FAILED: patch "[PATCH] watch_queue: Fix note pool publication race in" failed to apply to 5.15-stable tree

The patch below does not apply to the 5.15-stable tree.
If someone wants it applied there, or to any other stable or longterm tree, then please email the backport, including the original git commit id to <[email protected]>.

To reproduce the conflict and resubmit, you may use the following commands:

git fetch https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/ linux-5.15.y
git checkout FETCH_HEAD
git cherry-pick -x 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8f
# <resolve conflicts, build, test, etc.>
git commit -s
git send-email --to '<[email protected]>' --in-reply-to '2026102125-proud-dial-e6e3@gregkh' --subject-prefix 'PATCH 5.15.y' 'HEAD^..'

Possible dependencies:

thanks,

greg k-h

------------------ original commit in Linus's tree ------------------

From 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Cen Zhang (Microsoft)" <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2026 18:47:15 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] watch_queue: Fix note pool publication race in
watch_queue_set_size()

There is a race between watch_queue_set_size() and post_one_notification(). watch_queue_set_size() publishes wqueue->notes, notes_bitmap, nr_pages and nr_notes with plain stores, and post_one_notification() reads them with plain loads under a different lock, so nothing orders the four stores against the poster's loads: depending on the build, notes can be stored last (gcc 14 on x86-64 does this). Since keyctl_watch_key() lets a watch attach to a queue before it is sized, post_one_notification() can already be running on another CPU at that moment: it reads nr_notes > 0, passes its bounds check, and then reads notes while it is still NULL, dereferencing notes[0].

An unprivileged user triggers this reliably by watching one of its own keys through a notification pipe and racing ioctl(IOC_WATCH_QUEUE_SET_SIZE) on that pipe against keyctl(KEYCTL_SETPERM) on the key from another CPU, triggering:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
  RIP: 0010:post_one_notification.isra.0+0xa2/0x1e0
  Call Trace:
   __post_watch_notification+0x148/0x180
   keyctl_setperm_key+0x119/0x130
   do_syscall_64+0x108/0x4c0
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

Fix this by publishing nr_notes last with smp_store_release(), and by reading it once with smp_load_acquire() in post_one_notification() before the bitmap and the page array are touched. A poster that observes a non-zero nr_notes then also observes the pool behind it; one that observes zero drops the notification as before.

index 538520861e8b..932a88ac1f39 100644
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ static bool post_one_notification(struct watch_queue *wqueue,
 	struct pipe_inode_info *pipe = wqueue->pipe;
 	struct pipe_buffer *buf;
 	struct page *page;
-	unsigned int head, tail, note, offset, len;
+	unsigned int head, tail, note, offset, len, nr_notes;
 	bool done = false;
 
 	spin_lock_irq(&pipe->rd_wait.lock);

@@ -111,8 +111,10 @@ static bool post_one_notification(struct watch_queue *wqueue,
 	if (pipe_full(head, tail, pipe->ring_size))
 		goto lost;
 
-	note = find_first_bit(wqueue->notes_bitmap, wqueue->nr_notes);
-	if (note >= wqueue->nr_notes)
+	/* Pairs with the smp_store_release() in watch_queue_set_size(). */
+	nr_notes = smp_load_acquire(&wqueue->nr_notes);
+	note = find_first_bit(wqueue->notes_bitmap, nr_notes);
+	if (note >= nr_notes)
 		goto lost;
 
 	page = wqueue->notes[note / WATCH_QUEUE_NOTES_PER_PAGE];

@@ -297,7 +299,8 @@ long watch_queue_set_size(struct pipe_inode_info *pipe, unsigned int nr_notes)
 	wqueue->notes = pages;
 	wqueue->notes_bitmap = bitmap;
 	wqueue->nr_pages = nr_pages;
-	wqueue->nr_notes = nr_notes;
+	/* Pairs with the smp_load_acquire() in post_one_notification(). */
+	smp_store_release(&wqueue->nr_notes, nr_notes);
 	return 0;
 
 error_p:

From: "Cen Zhang (Microsoft)" <[email protected]>

[ Upstream commit 5e531d62f1f8834faf7a4eed0d41105cf6570a8f ]

There is a race between watch_queue_set_size() and post_one_notification(). watch_queue_set_size() publishes wqueue->notes, notes_bitmap, nr_pages and nr_notes with plain stores, and post_one_notification() reads them with plain loads under a different lock, so nothing orders the four stores against the poster's loads: depending on the build, notes can be stored last (gcc 14 on x86-64 does this). Since keyctl_watch_key() lets a watch attach to a queue before it is sized, post_one_notification() can already be running on another CPU at that moment: it reads nr_notes > 0, passes its bounds check, and then reads notes while it is still NULL, dereferencing notes[0].

An unprivileged user triggers this reliably by watching one of its own keys through a notification pipe and racing ioctl(IOC_WATCH_QUEUE_SET_SIZE) on that pipe against keyctl(KEYCTL_SETPERM) on the key from another CPU, triggering:

  BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000
  RIP: 0010:post_one_notification.isra.0+0xa2/0x1e0
  Call Trace:
   __post_watch_notification+0x148/0x180
   keyctl_setperm_key+0x119/0x130
   do_syscall_64+0x108/0x4c0
   entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
  Kernel panic - not syncing: Fatal exception in interrupt

Fix this by publishing nr_notes last with smp_store_release(), and by reading it once with smp_load_acquire() in post_one_notification() before the bitmap and the page array are touched. A poster that observes a non-zero nr_notes then also observes the pool behind it; one that observes zero drops the notification as before.

---
 kernel/watch_queue.c | 11 +++++++----
 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

index 6ed37bc95cb7b..b14dbef344996 100644
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ static bool post_one_notification(struct watch_queue *wqueue,
 	struct pipe_inode_info *pipe = wqueue->pipe;
 	struct pipe_buffer *buf;
 	struct page *page;
-	unsigned int head, tail, mask, note, offset, len;
+	unsigned int head, tail, mask, note, offset, len, nr_notes;
 	bool done = false;
 
 	if (!pipe)

@@ -116,8 +116,10 @@ static bool post_one_notification(struct watch_queue *wqueue,
 	if (pipe_full(head, tail, pipe->ring_size))
 		goto lost;
 
-	note = find_first_bit(wqueue->notes_bitmap, wqueue->nr_notes);
-	if (note >= wqueue->nr_notes)
+	/* Pairs with the smp_store_release() in watch_queue_set_size(). */
+	nr_notes = smp_load_acquire(&wqueue->nr_notes);
+	note = find_first_bit(wqueue->notes_bitmap, nr_notes);
+	if (note >= nr_notes)
 		goto lost;
 
 	page = wqueue->notes[note / WATCH_QUEUE_NOTES_PER_PAGE];

@@ -305,7 +307,8 @@ long watch_queue_set_size(struct pipe_inode_info *pipe, unsigned int nr_notes)
 	wqueue->notes = pages;
 	wqueue->notes_bitmap = bitmap;
 	wqueue->nr_pages = nr_pages;
-	wqueue->nr_notes = nr_notes;
+	/* Pairs with the smp_load_acquire() in post_one_notification(). */
+	smp_store_release(&wqueue->nr_notes, nr_notes);
 	return 0;
 
 error_p:

2.53.0