In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usb: cdns3: fixed memory use after free at cdns3_gadget_ep_disable() ... cdns3_gadget_ep_free_request(&priv_ep->endpoint, &priv_req->request); list_del_init(&priv_req->list); ... 'priv_req' actually free at cdns3_gadget_ep_free_request(). But list_del_init() use priv_req->list after it. [ 1542.642868][ T534] BUG: KFENCE: use-after-free read in __list_del_entry_valid+0x10/0xd4 [ 1542.642868][ T534] [ 1542.653162][ T534] Use-after-free read at 0x000000009ed0ba99 (in kfence-#3): [ 1542.660311][ T534] __list_del_entry_valid+0x10/0xd4 [ 1542.665375][ T534] cdns3_gadget_ep_disable+0x1f8/0x388 [cdns3] [ 1542.671571][ T534] usb_ep_disable+0x44/0xe4 [ 1542.675948][ T534] ffs_func_eps_disable+0x64/0xc8 [ 1542.680839][ T534] ffs_func_set_alt+0x74/0x368 [ 1542.685478][ T534] ffs_func_disable+0x18/0x28 Move list_del_init() before cdns3_gadget_ep_free_request() to resolve this problem.
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.