In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ref_tracker: implement use-after-free detection Whenever ref_tracker_dir_init() is called, mark the struct ref_tracker_dir as dead. Test the dead status from ref_tracker_alloc() and ref_tracker_free() This should detect buggy dev_put()/dev_hold() happening too late in netdevice dismantle process.
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.