Bug 2461558 (CVE-2026-31667) - CVE-2026-31667 kernel: Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core
Summary: CVE-2026-31667 kernel: Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with f...
Keywords:
Status: NEW
Alias: CVE-2026-31667
Product: Security Response
Classification: Other
Component: vulnerability
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: Linux
medium
medium
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Product Security
QA Contact:
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2026-04-24 15:08 UTC by OSIDB Bzimport
Modified: 2026-04-24 22:33 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Clone Of:
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-04-24 15:08:24 UTC
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

Input: uinput - fix circular locking dependency with ff-core

A lockdep circular locking dependency warning can be triggered
reproducibly when using a force-feedback gamepad with uinput (for
example, playing ELDEN RING under Wine with a Flydigi Vader 5
controller):

  ff->mutex -> udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex

The cycle is caused by four lock acquisition paths:

1. ff upload: input_ff_upload() holds ff->mutex and calls
   uinput_dev_upload_effect() -> uinput_request_submit() ->
   uinput_request_send(), which acquires udev->mutex.

2. device create: uinput_ioctl_handler() holds udev->mutex and calls
   uinput_create_device() -> input_register_device(), which acquires
   input_mutex.

3. device register: input_register_device() holds input_mutex and
   calls kbd_connect() -> input_register_handle(), which acquires
   dev->mutex.

4. evdev release: evdev_release() calls input_flush_device() under
   dev->mutex, which calls input_ff_flush() acquiring ff->mutex.

Fix this by introducing a new state_lock spinlock to protect
udev->state and udev->dev access in uinput_request_send() instead of
acquiring udev->mutex.  The function only needs to atomically check
device state and queue an input event into the ring buffer via
uinput_dev_event() -- both operations are safe under a spinlock
(ktime_get_ts64() and wake_up_interruptible() do not sleep).  This
breaks the ff->mutex -> udev->mutex link since a spinlock is a leaf in
the lock ordering and cannot form cycles with mutexes.

To keep state transitions visible to uinput_request_send(), protect
writes to udev->state in uinput_create_device() and
uinput_destroy_device() with the same state_lock spinlock.

Additionally, move init_completion(&request->done) from
uinput_request_send() to uinput_request_submit() before
uinput_request_reserve_slot().  Once the slot is allocated,
uinput_flush_requests() may call complete() on it at any time from
the destroy path, so the completion must be initialised before the
request becomes visible.

Lock ordering after the fix:

  ff->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
  udev->mutex -> state_lock (spinlock, leaf)
  udev->mutex -> input_mutex -> dev->mutex -> ff->mutex (no back-edge)


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