Re: [PATCH 5.4 106/434] media: flexcop-usb: fix NULL-ptr deref in flexcop_usb_transfer_init()

Johan Hovold
2020-01-03T16:53:14Z

On Fri, Jan 03, 2020 at 04:12:07PM +0000, Sean Young wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 03, 2020 at 04:02:42PM +0100, Johan Hovold wrote:
> > On Sun, Dec 29, 2019 at 06:22:39PM +0100, Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote:
> > > From: Yang Yingliang <yangyingliang@huawei.com>
> > >
> > > [ Upstream commit 649cd16c438f51d4cd777e71ca1f47f6e0c5e65d ]
> > >
> > > If usb_set_interface() failed, iface->cur_altsetting will
> > > not be assigned and it will be used in flexcop_usb_transfer_init()
> > > It may lead a NULL pointer dereference.
> > >
> > > Check usb_set_interface() return value in flexcop_usb_init()
> > > and return failed to avoid using this NULL pointer.
> > >
> > > Signed-off-by: Yang Yingliang <yangyingliang@huawei.com>
> > > Signed-off-by: Sean Young <sean@mess.org>
> > > Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+samsung@kernel.org>
> > > Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>
> >
> > This commit is bogus and should be dropped from all stable queues.
> >
> > Contrary to what the commit message claims, iface->cur_altsetting will
> > never be NULL so there's no risk for a NULL-pointer dereference here.
>
> Yes, you are right, I can't find any path through which cur_altsetting
> will be set to NULL. The commit message is wrong. I am sorry for letting
> this slip through.
>
> Thank you for pointing this out.
>
> > Even though the change itself is benign, we shouldn't spread this
> > confusion further.
>
> usb_set_interface() can fail for a number of reasons, and we should not
> continue if it fails. So, the commit message is misleading but the
> change itself is still valid.

Sure, the change itself is fine, but I wouldn't consider it stable
material even with a correct commit message as it is not a critical fix.

And the user would still see an error message in case changing
altsetting fails.

Johan