sched/core: Fix use-after-free bug in dup_user_cpus_ptr()

Summary

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: sched/core: Fix use-after-free bug in dup_user_cpus_ptr() Since commit 07ec77a1d4e8 ("sched: Allow task CPU affinity to be restricted on asymmetric systems"), the setting and clearing of user_cpus_ptr are done under pi_lock for arm64 architecture. However, dup_user_cpus_ptr() accesses user_cpus_ptr without any lock protection. Since sched_setaffinity() can be invoked from another process, the process being modified may be undergoing fork() at the same time. When racing with the clearing of user_cpus_ptr in __set_cpus_allowed_ptr_locked(), it can lead to user-after-free and possibly double-free in arm64 kernel. Commit 8f9ea86fdf99 ("sched: Always preserve the user requested cpumask") fixes this problem as user_cpus_ptr, once set, will never be cleared in a task's lifetime. However, this bug was re-introduced in commit 851a723e45d1 ("sched: Always clear user_cpus_ptr in do_set_cpus_allowed()") which allows the clearing of user_cpus_ptr in do_set_cpus_allowed(). This time, it will affect all arches. Fix this bug by always clearing the user_cpus_ptr of the newly cloned/forked task before the copying process starts and check the user_cpus_ptr state of the source task under pi_lock. Note to stable, this patch won't be applicable to stable releases. Just copy the new dup_user_cpus_ptr() function over.

Timeline

1. Aug 21, 2024, 6:10 AM UTCCVE published
2. Sep 10, 2024, 4:04 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. Aug 5, 2026, 8:52 AM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• Linux Linux

  Version range not reported

• Linux Linux

  5.15

References 3