Bug 2464442 (CVE-2026-31769)

Summary: CVE-2026-31769 kernel: gpib: fix use-after-free in IO ioctl handlers
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security <prodsec-ir-bot>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: unspecified Docs Contact:
Priority: unspecified    
Version: unspecifiedCC: rhel-process-autobot, watson-tool-maintainers
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in the Linux kernel's gpib module. This use-after-free vulnerability allows a local attacker to trigger a condition where memory is accessed after it has been freed. By concurrently calling specific ioctl handlers, an attacker could cause a system crash, leading to a denial of service, or potentially execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
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oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-05-01 15:07:02 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

gpib: fix use-after-free in IO ioctl handlers

The IBRD, IBWRT, IBCMD, and IBWAIT ioctl handlers use a gpib_descriptor
pointer after board->big_gpib_mutex has been released.  A concurrent
IBCLOSEDEV ioctl can free the descriptor via close_dev_ioctl() during
this window, causing a use-after-free.

The IO handlers (read_ioctl, write_ioctl, command_ioctl) explicitly
release big_gpib_mutex before calling their handler.  wait_ioctl() is
called with big_gpib_mutex held, but ibwait() releases it internally
when wait_mask is non-zero.  In all four cases, the descriptor pointer
obtained from handle_to_descriptor() becomes unprotected.

Fix this by introducing a kernel-only descriptor_busy reference count
in struct gpib_descriptor.  Each handler atomically increments
descriptor_busy under file_priv->descriptors_mutex before releasing the
lock, and decrements it when done.  close_dev_ioctl() checks
descriptor_busy under the same lock and rejects the close with -EBUSY
if the count is non-zero.

A reference count rather than a simple flag is necessary because
multiple handlers can operate on the same descriptor concurrently
(e.g. IBRD and IBWAIT on the same handle from different threads).

A separate counter is needed because io_in_progress can be cleared from
unprivileged userspace via the IBWAIT ioctl (through general_ibstatus()
with set_mask containing CMPL), which would allow an attacker to bypass
a check based solely on io_in_progress.  The new descriptor_busy
counter is only modified by the kernel IO paths.

The lock ordering is consistent (big_gpib_mutex -> descriptors_mutex)
and the handlers only hold descriptors_mutex briefly during the lookup,
so there is no deadlock risk and no impact on IO throughput.