In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/slab: do not wake up kswapd in __kfree_rcu_sheaf()

Since kfree_rcu() can be called under pi_lock (a raw spinlock in the scheduler), kfree_rcu() itself should never allocate memory with __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM as waking up kswapd ends up acquiring pi_lock, which leads to a deadlock.

Reproducing the issue even intentionally was not straightforward. The set_cpus_allowed_force() path that is called under pi_lock is exercised very rarely, and competing tasks that allocate memory will most likely wake kswapd up.

Therefore the existence of the deadlock was verified with a modified kernel that has a lockdep map for waking up kswapd:

====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 7.2.0-rc1-slab-for-next+ #10 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ git/6660 is trying to acquire lock: ffff8e524533c550 (&p->pi_lock){-.-.}-{2:2}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20

but task is already holding lock: ffff8e57bffff1a0 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20

which lock already depends on the new lock.

the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:

-> #2 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}: __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_acquire.part.0+0xb7/0x240 lock_acquire+0x70/0x170 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x44/0x80 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave…

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/slab: do not wake up kswapd in __kfree_rcu_sheaf()

Since kfree_rcu() can be called under pi_lock (a raw spinlock in the scheduler), kfree_rcu() itself should never allocate memory with __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM as waking up kswapd ends up acquiring pi_lock, which leads to a deadlock.

Reproducing the issue even intentionally was not straightforward. The set_cpus_allowed_force() path that is called under pi_lock is exercised very rarely, and competing tasks that allocate memory will most likely wake kswapd up.

Therefore the existence of the deadlock was verified with a modified kernel that has a lockdep map for waking up kswapd:

====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 7.2.0-rc1-slab-for-next+ #10 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ git/6660 is trying to acquire lock: ffff8e524533c550 (&p->pi_lock){-.-.}-{2:2}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20

but task is already holding lock: ffff8e57bffff1a0 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20

which lock already depends on the new lock.

the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:

-> #2 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}: __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_acquire.part.0+0xb7/0x240 lock_acquire+0x70/0x170 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x44/0x80 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave…

Affected: Ubuntu:16.04:LTS: linux-hwe-edge, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-aws-5.0, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-aws-5.3, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-azure, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-azure-5.3, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-azure-edge, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-gcp, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-gcp-5.3, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-gke-4.15, Ubuntu:18.04:LTS: linux-gke-5.4 and 118 more

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: mm/slab: do not wake up kswapd in __kfree_rcu_sheaf() Since kfree_rcu() can be called under pi_lock (a raw spinlock in the scheduler), kfree_rcu() itself should never allocate memory with __GFP_KSWAPD_RECLAIM as waking up kswapd ends up acquiring pi_lock, which leads to a deadlock. Reproducing the issue even intentionally was not straightforward. The set_cpus_allowed_force() path that is called under pi_lock is exercised very rarely, and competing tasks that allocate memory will most likely wake kswapd up. Therefore the existence of the deadlock was verified with a modified kernel that has a lockdep map for waking up kswapd: ====================================================== WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected 7.2.0-rc1-slab-for-next+ #10 Not tainted ------------------------------------------------------ git/6660 is trying to acquire lock: ffff8e524533c550 (&p->pi_lock){-.-.}-{2:2}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 but task is already holding lock: ffff8e57bffff1a0 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}, at: _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x20 which lock already depends on the new lock. the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is: -> #2 (&pgdat->kswapd_wait){....}-{3:3}: __lock_acquire+0x5a4/0xc50 lock_acquire.part.0+0xb7/0x240 lock_acquire+0x70/0x170 __raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x44/0x80 _raw_spin_lock_irqsave+0x12/0x2…

Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen im Linux Kernel ausnutzen, um einen nicht näher spezifizierten Angriff durchzuführen, möglicherweise einen Denial-of-Service-Angriff auszulösen, Daten zu manipulieren oder offenzulegen oder Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen.