[PATCH] vhost: fix use-after-free in fdset during shutdown

Yehor Malikov
2026-02-04T18:03:44Z

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From ecc4db77657e4a1388d3799883238adf6d693c73 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Yehor Malikov <Yehor.Malikov@solidigm.com>
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2026 11:58:15 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] vhost: fix use-after-free in fdset during shutdown

The fdset_event_dispatch thread runs in a loop checking the destroy
flag after each epoll_wait iteration. During process exit,
rte_eal_cleanup() frees hugepages memory while the fdset thread is
still running, causing use-after-free when accessing the fdset
structure.

Add fdset_deinit() function to properly stop the dispatch thread
before freeing resources:
- Set destroy flag to signal thread exit
- Wait for thread completion via rte_thread_join()
- Close epoll fd and free memory only after thread exits

Add RTE_FINI destructor to ensure fdset cleanup runs before EAL
cleanup frees hugepages.

Fixes: e68a6feaa3b3 ("vhost: improve fdset initialization")

Signed-off-by: Yehor Malikov <Yehor.Malikov@solidigm.com>
---
.mailmap | 1 +
lib/vhost/fd_man.c | 33 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
lib/vhost/fd_man.h | 1 +
lib/vhost/socket.c | 8 ++++++++
4 files changed, 43 insertions(+)

diff --git a/.mailmap b/.mailmap
index 34a99f93a1..6fb87ca810 100644
--- a/.mailmap
+++ b/.mailmap
@@ -1800,6 +1800,7 @@ Yaron Illouz <yaroni@radcom.com>
Yaroslav Brustinov <ybrustin@cisco.com>
Yash Sharma <ysharma@marvell.com>
Yasufumi Ogawa <ogawa.yasufumi@lab.ntt.co.jp> <yasufum.o@gmail.com>
+Yehor Malikov <Yehor.Malikov@solidigm.com>
Yelena Krivosheev <yelena@marvell.com>
Yerden Zhumabekov <e_zhumabekov@sts.kz> <yerden.zhumabekov@sts.kz>
Yevgeny Kliteynik <kliteyn@nvidia.com>
diff --git a/lib/vhost/fd_man.c b/lib/vhost/fd_man.c
index f9147edee7..4c759d44a4 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/fd_man.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/fd_man.c
@@ -149,6 +149,39 @@ fdset_init(const char *name)
return NULL;
}

+void
+fdset_deinit(struct fdset *pfdset)
+{
+ unsigned int val;
+ int i;
+
+ if (pfdset == NULL)
+ return;
+
+ /* Signal the dispatch thread to stop */
+ pfdset->destroy = true;
+
+ /* Wait for the dispatch thread to exit */
+ if (rte_thread_join(pfdset->tid, &val) != 0)
+ VHOST_FDMAN_LOG(ERR, "Failed to join %s event dispatch thread", pfdset->name);
+
+ /* Close epoll fd */
+ close(pfdset->epfd);
+
+ /* Remove from global fdsets list */
+ pthread_mutex_lock(&fdsets_mutex);
+ for (i = 0; i < MAX_FDSETS; i++) {
+ if (fdsets[i] == pfdset) {
+ fdsets[i] = NULL;
+ break;
+ }
+ }
+ pthread_mutex_unlock(&fdsets_mutex);
+
+ /* Free the fdset */
+ rte_free(pfdset);
+}
+
static int
fdset_insert_entry(struct fdset *pfdset, int fd, fd_cb rcb, fd_cb wcb, void *dat)
{
diff --git a/lib/vhost/fd_man.h b/lib/vhost/fd_man.h
index eadcc6fb42..c9e51badaa 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/fd_man.h
+++ b/lib/vhost/fd_man.h
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ struct fdset;
typedef void (*fd_cb)(int fd, void *dat, int *close);

struct fdset *fdset_init(const char *name);
+void fdset_deinit(struct fdset *pfdset);

int fdset_add(struct fdset *pfdset, int fd,
fd_cb rcb, fd_cb wcb, void *dat);
diff --git a/lib/vhost/socket.c b/lib/vhost/socket.c
index 9b4f332f94..e953dd1849 100644
--- a/lib/vhost/socket.c
+++ b/lib/vhost/socket.c
@@ -1209,3 +1209,11 @@ rte_vhost_driver_start(const char *path)
else
return vhost_user_start_client(vsocket);
}
+
+RTE_FINI(vhost_user_fdset_fini)
+{
+ if (vhost_user.fdset != NULL) {
+ fdset_deinit(vhost_user.fdset);
+ vhost_user.fdset = NULL;
+ }
+}
--
2.51.1

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