In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: seeq: Fix use after free vulnerability in ether3 Driver Due to Race Condition In the ether3_probe function, a timer is initialized with a callback function ether3_ledoff, bound to &prev(dev)->timer. Once the timer is started, there is a risk of a race condition if the module or device is removed, triggering the ether3_remove function to perform cleanup. The sequence of operations that may lead to a UAF bug is as follows: CPU0 CPU1 | ether3_ledoff ether3_remove | free_netdev(dev); | put_devic | kfree(dev); | | ether3_outw(priv(dev)->regs.config2 |= CFG2_CTRLO, REG_CONFIG2); | // use dev Fix it by ensuring that the timer is canceled before proceeding with the cleanup in ether3_remove.
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.