In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ksmbd: fix use-after-free in SMB request handling A race condition exists between SMB request handling in `ksmbd_conn_handler_loop()` and the freeing of `ksmbd_conn` in the workqueue handler `handle_ksmbd_work()`. This leads to a UAF. - KASAN: slab-use-after-free Read in handle_ksmbd_work - KASAN: slab-use-after-free in rtlock_slowlock_locked This race condition arises as follows: - `ksmbd_conn_handler_loop()` waits for `conn->r_count` to reach zero: `wait_event(conn->r_count_q, atomic_read(&conn->r_count) == 0);` - Meanwhile, `handle_ksmbd_work()` decrements `conn->r_count` using `atomic_dec_return(&conn->r_count)`, and if it reaches zero, calls `ksmbd_conn_free()`, which frees `conn`. - However, after `handle_ksmbd_work()` decrements `conn->r_count`, it may still access `conn->r_count_q` in the following line: `waitqueue_active(&conn->r_count_q)` or `wake_up(&conn->r_count_q)` This results in a UAF, as `conn` has already been freed. The discovery of this UAF can be referenced in the following PR for syzkaller's support for SMB requests.
The product contains a concurrent code sequence that requires temporary, exclusive access to a shared resource, but a timing window exists in which the shared resource can be modified by another code sequence operating concurrently.
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.