net/smc: fix NULL dereference and UAF in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()
Subsystems (5)
PATCH v5 1/1 net/smc: fix NULL dereference and UAF in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()
From: Jiayuan Chen <[email protected]>
Syzkaller reported a panic in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() [1].
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in the TCP receive path (softirq) via icsk_af_ops->syn_recv_sock on the clcsock (TCP listening socket). It reads sk_user_data to get the smc_sock pointer. However, when the SMC listen socket is being closed concurrently, smc_close_active() sets clcsock->sk_user_data to NULL under sk_callback_lock, and then the smc_sock itself can be freed via sock_put() in smc_release().
This leads to two issues:
1) NULL pointer dereference: sk_user_data is NULL when accessed.
2) Use-after-free: sk_user_data is read as non-NULL, but the smc_sock is freed before its fields (e.g., queued_smc_hs, ori_af_ops) are accessed.
The race window looks like this (the syzkaller crash [1] triggers via the SYN cookie path: tcp_get_cookie_sock() -> smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(), but the normal tcp_check_req() path has the same race):
CPU A (softirq) CPU B (process ctx)
tcp_v4_rcv()
TCP_NEW_SYN_RECV:
sk = req->rsk_listener
sock_hold(sk)
/* No lock on listener */
smc_close_active():
write_lock_bh(cb_lock)
sk_user_data = NULL
write_unlock_bh(cb_lock)
...
smc_clcsock_release()
sock_put(smc->sk) x2
-> smc_sock freed!
tcp_check_req()
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock():
smc = user_data(sk)
-> NULL or dangling
smc->queued_smc_hs
-> crash!Note that the clcsock and smc_sock are two independent objects with separate refcounts. TCP stack holds a reference on the clcsock, which keeps it alive, but this does NOT prevent the smc_sock from being freed.
Fix this by using RCU and refcount_inc_not_zero() to safely access smc_sock. Since smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in the TCP three-way handshake path, taking read_lock_bh on sk_callback_lock is too heavy and would not survive a SYN flood attack. Using rcu_read_lock() is much more lightweight.
- Set SOCK_RCU_FREE on the SMC listen socket so that smc_sock freeing is deferred until after the RCU grace period. This guarantees the memory is still valid when accessed inside rcu_read_lock().
- Use rcu_read_lock() to protect reading sk_user_data.
- Use refcount_inc_not_zero(&smc->sk.sk_refcnt) to pin the smc_sock. If the refcount has already reached zero (close path completed), it returns false and we bail out safely.
Note: smc_hs_congested() has a similar lockless read of sk_user_data without rcu_read_lock(), but it only checks for NULL and accesses the global smc_hs_wq, never dereferencing any smc_sock field, so it is not affected.
Reproducer was verified with mdelay injection and smc_run, the issue no longer occurs with this patch applied.
[1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=827ae2bfb3a3529333e9
---
v5:
- Fix dst_entry leak and missing tcp_listendrop() on early return when smc is NULL or refcount has reached zero. This affects the SYN cookie path where dst is non-NULL.
v4: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/T/#t
v4:
- Add a new smc_clcsock_user_data_rcu() helper instead of modifying the existing smc_clcsock_user_data(), to allow gradual conversion of callers. Only smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() uses the RCU variant; other callers under sk_callback_lock remain unchanged, avoiding lockdep warnings.
- Use rcu_dereference_sk_user_data() for reading and rcu_assign_sk_user_data() for writing sk_user_data to prevent load/store tearing.
v3: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/
v3:
- Write sk_user_data with RCU to prevent store tearing.
v2: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/
v2:
- Use rcu_read_lock() + refcount_inc_not_zero() instead of read_lock_bh(sk_callback_lock) + sock_hold(), since this is the TCP handshake hot path and read_lock_bh is too expensive under SYN flood.
- Set SOCK_RCU_FREE on SMC listen socket to ensure RCU-deferred freeing.
v1: https://lore.kernel.org/netdev/[email protected]/
--- net/smc/af_smc.c | 23 +++++++++++++++++------ net/smc/smc.h | 5 +++++ net/smc/smc_close.c | 2 +- 3 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
net/smc/af_smc.c +17 -6
@@ -131,7 +131,14 @@ static struct sock *smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(const struct sock *sk,struct smc_sock *smc;struct sock *child; - smc =smc_clcsock_user_data (sk); +rcu_read_lock (); + smc =smc_clcsock_user_data_rcu (sk); +if (!smc || !refcount_inc_not_zero (&smc->sk.sk_refcnt)) { +rcu_read_unlock (); + smc =NULL ; + goto drop; + } +rcu_read_unlock ();if (READ_ONCE (sk->sk_ack_backlog) +atomic_read (&smc->queued_smc_hs) > sk->sk_max_ack_backlog)
@@ -153,11 +160,14 @@ static struct sock *smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(const struct sock *sk,if (inet_csk (child)->icsk_af_ops ==inet_csk (sk)->icsk_af_ops)inet_csk (child)->icsk_af_ops = smc->ori_af_ops; } +sock_put (&smc->sk);return child; drop:dst_release (dst);tcp_listendrop (sk); +if (smc) +sock_put (&smc->sk);return NULL ; }
@@ -254,7 +264,7 @@ static void smc_fback_restore_callbacks(struct smc_sock *smc)struct sock *clcsk = smc->clcsock->sk;write_lock_bh (&clcsk->sk_callback_lock); - clcsk->sk_user_data =NULL ; +rcu_assign_sk_user_data (clcsk,NULL );smc_clcsock_restore_cb (&clcsk->sk_state_change, &smc->clcsk_state_change);smc_clcsock_restore_cb (&clcsk->sk_data_ready, &smc->clcsk_data_ready);
@@ -902,7 +912,7 @@ static void smc_fback_replace_callbacks(struct smc_sock *smc)struct sock *clcsk = smc->clcsock->sk;write_lock_bh (&clcsk->sk_callback_lock); - clcsk->sk_user_data = (void *)((uintptr_t )smc |SK_USER_DATA_NOCOPY ); +__rcu_assign_sk_user_data_with_flags (clcsk, smc,SK_USER_DATA_NOCOPY );smc_clcsock_replace_cb (&clcsk->sk_state_change, smc_fback_state_change, &smc->clcsk_state_change);
@@ -2665,8 +2675,8 @@ int smc_listen(struct socket *sock, int backlog)* smc-specific sk_data_ready function */ write_lock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock); - smc->clcsock->sk->sk_user_data = - (void *)((uintptr_t )smc |SK_USER_DATA_NOCOPY ); +__rcu_assign_sk_user_data_with_flags (smc->clcsock->sk, smc, +SK_USER_DATA_NOCOPY );smc_clcsock_replace_cb (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_data_ready, smc_clcsock_data_ready, &smc->clcsk_data_ready);write_unlock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock);
@@ -2687,10 +2697,11 @@ int smc_listen(struct socket *sock, int backlog)write_lock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock);smc_clcsock_restore_cb (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_data_ready, &smc->clcsk_data_ready); - smc->clcsock->sk->sk_user_data =NULL ; +rcu_assign_sk_user_data (smc->clcsock->sk,NULL );write_unlock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock); goto out; } +sock_set_flag (sk,SOCK_RCU_FREE ); sk->sk_max_ack_backlog = backlog; sk->sk_ack_backlog =0 ; sk->sk_state =SMC_LISTEN ;
net/smc/smc.h +5 -0
@@ -346,6 +346,11 @@ static inline struct smc_sock *smc_clcsock_user_data(const struct sock *clcsk) ((uintptr_t )clcsk->sk_user_data & ~SK_USER_DATA_NOCOPY ); } +static inline struct smc_sock *smc_clcsock_user_data_rcu (const struct sock *clcsk) +{ +return (struct smc_sock *)rcu_dereference_sk_user_data (clcsk); +} +/* save target_cb in saved_cb, and replace target_cb with new_cb */ static inline void smc_clcsock_replace_cb(void (**target_cb)(struct sock *), void (*new_cb)(struct sock *),
net/smc/smc_close.c +1 -1
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ int smc_close_active(struct smc_sock *smc)write_lock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock);smc_clcsock_restore_cb (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_data_ready, &smc->clcsk_data_ready); - smc->clcsock->sk->sk_user_data =NULL ; +rcu_assign_sk_user_data (smc->clcsock->sk,NULL );write_unlock_bh (&smc->clcsock->sk->sk_callback_lock); rc =kernel_sock_shutdown (smc->clcsock,SHUT_RDWR ); }
Signature · 1 line
2.43.0
This patch was applied to netdev/net.git (main) by Jakub Kicinski <[email protected]>:
Hello:
This patch was applied to netdev/net.git (main)
by Jakub Kicinski <[email protected]>:
Quoted 12 lines · On Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:29:07 +0800 you wrote:
From: Jiayuan Chen <[email protected]>
Syzkaller reported a panic in
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()[1].
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()is called in the TCP receive path (softirq) viaicsk_af_ops->syn_recv_sockon the clcsock (TCP listening socket). It readssk_user_datato get thesmc_sockpointer. However, when the SMC listen socket is being closed concurrently,smc_close_active()setsclcsock->sk_user_datato NULL undersk_callback_lock, and then thesmc_sockitself can be freed viasock_put()insmc_release().
Quoted 1 line
[...]
Here is the summary with links:
- [net,v5] net/smc: fix NULL dereference and UAF in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()
https://git.kernel.org/netdev/net/c/6d5e4538364b
You are awesome, thank you!
Signature · 2 lines
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