In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ocfs2: fix slab-use-after-free due to dangling pointer dqi_priv When mounting ocfs2 and then remounting it as read-only, a slab-use-after-free occurs after the user uses a syscall to quota_getnextquota. Specifically, sb_dqinfo(sb, type)->dqi_priv is the dangling pointer. During the remounting process, the pointer dqi_priv is freed but is never set as null leaving it to be accessed. Additionally, the read-only option for remounting sets the DQUOT_SUSPENDED flag instead of setting the DQUOT_USAGE_ENABLED flags. Moreover, later in the process of getting the next quota, the function ocfs2_get_next_id is called and only checks the quota usage flags and not the quota suspended flags. To fix this, I set dqi_priv to null when it is freed after remounting with read-only and put a check for DQUOT_SUSPENDED in ocfs2_get_next_id. [akpm@linux-foundation.org: coding-style cleanups]
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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.