Skip to content

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been...

Moderate severity Unreviewed Published Aug 17, 2024 to the GitHub Advisory Database • Updated Aug 22, 2024

Package

No package listedSuggest a package

Affected versions

Unknown

Patched versions

Unknown

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

md: fix deadlock between mddev_suspend and flush bio

Deadlock occurs when mddev is being suspended while some flush bio is in
progress. It is a complex issue.

T1. the first flush is at the ending stage, it clears 'mddev->flush_bio'
and tries to submit data, but is blocked because mddev is suspended
by T4.
T2. the second flush sets 'mddev->flush_bio', and attempts to queue
md_submit_flush_data(), which is already running (T1) and won't
execute again if on the same CPU as T1.
T3. the third flush inc active_io and tries to flush, but is blocked because
'mddev->flush_bio' is not NULL (set by T2).
T4. mddev_suspend() is called and waits for active_io dec to 0 which is inc
by T3.

T1 T2 T3 T4
(flush 1) (flush 2) (third 3) (suspend)
md_submit_flush_data
mddev->flush_bio = NULL;
.
. md_flush_request
. mddev->flush_bio = bio
. queue submit_flushes
. .
. . md_handle_request
. . active_io + 1
. . md_flush_request
. . wait !mddev->flush_bio
. .
. . mddev_suspend
. . wait !active_io
. .
. submit_flushes
. queue_work md_submit_flush_data
. //md_submit_flush_data is already running (T1)
.
md_handle_request
wait resume

The root issue is non-atomic inc/dec of active_io during flush process.
active_io is dec before md_submit_flush_data is queued, and inc soon
after md_submit_flush_data() run.
md_flush_request
active_io + 1
submit_flushes
active_io - 1
md_submit_flush_data
md_handle_request
active_io + 1
make_request
active_io - 1

If active_io is dec after md_handle_request() instead of within
submit_flushes(), make_request() can be called directly intead of
md_handle_request() in md_submit_flush_data(), and active_io will
only inc and dec once in the whole flush process. Deadlock will be
fixed.

Additionally, the only difference between fixing the issue and before is
that there is no return error handling of make_request(). But after
previous patch cleaned md_write_start(), make_requst() only return error
in raid5_make_request() by dm-raid, see commit 41425f96d7aa ("dm-raid456,
md/raid456: fix a deadlock for dm-raid456 while io concurrent with
reshape)". Since dm always splits data and flush operation into two
separate io, io size of flush submitted by dm always is 0, make_request()
will not be called in md_submit_flush_data(). To prevent future
modifications from introducing issues, add WARN_ON to ensure
make_request() no error is returned in this context.

References

Published by the National Vulnerability Database Aug 17, 2024
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Aug 17, 2024
Last updated Aug 22, 2024

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS score

0.042%
(5th percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2024-43855

GHSA ID

GHSA-5ffp-85mp-h2q2

Source code

No known source code

Dependabot alerts are not supported on this advisory because it does not have a package from a supported ecosystem with an affected and fixed version.

Learn more about GitHub language support

Loading Checking history
See something to contribute? Suggest improvements for this vulnerability.