From: "Vlastimil Babka (SUSE)" <vbabka@kernel.org>
To: Kuniyuki Iwashima <kuniyu@google.com>,
Andrey Ryabinin <ryabinin.a.a@gmail.com>,
Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>,
Harry Yoo <harry@kernel.org>
Cc: Alexander Potapenko <glider@google.com>,
Andrey Konovalov <andreyknvl@gmail.com>,
Dmitry Vyukov <dvyukov@google.com>,
Vincenzo Frascino <vincenzo.frascino@arm.com>,
Hao Li <hao.li@linux.dev>, Christoph Lameter <cl@gentwo.org>,
David Rientjes <rientjes@google.com>,
Roman Gushchin <roman.gushchin@linux.dev>,
kasan-dev@googlegroups.com, linux-mm@kvack.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/2] mm/kasan: Detect double-free involving kfree_rcu_sheaf().
Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:29:50 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <2e8cd2e0-c5c0-4f26-8e75-113b16c20903@kernel.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20261009214639.2878857-2-kuniyu@google.com>
On 10/9/26 23:46, Kuniyuki Iwashima wrote:
> syzbot reported a weird use-after-free splat. [0]
>
> In the report, an object in the kmalloc-64 cache was freed via
> rcu_free_sheaf() while it was still in use, even though the
> object should always be freed with kfree() (in xfrm_hash_free()),
> implying that the object was a victim of a double-free involving
> kfree_rcu() somewhere else.
>
> When kvfree_call_rcu() frees an object via kfree_rcu_sheaf() and
> queues it into pcs->rcu_free, debug facilities are skipped, e.g.,
> kasan_slab_pre_free(), kasan_record_aux_stack(),
> debug_rcu_head_queue(), etc.
>
> As a result, KASAN cannot detect the double-free at the call site.
>
> If the object is still in the KASAN quarantine when the sheaf is
> flushed, KASAN can detect the double-free in rcu_free_sheaf(), but
> with no trace of the suspect.
>
> Worse yet, once the object is evicted from the quarantine and
> reallocated before the sheaf is flushed, rcu_free_sheaf() silently
> poisons the live object, resulting in a false-positive use-after-free
> report on the new user.
>
> If __kfree_rcu_sheaf() simply calls kasan_slab_pre_free(), we
> can detect the second kfree_rcu(), but only while the object is
> poisoned in the KASAN quarantine after the first free:
>
> kfree() --(poisoned)--------------------> kfree_rcu()
> kfree_rcu() -> rcu_free_sheaf() -(poisoned)-> kfree_rcu()
>
> An object queued in pcs->rcu_free remains unpoisoned until the
> sheaf becomes full and rcu_free_sheaf() runs after the RCU
> grace period, so a subsequent kfree_rcu() or kfree() before
> rcu_free_sheaf() cannot be detected by shadow bytes alone:
>
> kfree_rcu() -(unpoisoned)-> kfree_rcu() -> rcu_free_sheaf() (too late!)
> kfree_rcu() -(unpoisoned)-> kfree() -> rcu_free_sheaf() (too late!)
>
> These cases can be detected if we call debug_rcu_head_queue()
> before kfree_rcu_sheaf(), but ODEBUG splat only shows the second
> free.
>
> To detect these cases with KASAN, we just need a 1-bit flag
> to indicate the state, which can reuse an unused bit in struct
> kasan_track.pid. (PID_MAX_LIMIT is 1<<22)
>
> The bit is marked along with recording the stack trace when
> deferring slab frees in kfree_rcu_sheaf() and checked in
> check_slab_allocation() so that any double-free pattern above
> can be detected immediately.
>
> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/6ac959ee.70ed5d86.2ac85.007d.GAE@google.com/ #[0]
> Signed-off-by: Kuniyuki Iwashima <kuniyu@google.com>
Acked-by: Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) <vbabka@kernel.org>
For the slab part.
> ---
> include/linux/kasan.h | 13 +++++++++----
> mm/kasan/common.c | 13 ++++++++-----
> mm/kasan/generic.c | 14 +++++++++++++-
> mm/kasan/kasan.h | 34 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
> mm/slub.c | 13 ++++++++++---
> 5 files changed, 73 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/include/linux/kasan.h b/include/linux/kasan.h
> index bf233bde68c7..3a43e3d2658e 100644
> --- a/include/linux/kasan.h
> +++ b/include/linux/kasan.h
> @@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ static __always_inline void * __must_check kasan_init_slab_obj(
> }
>
> bool __kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *s, void *object,
> - unsigned long ip);
> + unsigned long ip, bool after_rcu_delay);
> /**
> * kasan_slab_pre_free - Check whether freeing a slab object is safe.
> * @object: Object to be freed.
> @@ -193,10 +193,12 @@ bool __kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *s, void *object,
> * @Return true if freeing the object is unsafe; false otherwise.
> */
> static __always_inline bool kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *s,
> - void *object)
> + void *object,
> + bool after_rcu_delay)
> {
> if (kasan_enabled())
> - return __kasan_slab_pre_free(s, object, _RET_IP_);
> + return __kasan_slab_pre_free(s, object, _RET_IP_,
> + after_rcu_delay);
> return false;
> }
>
> @@ -424,7 +426,8 @@ static inline void *kasan_init_slab_obj(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> return (void *)object;
> }
>
> -static inline bool kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *s, void *object)
> +static inline bool kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *s, void *object,
> + bool after_rcu_delay)
> {
> return false;
> }
> @@ -495,6 +498,7 @@ void kasan_cache_create(struct kmem_cache *cache, unsigned int *size,
> void kasan_cache_shrink(struct kmem_cache *cache);
> void kasan_cache_shutdown(struct kmem_cache *cache);
> void kasan_record_aux_stack(void *ptr);
> +void kasan_record_aux_stack_rcu(void *ptr);
>
> #else /* CONFIG_KASAN_GENERIC */
>
> @@ -512,6 +516,7 @@ static inline void kasan_cache_create(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> static inline void kasan_cache_shrink(struct kmem_cache *cache) {}
> static inline void kasan_cache_shutdown(struct kmem_cache *cache) {}
> static inline void kasan_record_aux_stack(void *ptr) {}
> +static inline void kasan_record_aux_stack_rcu(void *ptr) {}
>
> #endif /* CONFIG_KASAN_GENERIC */
>
> diff --git a/mm/kasan/common.c b/mm/kasan/common.c
> index 7d21c4db68d2..4187606a88cf 100644
> --- a/mm/kasan/common.c
> +++ b/mm/kasan/common.c
> @@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ void kasan_set_track(struct kasan_track *track, depot_stack_handle_t stack)
> track->timestamp = ts_nsec >> 9;
> #endif /* CONFIG_KASAN_EXTRA_INFO */
> track->pid = current->pid;
> + track->rcu_free = 0;
> track->stack = stack;
> }
>
> @@ -231,7 +232,7 @@ void * __must_check __kasan_init_slab_obj(struct kmem_cache *cache,
>
> /* Returns true when freeing the object is not safe. */
> static bool check_slab_allocation(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object,
> - unsigned long ip)
> + unsigned long ip, bool after_rcu_delay)
> {
> void *tagged_object = object;
>
> @@ -242,7 +243,8 @@ static bool check_slab_allocation(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object,
> return true;
> }
>
> - if (!kasan_byte_accessible(tagged_object)) {
> + if (!kasan_byte_accessible(tagged_object) ||
> + kasan_check_rcu_free(cache, object, after_rcu_delay)) {
> kasan_report_invalid_free(tagged_object, ip, KASAN_REPORT_DOUBLE_FREE);
> return true;
> }
> @@ -259,17 +261,18 @@ static inline void poison_slab_object(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object,
>
> kasan_poison(object, round_up(cache->object_size, KASAN_GRANULE_SIZE),
> KASAN_SLAB_FREE, init);
> + kasan_clear_rcu_free(cache, object);
>
> if (kasan_stack_collection_enabled())
> kasan_save_free_info(cache, tagged_object);
> }
>
> bool __kasan_slab_pre_free(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object,
> - unsigned long ip)
> + unsigned long ip, bool after_rcu_delay)
> {
> if (is_kfence_address(object))
> return false;
> - return check_slab_allocation(cache, object, ip);
> + return check_slab_allocation(cache, object, ip, after_rcu_delay);
> }
>
> bool __kasan_slab_free(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object, bool init,
> @@ -544,7 +547,7 @@ bool __kasan_mempool_poison_object(void *ptr, unsigned long ip)
>
> slab = page_slab(page);
>
> - if (check_slab_allocation(slab->slab_cache, ptr, ip))
> + if (check_slab_allocation(slab->slab_cache, ptr, ip, false))
> return false;
>
> poison_slab_object(slab->slab_cache, ptr, false);
> diff --git a/mm/kasan/generic.c b/mm/kasan/generic.c
> index 2b8e73f5f6a7..07636ffe1626 100644
> --- a/mm/kasan/generic.c
> +++ b/mm/kasan/generic.c
> @@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ size_t kasan_metadata_size(struct kmem_cache *cache, bool in_object)
> * This function avoids dynamic memory allocations and thus can be called from
> * contexts that do not allow allocating memory.
> */
> -void kasan_record_aux_stack(void *addr)
> +static void __kasan_record_aux_stack(void *addr, bool rcu_free)
> {
> struct slab *slab = kasan_addr_to_slab(addr);
> struct kmem_cache *cache;
> @@ -552,10 +552,22 @@ void kasan_record_aux_stack(void *addr)
> if (!alloc_meta)
> return;
>
> + if (rcu_free)
> + alloc_meta->alloc_track.rcu_free = 1;
> alloc_meta->aux_stack[1] = alloc_meta->aux_stack[0];
> alloc_meta->aux_stack[0] = kasan_save_stack(0, 0);
> }
>
> +void kasan_record_aux_stack(void *addr)
> +{
> + __kasan_record_aux_stack(addr, false);
> +}
> +
> +void kasan_record_aux_stack_rcu(void *addr)
> +{
> + __kasan_record_aux_stack(addr, true);
> +}
> +
> void kasan_save_alloc_info(struct kmem_cache *cache, void *object, gfp_t flags)
> {
> struct kasan_alloc_meta *alloc_meta;
> diff --git a/mm/kasan/kasan.h b/mm/kasan/kasan.h
> index fc9169a54766..43d608899544 100644
> --- a/mm/kasan/kasan.h
> +++ b/mm/kasan/kasan.h
> @@ -191,7 +191,10 @@ static inline bool kasan_requires_meta(void)
> #define KASAN_STACK_DEPTH 64
>
> struct kasan_track {
> - u32 pid;
> +#define KASAN_PID_BITS const_ilog2(PID_MAX_LIMIT)
> + u32 pid:KASAN_PID_BITS;
> + u32 rcu_free:1;
> + u32 unused:32 - (KASAN_PID_BITS + 1);
> depot_stack_handle_t stack;
> #ifdef CONFIG_KASAN_EXTRA_INFO
> u64 cpu:20;
> @@ -390,8 +393,37 @@ struct kasan_alloc_meta *kasan_get_alloc_meta(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> struct kasan_free_meta *kasan_get_free_meta(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> const void *object);
> void kasan_init_object_meta(struct kmem_cache *cache, const void *object);
> +
> +static inline bool kasan_check_rcu_free(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> + const void *object,
> + bool after_rcu_delay)
> +{
> + struct kasan_alloc_meta *alloc_meta;
> +
> + alloc_meta = kasan_get_alloc_meta(cache, object);
> + if (!alloc_meta)
> + return false;
> +
> + return alloc_meta->alloc_track.rcu_free != after_rcu_delay;
> +}
> +
> +static inline void kasan_clear_rcu_free(struct kmem_cache *cache,
> + const void *object)
> +{
> + struct kasan_alloc_meta *alloc_meta;
> +
> + alloc_meta = kasan_get_alloc_meta(cache, object);
> + if (alloc_meta)
> + alloc_meta->alloc_track.rcu_free = 0;
> +}
> #else
> static inline void kasan_init_object_meta(struct kmem_cache *cache, const void *object) { }
> +static inline bool kasan_check_rcu_free(struct kmem_cache *cache, const void *object,
> + bool after_rcu_delay)
> +{
> + return false;
> +}
> +static inline void kasan_clear_rcu_free(struct kmem_cache *cache, const void *object) { }
> #endif
>
> depot_stack_handle_t kasan_save_stack(gfp_t flags, depot_flags_t depot_flags);
> diff --git a/mm/slub.c b/mm/slub.c
> index 544cff39762c..8a08ca73d76b 100644
> --- a/mm/slub.c
> +++ b/mm/slub.c
> @@ -2690,7 +2690,7 @@ bool slab_free_hook(struct kmem_cache *s, void *x, bool init,
> * Give KASAN a chance to notice an invalid free operation before we
> * modify the object.
> */
> - if (kasan_slab_pre_free(s, x))
> + if (kasan_slab_pre_free(s, x, after_rcu_delay))
> return false;
>
> #ifdef CONFIG_SLUB_RCU_DEBUG
> @@ -2706,7 +2706,7 @@ bool slab_free_hook(struct kmem_cache *s, void *x, bool init,
> * We have to do this manually because the rcu_head is
> * not located inside the object.
> */
> - kasan_record_aux_stack(x);
> + kasan_record_aux_stack_rcu(x);
>
> delayed_free->object = x;
> call_rcu(&delayed_free->head, slab_free_after_rcu_debug);
> @@ -6177,6 +6177,12 @@ bool __kfree_rcu_sheaf(struct kmem_cache *s, void *obj, unsigned int free_flags)
> }
>
> do_free:
> + if (unlikely(kasan_slab_pre_free(s, obj, false))) {
> + local_unlock(&s->cpu_sheaves->lock);
> + goto out;
> + }
> +
> + kasan_record_aux_stack_rcu(obj);
>
> rcu_sheaf = pcs->rcu_free;
>
> @@ -6217,6 +6223,7 @@ bool __kfree_rcu_sheaf(struct kmem_cache *s, void *obj, unsigned int free_flags)
> local_unlock(&s->cpu_sheaves->lock);
>
> stat(s, FREE_RCU_SHEAF);
> +out:
> if (!IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_PREEMPT_RT))
> lock_map_release(&kfree_rcu_sheaf_map);
> return true;
> @@ -6850,7 +6857,7 @@ void kfree_nolock(const void *object)
> * -> kfree_nolock() -> kasan_report_invalid_free() on the same CPU
> * is double buggy and deserves to deadlock.
> */
> - if (kasan_slab_pre_free(s, x))
> + if (kasan_slab_pre_free(s, x, false))
> return;
> /*
> * memcg, kasan_slab_pre_free are done for 'x'.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-10-20 12:30 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 9+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-10-09 21:46 [PATCH 0/2] mm/kasan: Detect double-free involving kfree_rcu_sheaf() Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-10-09 21:46 ` [PATCH 1/2] " Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-10-20 12:29 ` Vlastimil Babka (SUSE) [this message]
2026-10-27 12:48 ` Alexander Potapenko
2026-10-27 21:51 ` Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-10-09 21:46 ` [PATCH 2/2] mm/kasan/kunit: Add double-free tests " Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-10-27 12:48 ` Alexander Potapenko
2026-10-27 22:16 ` Kuniyuki Iwashima
2026-10-27 6:15 ` [PATCH 0/2] mm/kasan: Detect double-free " Kuniyuki Iwashima
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