In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nilfs2: fix use-after-free of timer for log writer thread Patch series "nilfs2: fix log writer related issues". This bug fix series covers three nilfs2 log writer-related issues, including a timer use-after-free issue and potential deadlock issue on unmount, and a potential freeze issue in event synchronization found during their analysis. Details are described in each commit log. This patch (of 3): A use-after-free issue has been reported regarding the timer sc_timer on the nilfs_sc_info structure. The problem is that even though it is used to wake up a sleeping log writer thread, sc_timer is not shut down until the nilfs_sc_info structure is about to be freed, and is used regardless of the thread's lifetime. Fix this issue by limiting the use of sc_timer only while the log writer thread is alive.
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.