In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amd/display: Avoid race between dcn35_set_drr() and dc_state_destruct() dc_state_destruct() nulls the resource context of the DC state. The pipe context passed to dcn35_set_drr() is a member of this resource context. If dc_state_destruct() is called parallel to the IRQ processing (which calls dcn35_set_drr() at some point), we can end up using already nulled function callback fields of struct stream_resource. The logic in dcn35_set_drr() already tries to avoid this, by checking tg against NULL. But if the nulling happens exactly after the NULL check and before the next access, then we get a race. Avoid this by copying tg first to a local variable, and then use this variable for all the operations. This should work, as long as nobody frees the resource pool where the timing generators live. (cherry picked from commit 0607a50c004798a96e62c089a4c34c220179dcb5)

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: soc: qcom: pmic_glink: Fix race during initialization As pointed out by Stephen Boyd it is possible that during initialization of the pmic_glink child drivers, the protection-domain notifiers fires, and the associated work is scheduled, before the client registration returns and as a result the local "client" pointer has been initialized. The outcome of this is a NULL pointer dereference as the "client" pointer is blindly dereferenced. Timeline provided by Stephen: CPU0 CPU1 ---- ---- ucsi->client = NULL; devm_pmic_glink_register_client() client->pdr_notify(client->priv, pg->client_state) pmic_glink_ucsi_pdr_notify() schedule_work(&ucsi->register_work) <schedule away> pmic_glink_ucsi_register() ucsi_register() pmic_glink_ucsi_read_version() pmic_glink_ucsi_read() pmic_glink_ucsi_read() pmic_glink_send(ucsi->client) <client is NULL BAD> ucsi->client = client // Too late! This code is identical across the altmode, battery manager and usci child drivers. Resolve this by splitting the allocation of the "client" object and the registration thereof into two operations. This only happens if the protection domain registry is populated at the time of registration, which by the introduction of commit '1ebcde047c54 ("soc: qcom: add pd-mapper implementation")' became much more likely.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: drm/amd/display: Avoid race between dcn10_set_drr() and dc_state_destruct() dc_state_destruct() nulls the resource context of the DC state. The pipe context passed to dcn10_set_drr() is a member of this resource context. If dc_state_destruct() is called parallel to the IRQ processing (which calls dcn10_set_drr() at some point), we can end up using already nulled function callback fields of struct stream_resource. The logic in dcn10_set_drr() already tries to avoid this, by checking tg against NULL. But if the nulling happens exactly after the NULL check and before the next access, then we get a race. Avoid this by copying tg first to a local variable, and then use this variable for all the operations. This should work, as long as nobody frees the resource pool where the timing generators live. (cherry picked from commit a3cc326a43bdc48fbdf53443e1027a03e309b643)

There is a null-pointer-dereference flaw found in f2fs_write_end_io in fs/f2fs/data.c in the Linux kernel. This flaw allows a local privileged user to cause a denial of service problem.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: properly fix race condition The cros_ec_uart_probe() function calls devm_serdev_device_open() before it calls serdev_device_set_client_ops(). This can trigger a NULL pointer dereference: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 ... Call Trace: <TASK> ... ? ttyport_receive_buf A simplified version of crashing code is as follows: static inline size_t serdev_controller_receive_buf(struct serdev_controller *ctrl, const u8 *data, size_t count) { struct serdev_device *serdev = ctrl->serdev; if (!serdev || !serdev->ops->receive_buf) // CRASH! return 0; return serdev->ops->receive_buf(serdev, data, count); } It assumes that if SERPORT_ACTIVE is set and serdev exists, serdev->ops will also exist. This conflicts with the existing cros_ec_uart_probe() logic, as it first calls devm_serdev_device_open() (which sets SERPORT_ACTIVE), and only later sets serdev->ops via serdev_device_set_client_ops(). Commit 01f95d42b8f4 ("platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: fix race condition") attempted to fix a similar race condition, but while doing so, made the window of error for this race condition to happen much wider. Attempt to fix the race condition again, making sure we fully setup before calling devm_serdev_device_open().

NULL pointer dereference in Intel(R) RAID Web Console software for all versions may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable denial of service via local access.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: media: streamzap: fix race between device disconnection and urb callback Syzkaller has reported a general protection fault at function ir_raw_event_store_with_filter(). This crash is caused by a NULL pointer dereference of dev->raw pointer, even though it is checked for NULL in the same function, which means there is a race condition. It occurs due to the incorrect order of actions in the streamzap_disconnect() function: rc_unregister_device() is called before usb_kill_urb(). The dev->raw pointer is freed and set to NULL in rc_unregister_device(), and only after that usb_kill_urb() waits for in-progress requests to finish. If rc_unregister_device() is called while streamzap_callback() handler is not finished, this can lead to accessing freed resources. Thus rc_unregister_device() should be called after usb_kill_urb(). Found by Linux Verification Center (linuxtesting.org) with Syzkaller.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ice: Fix PTP NULL pointer dereference during VSI rebuild Fix race condition where PTP periodic work runs while VSI is being rebuilt, accessing NULL vsi->rx_rings. The sequence was: 1. ice_ptp_prepare_for_reset() cancels PTP work 2. ice_ptp_rebuild() immediately queues PTP work 3. VSI rebuild happens AFTER ice_ptp_rebuild() 4. PTP work runs and accesses NULL vsi->rx_rings Fix: Keep PTP work cancelled during rebuild, only queue it after VSI rebuild completes in ice_rebuild(). Added ice_ptp_queue_work() helper function to encapsulate the logic for queuing PTP work, ensuring it's only queued when PTP is supported and the state is ICE_PTP_READY. Error log: [ 121.392544] ice 0000:60:00.1: PTP reset successful [ 121.392692] BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000 [ 121.392712] #PF: supervisor read access in kernel mode [ 121.392720] #PF: error_code(0x0000) - not-present page [ 121.392727] PGD 0 [ 121.392734] Oops: Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP NOPTI [ 121.392746] CPU: 8 UID: 0 PID: 1005 Comm: ice-ptp-0000:60 Tainted: G S 6.19.0-rc6+ #4 PREEMPT(voluntary) [ 121.392761] Tainted: [S]=CPU_OUT_OF_SPEC [ 121.392773] RIP: 0010:ice_ptp_update_cached_phctime+0xbf/0x150 [ice] [ 121.393042] Call Trace: [ 121.393047] <TASK> [ 121.393055] ice_ptp_periodic_work+0x69/0x180 [ice] [ 121.393202] kthread_worker_fn+0xa2/0x260 [ 121.393216] ? __pfx_ice_ptp_periodic_work+0x10/0x10 [ice] [ 121.393359] ? __pfx_kthread_worker_fn+0x10/0x10 [ 121.393371] kthread+0x10d/0x230 [ 121.393382] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 121.393393] ret_from_fork+0x273/0x2b0 [ 121.393407] ? __pfx_kthread+0x10/0x10 [ 121.393417] ret_from_fork_asm+0x1a/0x30 [ 121.393432] </TASK>

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: quota: Fix potential NULL pointer dereference Below race may cause NULL pointer dereference P1 P2 dquot_free_inode quota_off drop_dquot_ref remove_dquot_ref dquots = i_dquot(inode) dquots = i_dquot(inode) srcu_read_lock dquots[cnt]) != NULL (1) dquots[type] = NULL (2) spin_lock(&dquots[cnt]->dq_dqb_lock) (3) .... If dquot_free_inode(or other routines) checks inode's quota pointers (1) before quota_off sets it to NULL(2) and use it (3) after that, NULL pointer dereference will be triggered. So let's fix it by using a temporary pointer to avoid this issue.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: pds_core: Prevent race issues involving the adminq There are multiple paths that can result in using the pdsc's adminq. [1] pdsc_adminq_isr and the resulting work from queue_work(), i.e. pdsc_work_thread()->pdsc_process_adminq() [2] pdsc_adminq_post() When the device goes through reset via PCIe reset and/or a fw_down/fw_up cycle due to bad PCIe state or bad device state the adminq is destroyed and recreated. A NULL pointer dereference can happen if [1] or [2] happens after the adminq is already destroyed. In order to fix this, add some further state checks and implement reference counting for adminq uses. Reference counting was used because multiple threads can attempt to access the adminq at the same time via [1] or [2]. Additionally, multiple clients (i.e. pds-vfio-pci) can be using [2] at the same time. The adminq_refcnt is initialized to 1 when the adminq has been allocated and is ready to use. Users/clients of the adminq (i.e. [1] and [2]) will increment the refcnt when they are using the adminq. When the driver goes into a fw_down cycle it will set the PDSC_S_FW_DEAD bit and then wait for the adminq_refcnt to hit 1. Setting the PDSC_S_FW_DEAD before waiting will prevent any further adminq_refcnt increments. Waiting for the adminq_refcnt to hit 1 allows for any current users of the adminq to finish before the driver frees the adminq. Once the adminq_refcnt hits 1 the driver clears the refcnt to signify that the adminq is deleted and cannot be used. On the fw_up cycle the driver will once again initialize the adminq_refcnt to 1 allowing the adminq to be used again.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: Always drain health in shutdown callback There is no point in recovery during device shutdown. if health work started need to wait for it to avoid races and NULL pointer access. Hence, drain health WQ on shutdown callback.

A race condition was found in the Linux kernel's scsi device driver in lpfc_unregister_fcf_rescan() function. This can result in a null pointer dereference issue, possibly leading to a kernel panic or denial of service issue.

A race condition was found in the Linux kernel's media/dvb-core in dvbdmx_write() function. This can result in a null pointer dereference issue, possibly leading to a kernel panic or denial of service issue.

A race condition was found in the Linux kernel's sound/hda device driver in snd_hdac_regmap_sync() function. This can result in a null pointer dereference issue, possibly leading to a kernel panic or denial of service issue.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: usbnet:fix NPE during rx_complete Missing usbnet_going_away Check in Critical Path. The usb_submit_urb function lacks a usbnet_going_away validation, whereas __usbnet_queue_skb includes this check. This inconsistency creates a race condition where: A URB request may succeed, but the corresponding SKB data fails to be queued. Subsequent processes: (e.g., rx_complete → defer_bh → __skb_unlink(skb, list)) attempt to access skb->next, triggering a NULL pointer dereference (Kernel Panic).

A race condition was found in the Linux kernel's drm/exynos device driver in exynos_drm_crtc_atomic_disable() function. This can result in a null pointer dereference issue, possibly leading to a kernel panic or denial of service issue.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: platform/x86: dell-uart-backlight: fix serdev race The dell_uart_bl_serdev_probe() function calls devm_serdev_device_open() before setting the client ops via serdev_device_set_client_ops(). This ordering can trigger a NULL pointer dereference in the serdev controller's receive_buf handler, as it assumes serdev->ops is valid when SERPORT_ACTIVE is set. This is similar to the issue fixed in commit 5e700b384ec1 ("platform/chrome: cros_ec_uart: properly fix race condition") where devm_serdev_device_open() was called before fully initializing the device. Fix the race by ensuring client ops are set before enabling the port via devm_serdev_device_open(). Note, serdev_device_set_baudrate() and serdev_device_set_flow_control() calls should be after the devm_serdev_device_open() call.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: oss: Fix race at SNDCTL_DSP_SYNC There is a small race window at snd_pcm_oss_sync() that is called from OSS PCM SNDCTL_DSP_SYNC ioctl; namely the function calls snd_pcm_oss_make_ready() at first, then takes the params_lock mutex for the rest. When the stream is set up again by another thread between them, it leads to inconsistency, and may result in unexpected results such as NULL dereference of OSS buffer as a fuzzer spotted recently. The fix is simply to cover snd_pcm_oss_make_ready() call into the same params_lock mutex with snd_pcm_oss_make_ready_locked() variant.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: btrfs: fix race between quota rescan and disable leading to NULL pointer deref If we have one task trying to start the quota rescan worker while another one is trying to disable quotas, we can end up hitting a race that results in the quota rescan worker doing a NULL pointer dereference. The steps for this are the following: 1) Quotas are enabled; 2) Task A calls the quota rescan ioctl and enters btrfs_qgroup_rescan(). It calls qgroup_rescan_init() which returns 0 (success) and then joins a transaction and commits it; 3) Task B calls the quota disable ioctl and enters btrfs_quota_disable(). It clears the bit BTRFS_FS_QUOTA_ENABLED from fs_info->flags and calls btrfs_qgroup_wait_for_completion(), which returns immediately since the rescan worker is not yet running. Then it starts a transaction and locks fs_info->qgroup_ioctl_lock; 4) Task A queues the rescan worker, by calling btrfs_queue_work(); 5) The rescan worker starts, and calls rescan_should_stop() at the start of its while loop, which results in 0 iterations of the loop, since the flag BTRFS_FS_QUOTA_ENABLED was cleared from fs_info->flags by task B at step 3); 6) Task B sets fs_info->quota_root to NULL; 7) The rescan worker tries to start a transaction and uses fs_info->quota_root as the root argument for btrfs_start_transaction(). This results in a NULL pointer dereference down the call chain of btrfs_start_transaction(). The stack trace is something like the one reported in Link tag below: general protection fault, probably for non-canonical address 0xdffffc0000000041: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP KASAN KASAN: null-ptr-deref in range [0x0000000000000208-0x000000000000020f] CPU: 1 PID: 34 Comm: kworker/u4:2 Not tainted 6.1.0-syzkaller-13872-gb6bb9676f216 #0 Hardware name: Google Google Compute Engine/Google Compute Engine, BIOS Google 10/26/2022 Workqueue: btrfs-qgroup-rescan btrfs_work_helper RIP: 0010:start_transaction+0x48/0x10f0 fs/btrfs/transaction.c:564 Code: 48 89 fb 48 (...) RSP: 0018:ffffc90000ab7ab0 EFLAGS: 00010206 RAX: 0000000000000041 RBX: 0000000000000208 RCX: ffff88801779ba80 RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000001 RDI: 0000000000000000 RBP: dffffc0000000000 R08: 0000000000000001 R09: fffff52000156f5d R10: fffff52000156f5d R11: 1ffff92000156f5c R12: 0000000000000000 R13: 0000000000000001 R14: 0000000000000001 R15: 0000000000000003 FS: 0000000000000000(0000) GS:ffff8880b9900000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00007f2bea75b718 CR3: 000000001d0cc000 CR4: 00000000003506e0 DR0: 0000000000000000 DR1: 0000000000000000 DR2: 0000000000000000 DR3: 0000000000000000 DR6: 00000000fffe0ff0 DR7: 0000000000000400 Call Trace: <TASK> btrfs_qgroup_rescan_worker+0x3bb/0x6a0 fs/btrfs/qgroup.c:3402 btrfs_work_helper+0x312/0x850 fs/btrfs/async-thread.c:280 process_one_work+0x877/0xdb0 kernel/workqueue.c:2289 worker_thread+0xb14/0x1330 kernel/workqueue.c:2436 kthread+0x266/0x300 kernel/kthread.c:376 ret_from_fork+0x1f/0x30 arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:308 </TASK> Modules linked in: So fix this by having the rescan worker function not attempt to start a transaction if it didn't do any rescan work.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: xsk: Fix race at socket teardown Fix a race in the xsk socket teardown code that can lead to a NULL pointer dereference splat. The current xsk unbind code in xsk_unbind_dev() starts by setting xs->state to XSK_UNBOUND, sets xs->dev to NULL and then waits for any NAPI processing to terminate using synchronize_net(). After that, the release code starts to tear down the socket state and free allocated memory. BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 00000000000000c0 PGD 8000000932469067 P4D 8000000932469067 PUD 0 Oops: 0000 [#1] PREEMPT SMP PTI CPU: 25 PID: 69132 Comm: grpcpp_sync_ser Tainted: G I 5.16.0+ #2 Hardware name: Dell Inc. PowerEdge R730/0599V5, BIOS 1.2.10 03/09/2015 RIP: 0010:__xsk_sendmsg+0x2c/0x690 [...] RSP: 0018:ffffa2348bd13d50 EFLAGS: 00010246 RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000040 RCX: ffff8d5fc632d258 RDX: 0000000000400000 RSI: ffffa2348bd13e10 RDI: ffff8d5fc5489800 RBP: ffffa2348bd13db0 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 00007ffffffff000 R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: ffff8d5fc5489800 R13: ffff8d5fcb0f5140 R14: ffff8d5fcb0f5140 R15: 0000000000000000 FS: 00007f991cff9400(0000) GS:ffff8d6f1f700000(0000) knlGS:0000000000000000 CS: 0010 DS: 0000 ES: 0000 CR0: 0000000080050033 CR2: 00000000000000c0 CR3: 0000000114888005 CR4: 00000000001706e0 Call Trace: <TASK> ? aa_sk_perm+0x43/0x1b0 xsk_sendmsg+0xf0/0x110 sock_sendmsg+0x65/0x70 __sys_sendto+0x113/0x190 ? debug_smp_processor_id+0x17/0x20 ? fpregs_assert_state_consistent+0x23/0x50 ? exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0xa5/0x1d0 __x64_sys_sendto+0x29/0x30 do_syscall_64+0x3b/0xc0 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x44/0xae There are two problems with the current code. First, setting xs->dev to NULL before waiting for all users to stop using the socket is not correct. The entry to the data plane functions xsk_poll(), xsk_sendmsg(), and xsk_recvmsg() are all guarded by a test that xs->state is in the state XSK_BOUND and if not, it returns right away. But one process might have passed this test but still have not gotten to the point in which it uses xs->dev in the code. In this interim, a second process executing xsk_unbind_dev() might have set xs->dev to NULL which will lead to a crash for the first process. The solution here is just to get rid of this NULL assignment since it is not used anymore. Before commit 42fddcc7c64b ("xsk: use state member for socket synchronization"), xs->dev was the gatekeeper to admit processes into the data plane functions, but it was replaced with the state variable xs->state in the aforementioned commit. The second problem is that synchronize_net() does not wait for any process in xsk_poll(), xsk_sendmsg(), or xsk_recvmsg() to complete, which means that the state they rely on might be cleaned up prematurely. This can happen when the notifier gets called (at driver unload for example) as it uses xsk_unbind_dev(). Solve this by extending the RCU critical region from just the ndo_xsk_wakeup to the whole functions mentioned above, so that both the test of xs->state == XSK_BOUND and the last use of any member of xs is covered by the RCU critical section. This will guarantee that when synchronize_net() completes, there will be no processes left executing xsk_poll(), xsk_sendmsg(), or xsk_recvmsg() and state can be cleaned up safely. Note that we need to drop the RCU lock for the skb xmit path as it uses functions that might sleep. Due to this, we have to retest the xs->state after we grab the mutex that protects the skb xmit code from, among a number of things, an xsk_unbind_dev() being executed from the notifier at the same time.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: tpm: use try_get_ops() in tpm-space.c As part of the series conversion to remove nested TPM operations: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20190205224723.19671-1-jarkko.sakkinen@linux.intel.com/ exposure of the chip->tpm_mutex was removed from much of the upper level code. In this conversion, tpm2_del_space() was missed. This didn't matter much because it's usually called closely after a converted operation, so there's only a very tiny race window where the chip can be removed before the space flushing is done which causes a NULL deref on the mutex. However, there are reports of this window being hit in practice, so fix this by converting tpm2_del_space() to use tpm_try_get_ops(), which performs all the teardown checks before acquring the mutex.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: nbd: fix race between nbd_alloc_config() and module removal When nbd module is being removing, nbd_alloc_config() may be called concurrently by nbd_genl_connect(), although try_module_get() will return false, but nbd_alloc_config() doesn't handle it. The race may lead to the leak of nbd_config and its related resources (e.g, recv_workq) and oops in nbd_read_stat() due to the unload of nbd module as shown below: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000040 Oops: 0000 [#1] SMP PTI CPU: 5 PID: 13840 Comm: kworker/u17:33 Not tainted 5.14.0+ #1 Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) Workqueue: knbd16-recv recv_work [nbd] RIP: 0010:nbd_read_stat.cold+0x130/0x1a4 [nbd] Call Trace: recv_work+0x3b/0xb0 [nbd] process_one_work+0x1ed/0x390 worker_thread+0x4a/0x3d0 kthread+0x12a/0x150 ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30 Fixing it by checking the return value of try_module_get() in nbd_alloc_config(). As nbd_alloc_config() may return ERR_PTR(-ENODEV), assign nbd->config only when nbd_alloc_config() succeeds to ensure the value of nbd->config is binary (valid or NULL). Also adding a debug message to check the reference counter of nbd_config during module removal.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: PCI: of_property: Return error for int_map allocation failure Return -ENOMEM from of_pci_prop_intr_map() if kcalloc() fails to prevent a NULL pointer dereference in this case. [bhelgaas: commit log]

A flaw was found in libssh, a library that implements the SSH protocol. When calculating the session ID during the key exchange (KEX) process, an allocation failure in cryptographic functions may lead to a NULL pointer dereference. This issue can cause the client or server to crash.

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: iommu/arm-smmu: Defer probe of clients after smmu device bound Null pointer dereference occurs due to a race between smmu driver probe and client driver probe, when of_dma_configure() for client is called after the iommu_device_register() for smmu driver probe has executed but before the driver_bound() for smmu driver has been called. Following is how the race occurs: T1:Smmu device probe T2: Client device probe really_probe() arm_smmu_device_probe() iommu_device_register() really_probe() platform_dma_configure() of_dma_configure() of_dma_configure_id() of_iommu_configure() iommu_probe_device() iommu_init_device() arm_smmu_probe_device() arm_smmu_get_by_fwnode() driver_find_device_by_fwnode() driver_find_device() next_device() klist_next() /* null ptr assigned to smmu */ /* null ptr dereference while smmu->streamid_mask */ driver_bound() klist_add_tail() When this null smmu pointer is dereferenced later in arm_smmu_probe_device, the device crashes. Fix this by deferring the probe of the client device until the smmu device has bound to the arm smmu driver. [will: Add comment]

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: dsa: improve shutdown sequence Alexander Sverdlin presents 2 problems during shutdown with the lan9303 driver. One is specific to lan9303 and the other just happens to reproduce there. The first problem is that lan9303 is unique among DSA drivers in that it calls dev_get_drvdata() at "arbitrary runtime" (not probe, not shutdown, not remove): phy_state_machine() -> ... -> dsa_user_phy_read() -> ds->ops->phy_read() -> lan9303_phy_read() -> chip->ops->phy_read() -> lan9303_mdio_phy_read() -> dev_get_drvdata() But we never stop the phy_state_machine(), so it may continue to run after dsa_switch_shutdown(). Our common pattern in all DSA drivers is to set drvdata to NULL to suppress the remove() method that may come afterwards. But in this case it will result in an NPD. The second problem is that the way in which we set dp->conduit->dsa_ptr = NULL; is concurrent with receive packet processing. dsa_switch_rcv() checks once whether dev->dsa_ptr is NULL, but afterwards, rather than continuing to use that non-NULL value, dev->dsa_ptr is dereferenced again and again without NULL checks: dsa_conduit_find_user() and many other places. In between dereferences, there is no locking to ensure that what was valid once continues to be valid. Both problems have the common aspect that closing the conduit interface solves them. In the first case, dev_close(conduit) triggers the NETDEV_GOING_DOWN event in dsa_user_netdevice_event() which closes user ports as well. dsa_port_disable_rt() calls phylink_stop(), which synchronously stops the phylink state machine, and ds->ops->phy_read() will thus no longer call into the driver after this point. In the second case, dev_close(conduit) should do this, as per Documentation/networking/driver.rst: | Quiescence | ---------- | | After the ndo_stop routine has been called, the hardware must | not receive or transmit any data. All in flight packets must | be aborted. If necessary, poll or wait for completion of | any reset commands. So it should be sufficient to ensure that later, when we zeroize conduit->dsa_ptr, there will be no concurrent dsa_switch_rcv() call on this conduit. The addition of the netif_device_detach() function is to ensure that ioctls, rtnetlinks and ethtool requests on the user ports no longer propagate down to the driver - we're no longer prepared to handle them. The race condition actually did not exist when commit 0650bf52b31f ("net: dsa: be compatible with masters which unregister on shutdown") first introduced dsa_switch_shutdown(). It was created later, when we stopped unregistering the user interfaces from a bad spot, and we just replaced that sequence with a racy zeroization of conduit->dsa_ptr (one which doesn't ensure that the interfaces aren't up).

A NULL pointer dereference flaw was found in the Linux kernel’s Amateur Radio AX.25 protocol functionality in the way a user connects with the protocol. This flaw allows a local user to crash the system.