dm thin: make get_first_thin use rcu-safe list first function
The documentation in rculist.h explains the absence of list_empty_rcu()
and cautions programmers against relying on a list_empty() ->
list_first() sequence in RCU safe code. This is because each of these
functions performs its own READ_ONCE() of the list head. This can lead
to a situation where the list_empty() sees a valid list entry, but the
subsequent list_first() sees a different view of list head state after a
modification.
In the case of dm-thin, this author had a production box crash from a GP
fault in the process_deferred_bios path. This function saw a valid list
head in get_first_thin() but when it subsequently dereferenced that and
turned it into a thin_c, it got the inside of the struct pool, since the
list was now empty and referring to itself. The kernel on which this
occurred printed both a warning about a refcount_t being saturated, and
a UBSAN error for an out-of-bounds cpuid access in the queued spinlock,
prior to the fault itself. When the resulting kdump was examined, it
was possible to see another thread patiently waiting in thin_dtr's
synchronize_rcu.
The thin_dtr call managed to pull the thin_c out of the active thins
list (and have it be the last entry in the active_thins list) at just
the wrong moment which lead to this crash.
Fortunately, the fix here is straight forward. Switch get_first_thin()
function to use list_first_or_null_rcu() which performs just a single
READ_ONCE() and returns NULL if the list is already empty.
This was run against the devicemapper test suite's thin-provisioning
suites for delete and suspend and no regressions were observed.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:30:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
Weaknesses | NVD-CWE-noinfo | |
CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:-:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:rc7:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:3.15:rc8:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc1:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc2:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc3:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc4:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc5:*:*:*:*:*:* cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:6.13:rc6:*:*:*:*:*:* |
|
Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
Metrics |
cvssV3_1
|
cvssV3_1
|
Fri, 14 Mar 2025 03:00:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
Weaknesses | CWE-20 | |
Metrics |
cvssV3_1
|
cvssV3_1
|
Sun, 02 Feb 2025 10:30:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
References |
|
Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:30:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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References |
| |
Metrics |
threat_severity
|
cvssV3_1
|
Thu, 23 Jan 2025 17:15:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
---|---|---|
References |
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Tue, 21 Jan 2025 12:30:00 +0000
Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
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Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dm thin: make get_first_thin use rcu-safe list first function The documentation in rculist.h explains the absence of list_empty_rcu() and cautions programmers against relying on a list_empty() -> list_first() sequence in RCU safe code. This is because each of these functions performs its own READ_ONCE() of the list head. This can lead to a situation where the list_empty() sees a valid list entry, but the subsequent list_first() sees a different view of list head state after a modification. In the case of dm-thin, this author had a production box crash from a GP fault in the process_deferred_bios path. This function saw a valid list head in get_first_thin() but when it subsequently dereferenced that and turned it into a thin_c, it got the inside of the struct pool, since the list was now empty and referring to itself. The kernel on which this occurred printed both a warning about a refcount_t being saturated, and a UBSAN error for an out-of-bounds cpuid access in the queued spinlock, prior to the fault itself. When the resulting kdump was examined, it was possible to see another thread patiently waiting in thin_dtr's synchronize_rcu. The thin_dtr call managed to pull the thin_c out of the active thins list (and have it be the last entry in the active_thins list) at just the wrong moment which lead to this crash. Fortunately, the fix here is straight forward. Switch get_first_thin() function to use list_first_or_null_rcu() which performs just a single READ_ONCE() and returns NULL if the list is already empty. This was run against the devicemapper test suite's thin-provisioning suites for delete and suspend and no regressions were observed. | |
Title | dm thin: make get_first_thin use rcu-safe list first function | |
References |
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2025-05-04T07:18:30.814Z
Reserved: 2024-12-29T08:45:45.732Z
Link: CVE-2025-21664

No data.

Status : Analyzed
Published: 2025-01-21T13:15:10.053
Modified: 2025-09-26T16:18:27.050
Link: CVE-2025-21664


No data.