From: "Bogdan Codres (Wind River)" <bogdan.codres@windriver.com>
To: dmaengine@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: vkoul@kernel.org, dave.jiang@intel.com, vinicius.gomes@intel.com,
xueshuai@linux.alibaba.com, yi.sun@intel.com,
fenghuay@nvidia.com, dan.carpenter@linaro.org,
gregkh@linuxfoundation.org, stable@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH] dmaengine: idxd: fix use-after-free in idxd_free() and idxd_alloc() error paths
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:39:31 +0300 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260615103932.61828-1-bogdan.codres@windriver.com> (raw)
To: dmaengine@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Vinod Koul <vkoul@kernel.org>,
Dave Jiang <dave.jiang@intel.com>,
Vinicius Costa Gomes <vinicius.gomes@intel.com>,
Shuai Xue <xueshuai@linux.alibaba.com>,
Yi Sun <yi.sun@intel.com>,
Fenghua Yu <fenghuay@nvidia.com>,
Dan Carpenter <dan.carpenter@linaro.org>,
Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>,
stable@vger.kernel.org
Hi,
This patch fixes a double-free / use-after-free bug in the IDXD driver's
probe error path that corrupts the slab allocator and crashes the kernel.
The bug was introduced by commit 90022b3a6981 ("dmaengine: idxd: fix memory
leak in error handling path of idxd_pci_probe") which added the idxd_free()
helper.
Root Cause
----------
idxd_free() performs:
static void idxd_free(struct idxd_device *idxd)
{
if (!idxd)
return;
put_device(idxd_confdev(idxd)); // (1) triggers release callback
bitmap_free(idxd->opcap_bmap); // (2) USE AFTER FREE
ida_free(&idxd_ida, idxd->id); // (3) DOUBLE ida_free
kfree(idxd); // (4) DOUBLE kfree
}
Since device_initialize() was called in idxd_alloc(), conf_dev has
refcount=1. Step (1) drops it to 0 and synchronously triggers:
put_device() -> kobject_put() -> kobject_release() -> kobject_cleanup()
-> device_release() -> dev->type->release -> idxd_conf_device_release()
idxd_conf_device_release() (in sysfs.c) already does:
static void idxd_conf_device_release(struct device *dev)
{
struct idxd_device *idxd = confdev_to_idxd(dev);
kfree(idxd->groups);
bitmap_free(idxd->wq_enable_map);
kfree(idxd->wqs);
kfree(idxd->engines);
kfree(idxd->evl);
kmem_cache_destroy(idxd->evl_cache);
ida_free(&idxd_ida, idxd->id); // <- FIRST ida_free
bitmap_free(idxd->opcap_bmap); // <- FIRST bitmap_free
kfree(idxd); // <- FIRST kfree
}
So after put_device() returns in idxd_free():
- idxd pointer is dangling (memory freed)
- idxd->opcap_bmap is dangling
- idxd->id has already been freed from the IDA
Steps 2-4 then operate on freed memory, corrupting the slab allocator.
The same pattern exists in idxd_alloc() at the err_name label.
How to Reproduce
----------------
This occurs during kdump (crash dump collection) on systems with
Intel IDXD hardware:
1. System has Intel IDXD (DSA/IAX) -- e.g., Granite Rapids / Sapphire
Rapids platforms
2. Original kernel panics (any reason)
3. Kdump kernel boots with: reset_devices nr_cpus=1
4. IDXD device is in HALTED state due to reset_devices
5. IDXD driver probes the device -> probe fails -> idxd_free() ->
double-free -> slab corruption
6. systemd-udevd loads next module -> module signature verification
allocates memory -> hits corrupted slab -> kernel oops
Console Output (kdump kernel)
-----------------------------
[ 18.628791] idxd 0000:00:01.0: Device is HALTED!
[ 18.631447] idxd 0000:00:01.0: Intel(R) IDXD DMA Engine init failed
[ 18.631450] ------------[ cut here ]------------
[ 18.631451] ida_free called for id=0 which is not allocated.
[ 18.631462] WARNING: CPU: 0 PID: 11 at lib/idr.c:525 ida_free+0xd3/0x130
[ 18.631502] idxd_pci_probe+0x1b0/0x1860 [idxd]
...
[ 18.898798] BUG: unable to handle page fault for address: ff2c9dd300000010
[ 18.931865] RIP: 0010:___slab_alloc+0x168/0xa10
...
[ 19.097220] __kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x82/0x230
[ 19.102683] mpi_alloc+0x20/0x80
[ 19.106676] rsa_enc+0x2f/0x120
[ 19.110549] pkcs1pad_verify+0x13b/0x1a0
...
[ 19.161968] module_sig_check+0x87/0xe0
[ 19.166709] load_module+0x3c/0x1e80
Affected Versions
-----------------
- Mainline: present at HEAD (introduced Apr 2025)
- Stable: v6.12.30+ (backport commit 017d4012dc05)
- Also present in other stable branches that received the backport
Test Platform
-------------
- Dell PowerEdge XR8720t
- Intel Xeon 6716P-B (Granite Rapids)
- Kernel: 6.12.0-1-rt-amd64 (StarlingX 6.12.40-1.stx.140)
- RT: PREEMPT_RT
Why This Was Not Caught Earlier
-------------------------------
1. The error path only triggers when IDXD device is HALTED -- this
only happens with reset_devices (kdump) or hardware error
2. On normal boot, IDXD probe always succeeds
3. Most kdump configurations blacklist IDXD via module_blacklist=
4. Systems without IDXD hardware are unaffected
5. The ida_free WARNING alone doesn't crash -- it's the subsequent
slab corruption that causes the fatal oops, which may appear as
an unrelated bug
Workaround
----------
Add idxd to module_blacklist in the kdump kernel command line:
module_blacklist=idxd,idxd_bus
Fix
---
Remove the duplicate bitmap_free/ida_free/kfree from idxd_free()
since idxd_conf_device_release() (triggered by put_device()) already
handles all resource deallocation. Similarly fix idxd_alloc() err_name
path.
Related Commits
---------------
- 90022b3a6981 ("dmaengine: idxd: fix memory leak in error handling
path of idxd_pci_probe") -- introduces the bug
- 46a5cca76c76 ("dmaengine: idxd: fix memory leak in error handling
path of idxd_alloc") -- same pattern in idxd_alloc
- f41c538881ee ("dmaengine: idxd: Remove improper idxd_free") -- fixes
the same function but only in idxd_remove(), not probe error path
- c311f5e9248471 ("dmaengine: idxd: Fix freeing the allocated ida too
late") -- establishes the correct pattern for cdev (ida_free before
put_device, not in .release())
Thanks,
Bogdan
Bogdan Codres (1):
dmaengine: idxd: fix use-after-free in idxd_free() and idxd_alloc()
error paths
drivers/dma/idxd/init.c | 16 +++++++++++-----
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
--
2.43.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-06-15 10:40 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-06-15 10:39 Bogdan Codres (Wind River) [this message]
2026-06-15 10:39 ` [PATCH] dmaengine: idxd: fix use-after-free in idxd_free() and idxd_alloc() error paths Bogdan Codres (Wind River)
2026-06-15 11:02 ` sashiko-bot
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=20260615103932.61828-1-bogdan.codres@windriver.com \
--to=bogdan.codres@windriver.com \
--cc=dan.carpenter@linaro.org \
--cc=dave.jiang@intel.com \
--cc=dmaengine@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=fenghuay@nvidia.com \
--cc=gregkh@linuxfoundation.org \
--cc=linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=stable@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=vinicius.gomes@intel.com \
--cc=vkoul@kernel.org \
--cc=xueshuai@linux.alibaba.com \
--cc=yi.sun@intel.com \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox