In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sh: push-switch: Reorder cleanup operations to avoid use-after-free bug The original code puts flush_work() before timer_shutdown_sync() in switch_drv_remove(). Although we use flush_work() to stop the worker, it could be rescheduled in switch_timer(). As a result, a use-after-free bug can occur. The details are shown below: (cpu 0) | (cpu 1) switch_drv_remove() | flush_work() | ... | switch_timer // timer | schedule_work(&psw->work) timer_shutdown_sync() | ... | switch_work_handler // worker kfree(psw) // free | | psw->state = 0 // use This patch puts timer_shutdown_sync() before flush_work() to mitigate the bugs. As a result, the worker and timer will be stopped safely before the deallocate operations.
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.