Bug 2400789 (CVE-2023-53481)

Summary: CVE-2023-53481 kernel: ubi: ubi_wl_put_peb: Fix infinite loop when wear-leveling work failed
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
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Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedKeywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2025-10-01 12:07:33 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

ubi: ubi_wl_put_peb: Fix infinite loop when wear-leveling work failed

Following process will trigger an infinite loop in ubi_wl_put_peb():

	ubifs_bgt		ubi_bgt
ubifs_leb_unmap
  ubi_leb_unmap
    ubi_eba_unmap_leb
      ubi_wl_put_peb	wear_leveling_worker
                          e1 = rb_entry(rb_first(&ubi->used)
			  e2 = get_peb_for_wl(ubi)
			  ubi_io_read_vid_hdr  // return err (flash fault)
			  out_error:
			    ubi->move_from = ubi->move_to = NULL
			    wl_entry_destroy(ubi, e1)
			      ubi->lookuptbl[e->pnum] = NULL
      retry:
        e = ubi->lookuptbl[pnum];	// return NULL
	if (e == ubi->move_from) {	// NULL == NULL gets true
	  goto retry;			// infinite loop !!!

$ top
  PID USER      PR  NI    VIRT    RES    SHR S  %CPU %MEM     COMMAND
  7676 root     20   0       0      0      0 R 100.0  0.0  ubifs_bgt0_0

Fix it by:
 1) Letting ubi_wl_put_peb() returns directly if wearl leveling entry has
    been removed from 'ubi->lookuptbl'.
 2) Using 'ubi->wl_lock' protecting wl entry deletion to preventing an
    use-after-free problem for wl entry in ubi_wl_put_peb().

Fetch a reproducer in [Link].