In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

comedi: Fix use of uninitialized memory in do_insn_ioctl() and do_insnlist_ioctl()

syzbot reports a KMSAN kernel-infoleak in `do_insn_ioctl()`. A kernel
buffer is allocated to hold `insn->n` samples (each of which is an
`unsigned int`). For some instruction types, `insn->n` samples are
copied back to user-space, unless an error code is being returned. The
problem is that not all the instruction handlers that need to return
data to userspace fill in the whole `insn->n` samples, so that there is
an information leak. There is a similar syzbot report for
`do_insnlist_ioctl()`, although it does not have a reproducer for it at
the time of writing.

One culprit is `insn_rw_emulate_bits()` which is used as the handler for
`INSN_READ` or `INSN_WRITE` instructions for subdevices that do not have
a specific handler for that instruction, but do have an `INSN_BITS`
handler. For `INSN_READ` it only fills in at most 1 sample, so if
`insn->n` is greater than 1, the remaining `insn->n - 1` samples copied
to userspace will be uninitialized kernel data.

Another culprit is `vm80xx_ai_insn_read()` in the "vm80xx" driver. It
never returns an error, even if it fails to fill the buffer.

Fix it in `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` by making sure
that uninitialized parts of the allocated buffer are zeroed before
handling each instruction.

Thanks to Arnaud Lecomte for their fix to `do_insn_ioctl()`. That fix
replaced the call to `kmalloc_array()` with `kcalloc()`, but it is not
always necessary to clear the whole buffer.
History

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 17:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: comedi: Fix use of uninitialized memory in do_insn_ioctl() and do_insnlist_ioctl() syzbot reports a KMSAN kernel-infoleak in `do_insn_ioctl()`. A kernel buffer is allocated to hold `insn->n` samples (each of which is an `unsigned int`). For some instruction types, `insn->n` samples are copied back to user-space, unless an error code is being returned. The problem is that not all the instruction handlers that need to return data to userspace fill in the whole `insn->n` samples, so that there is an information leak. There is a similar syzbot report for `do_insnlist_ioctl()`, although it does not have a reproducer for it at the time of writing. One culprit is `insn_rw_emulate_bits()` which is used as the handler for `INSN_READ` or `INSN_WRITE` instructions for subdevices that do not have a specific handler for that instruction, but do have an `INSN_BITS` handler. For `INSN_READ` it only fills in at most 1 sample, so if `insn->n` is greater than 1, the remaining `insn->n - 1` samples copied to userspace will be uninitialized kernel data. Another culprit is `vm80xx_ai_insn_read()` in the "vm80xx" driver. It never returns an error, even if it fails to fill the buffer. Fix it in `do_insn_ioctl()` and `do_insnlist_ioctl()` by making sure that uninitialized parts of the allocated buffer are zeroed before handling each instruction. Thanks to Arnaud Lecomte for their fix to `do_insn_ioctl()`. That fix replaced the call to `kmalloc_array()` with `kcalloc()`, but it is not always necessary to clear the whole buffer.
Title comedi: Fix use of uninitialized memory in do_insn_ioctl() and do_insnlist_ioctl()
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2025-09-05T17:20:50.827Z

Reserved: 2025-04-16T07:20:57.113Z

Link: CVE-2025-39684

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-09-05T18:15:45.020

Modified: 2025-09-05T18:15:45.020

Link: CVE-2025-39684

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.