[PATCH] net: natsemi: ns83820: Fix use-after-free in ns83820_remove_one due to race condition

[PATCH] net: natsemi: ns83820: Fix use-after-free in ns83820_remove_one due to race condition

[Pei Xiao]

In ns83820_init_one, &dev->tq_refill is bound with queue_refill, and
ns83820_rx_kick can schedule this work on system_wq when it is called
from the IRQ handler ns83820_irq (via ns83820_do_isr) or from the rx
tasklet rx_action.

If we remove the device, ns83820_remove_one makes cleanup and the
memory allocated for dev with netdev_priv() is released by
free_netdev(), while the work mentioned above may still be pending or
running. The sequence of operations that may lead to a UAF bug is as
follows:

CPU0                                      CPU1

                                          | ns83820_irq
                                          | ns83820_do_isr
                                          | ns83820_rx_kick
                                          | schedule_work(&dev->tq_refill)
ns83820_remove_one                        |
ns83820_disable_interrupts(dev)           |
unregister_netdev(ndev)                   |
free_irq(dev->pci_dev->irq, ndev)         |
iounmap(dev->base)                        |
dma_free_coherent(...)                    |
free_netdev(ndev)                         |
// dev is freed                           |
                                          | queue_refill
                                          | // use dev (use-after-free)

Fix it by canceling the work after the sources that can schedule it
(IRQ handler and rx tasklet, both via ns83820_rx_kick) have been
stopped, and before proceeding with the remaining cleanup in
ns83820_remove_one.

Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Assisted-by: Codex:deepseek-v4-flash
Signed-off-by: Pei Xiao <xiaopei01@kylinos.cn>
---
 drivers/net/ethernet/natsemi/ns83820.c | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/net/ethernet/natsemi/ns83820.c b/drivers/net/ethernet/natsemi/ns83820.c
index cdbf82affa7b..0e862e7770a9 100644
--- a/drivers/net/ethernet/natsemi/ns83820.c
+++ b/drivers/net/ethernet/natsemi/ns83820.c
@@ -2209,6 +2209,9 @@ static void ns83820_remove_one(struct pci_dev *pci_dev)
 
 	unregister_netdev(ndev);
 	free_irq(dev->pci_dev->irq, ndev);
+
+	cancel_work_sync(&dev->tq_refill);
+
 	iounmap(dev->base);
 	dma_free_coherent(&dev->pci_dev->dev, 4 * DESC_SIZE * NR_TX_DESC,
 			  dev->tx_descs, dev->tx_phy_descs);
-- 
2.25.1

Re: [PATCH] net: natsemi: ns83820: Fix use-after-free in ns83820_remove_one due to race condition

[Jakub Kicinski]

On Tue,  4 Aug 2026 10:38:12 +0800 Pei Xiao wrote:
> free_netdev(ndev)                         |
> // dev is freed                           |

isn't there obviously a window here for the work to run after dev is
freed but before we canceled?

>                                           | queue_refill
>                                           | // use dev (use-after-free)
-- 
pw-bot: cr