnet->local_mutex);
hlist_del_init_rcu(&local->link);
mutex_unlock(&rxnet->local_mutex);
rxrpc_clean_up_local_conns(local);
...
rxrpc_purge_queue(&local->rx_queue);
rxrpc_purge_client_connections(local);
}
The final-ACK timer armed in rxrpc_disconnect_client_call() has no reference
held for it:
net/rxrpc/conn_client.c:rxrpc_disconnect_client_call() {
...
unsigned long final_ack_at = jiffies + 2;
...
rxrpc_reduce_conn_timer(conn, final_ack_at);
}
If that timer expires between the I/O thread's last conn_attend_q re-check
and rxrpc_clean_up_local_conns()'s
rxrpc_put_connection(conn, rxrpc_conn_put_local_dead), the idle/bundle refs
are still held, so rxrpc_get_connection_maybe() succeeds and the connection
is queued with a poke ref that nothing will ever drop.
Does conn->ref then never reach zero, leaving conn->proc_link on
rxnet->conn_proc_list, rxnet->nr_conns undecremented and the rxrpc_local
reference held? At netns exit that would hit
net/rxrpc/conn_object.c:rxrpc_destroy_all_connections() {
ASSERT(list_empty(&rxnet->conn_proc_list));
...
wait_var_event(&rxnet->nr_conns, !atomic_read(&rxnet->nr_conns));
}
either the ASSERT or an indefinite wait on the cleanup_net worker.
Would closing this need a reference held for the armed conn->timer with a
synchronous cancel before the last put, or explicit unlinking of
conn_attend_q entries when the I/O thread exits? The refcount-only gate
added here does not appear to cover it.
--
Sashiko AI review · https://netdev-ai.bots.linux.dev/sashiko/#/patchset/20260907113743.1453210-1-dhowells%40redhat.com