In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ftrace: Fix possible use-after-free issue in ftrace_location() KASAN reports a bug: BUG: KASAN: use-after-free in ftrace_location+0x90/0x120 Read of size 8 at addr ffff888141d40010 by task insmod/424 CPU: 8 PID: 424 Comm: insmod Tainted: G W 6.9.0-rc2+ [...] Call Trace: <TASK> dump_stack_lvl+0x68/0xa0 print_report+0xcf/0x610 kasan_report+0xb5/0xe0 ftrace_location+0x90/0x120 register_kprobe+0x14b/0xa40 kprobe_init+0x2d/0xff0 [kprobe_example] do_one_initcall+0x8f/0x2d0 do_init_module+0x13a/0x3c0 load_module+0x3082/0x33d0 init_module_from_file+0xd2/0x130 __x64_sys_finit_module+0x306/0x440 do_syscall_64+0x68/0x140 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x71/0x79 The root cause is that, in lookup_rec(), ftrace record of some address is being searched in ftrace pages of some module, but those ftrace pages at the same time is being freed in ftrace_release_mod() as the corresponding module is being deleted: CPU1 | CPU2 register_kprobes() { | delete_module() { check_kprobe_address_safe() { | arch_check_ftrace_location() { | ftrace_location() { | lookup_rec() // USE! | ftrace_release_mod() // Free! To fix this issue: 1. Hold rcu lock as accessing ftrace pages in ftrace_location_range(); 2. Use ftrace_location_range() instead of lookup_rec() in ftrace_location(); 3. Call synchronize_rcu() before freeing any ftrace pages both in ftrace_process_locs()/ftrace_release_mod()/ftrace_free_mem().
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.