A vulnerability was found in the Linux kernel's Transparent Inter-Process Communication (TIPC) subsystem, allowing a use-after-free condition during the cleanup process. This issue arises when the kernel's work queue mechanism does not properly synchronize the destruction of TIPC namespaces with the completion of pending work items.
Specifically, the function responsible for canceling pending work (cancel_work_sync()) ensures that a particular work item (tipc_net_finalize_work) is completed before the namespace is destroyed. However, it does not guarantee that this work item is the last one queued, leading to the possibility of accessing freed memory if additional work is enqueued afterward.
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tipc: fix use-after-free Read in tipc_named_reinit
syzbot found the following issue on:
==================================================================
BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in tipc_named_reinit+0x94f/0x9b0
net/tipc/name_distr.c:413
Read of size 8 at addr ffff88805299a000 by task kworker/1:9/23764
CPU: 1 PID: 23764 Comm: kworker/1:9 Not tainted
5.18.0-rc4-syzkaller-00878-g17d49e6e8012 #0
Hardware name: Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine,
BIOS Google 01/01/2011
Workqueue: events tipc_net_finalize_work
Call Trace:
<TASK>
__dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline]
dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106
print_address_description.constprop.0.cold+0xeb/0x495
mm/kasan/report.c:313
print_report mm/kasan/report.c:429 [inline]
kasan_report.cold+0xf4/0x1c6 mm/kasan/report.c:491
tipc_named_reinit+0x94f/0x9b0 net/tipc/name_distr.c:413
tipc_net_finalize+0x234/0x3d0 net/tipc/net.c:138
process_one_work+0x996/0x1610 kernel/workqueue.c:2289
worker_thread+0x665/0x1080 kernel/workqueue.c:2436
kthread+0x2e9/0x3a0 kernel/kthread.c:376
ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:298
</TASK>
[...]
==================================================================
In the commit
d966ddcc3821 ("tipc: fix a deadlock when flushing scheduled work"),
the cancel_work_sync() function just to make sure ONLY the work
tipc_net_finalize_work() is executing/pending on any CPU completed before
tipc namespace is destroyed through tipc_exit_net(). But this function
is not guaranteed the work is the last queued. So, the destroyed instance
may be accessed in the work which will try to enqueue later.
In order to completely fix, we re-order the calling of cancel_work_sync()
to make sure the work tipc_net_finalize_work() was last queued and it
must be completed by calling cancel_work_sync().
This issue has been addressed in the following products:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
Via RHSA-2025:9497 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:9497
This issue has been addressed in the following products:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Advanced Mission Critical Update Support
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Update Services for SAP Solutions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Telecommunications Update Service
Via RHSA-2025:9498 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:9498
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tipc: fix use-after-free Read in tipc_named_reinit syzbot found the following issue on: ================================================================== BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in tipc_named_reinit+0x94f/0x9b0 net/tipc/name_distr.c:413 Read of size 8 at addr ffff88805299a000 by task kworker/1:9/23764 CPU: 1 PID: 23764 Comm: kworker/1:9 Not tainted 5.18.0-rc4-syzkaller-00878-g17d49e6e8012 #0 Hardware name: Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 01/01/2011 Workqueue: events tipc_net_finalize_work Call Trace: <TASK> __dump_stack lib/dump_stack.c:88 [inline] dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134 lib/dump_stack.c:106 print_address_description.constprop.0.cold+0xeb/0x495 mm/kasan/report.c:313 print_report mm/kasan/report.c:429 [inline] kasan_report.cold+0xf4/0x1c6 mm/kasan/report.c:491 tipc_named_reinit+0x94f/0x9b0 net/tipc/name_distr.c:413 tipc_net_finalize+0x234/0x3d0 net/tipc/net.c:138 process_one_work+0x996/0x1610 kernel/workqueue.c:2289 worker_thread+0x665/0x1080 kernel/workqueue.c:2436 kthread+0x2e9/0x3a0 kernel/kthread.c:376 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:298 </TASK> [...] ================================================================== In the commit d966ddcc3821 ("tipc: fix a deadlock when flushing scheduled work"), the cancel_work_sync() function just to make sure ONLY the work tipc_net_finalize_work() is executing/pending on any CPU completed before tipc namespace is destroyed through tipc_exit_net(). But this function is not guaranteed the work is the last queued. So, the destroyed instance may be accessed in the work which will try to enqueue later. In order to completely fix, we re-order the calling of cancel_work_sync() to make sure the work tipc_net_finalize_work() was last queued and it must be completed by calling cancel_work_sync().