When setting up a channel bridge, ppp_bridge_channels sets the pch->bridge field before taking the associated reference on the bridge file instance.
This opens up a refcount underflow bug if ppp_bridge_channels called via. iotcl runs concurrently with ppp_unbridge_channels executing via. file release. The bug is triggered by ppp_bridge_channels taking the error path through the 'err_unset' label. In this scenario, pch->bridge is set, but the reference on the bridged channel will not be taken because the function errors out. If ppp_unbridge_channels observes pch->bridge before it is unset by the error path, it will erroneously drop the reference on the bridged channel and cause a refcount underflow. To avoid this, ensure that ppp_bridge_channels holds a reference on each channel in advance of setting the bridge pointers. --- v2: * rework ppp_bridge_channels code to avoid the race condition in preference to holding ppp_mutex while calling ppp_unbridge_channels --- drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c | 20 ++++++++++++++++---- 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c b/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c index 09c27f7773f9..d019fa40b494 100644 --- a/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c +++ b/drivers/net/ppp/ppp_generic.c @@ -617,12 +617,15 @@ static struct bpf_prog *compat_ppp_get_filter(struct sock_fprog32 __user *p) */ static int ppp_bridge_channels(struct channel *pch, struct channel *pchb) { + bool drop_ref = false; + write_lock_bh(&pch->upl); if (pch->ppp || rcu_dereference_protected(pch->bridge, lockdep_is_held(&pch->upl))) { write_unlock_bh(&pch->upl); return -EALREADY; } + refcount_inc(&pchb->file.refcnt); rcu_assign_pointer(pch->bridge, pchb); write_unlock_bh(&pch->upl); @@ -632,19 +635,28 @@ static int ppp_bridge_channels(struct channel *pch, struct channel *pchb) write_unlock_bh(&pchb->upl); goto err_unset; } + refcount_inc(&pch->file.refcnt); rcu_assign_pointer(pchb->bridge, pch); write_unlock_bh(&pchb->upl); - refcount_inc(&pch->file.refcnt); - refcount_inc(&pchb->file.refcnt); - return 0; err_unset: write_lock_bh(&pch->upl); - RCU_INIT_POINTER(pch->bridge, NULL); + /* Re-check pch->bridge with upl held since a racing unbridge might already + * have cleared it and dropped the reference on pch->bridge. + */ + if (rcu_dereference_protected(pch->bridge, lockdep_is_held(&pch->upl))) { + RCU_INIT_POINTER(pch->bridge, NULL); + drop_ref = true; + } write_unlock_bh(&pch->upl); synchronize_rcu(); + + if (drop_ref) + if (refcount_dec_and_test(&pchb->file.refcnt)) + ppp_destroy_channel(pchb); + return -EALREADY; } -- 2.17.1