Vulnerabilities > CVE-2021-47637 - Improper Locking vulnerability in Linux Kernel
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ubifs: Fix deadlock in concurrent rename whiteout and inode writeback Following hung tasks: [ 77.028764] task:kworker/u8:4 state:D stack: 0 pid: 132 [ 77.028820] Call Trace: [ 77.029027] schedule+0x8c/0x1b0 [ 77.029067] mutex_lock+0x50/0x60 [ 77.029074] ubifs_write_inode+0x68/0x1f0 [ubifs] [ 77.029117] __writeback_single_inode+0x43c/0x570 [ 77.029128] writeback_sb_inodes+0x259/0x740 [ 77.029148] wb_writeback+0x107/0x4d0 [ 77.029163] wb_workfn+0x162/0x7b0 [ 92.390442] task:aa state:D stack: 0 pid: 1506 [ 92.390448] Call Trace: [ 92.390458] schedule+0x8c/0x1b0 [ 92.390461] wb_wait_for_completion+0x82/0xd0 [ 92.390469] __writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0xb2/0x110 [ 92.390472] writeback_inodes_sb_nr+0x14/0x20 [ 92.390476] ubifs_budget_space+0x705/0xdd0 [ubifs] [ 92.390503] do_rename.cold+0x7f/0x187 [ubifs] [ 92.390549] ubifs_rename+0x8b/0x180 [ubifs] [ 92.390571] vfs_rename+0xdb2/0x1170 [ 92.390580] do_renameat2+0x554/0x770 , are caused by concurrent rename whiteout and inode writeback processes: rename_whiteout(Thread 1) wb_workfn(Thread2) ubifs_rename do_rename lock_4_inodes (Hold ui_mutex) ubifs_budget_space make_free_space shrink_liability __writeback_inodes_sb_nr bdi_split_work_to_wbs (Queue new wb work) wb_do_writeback(wb work) __writeback_single_inode ubifs_write_inode LOCK(ui_mutex) ? wb_wait_for_completion (Wait wb work) <-- deadlock! Reproducer (Detail program in [Link]): 1. SYS_renameat2("/mp/dir/file", "/mp/dir/whiteout", RENAME_WHITEOUT) 2. Consume out of space before kernel(mdelay) doing budget for whiteout Fix it by doing whiteout space budget before locking ubifs inodes. BTW, it also fixes wrong goto tag 'out_release' in whiteout budget error handling path(It should at least recover dir i_size and unlock 4 ubifs inodes).
Vulnerable Configurations
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
- Leveraging Race Conditions This attack targets a race condition occurring when multiple processes access and manipulate the same resource concurrently and the outcome of the execution depends on the particular order in which the access takes place. The attacker can leverage a race condition by "running the race", modifying the resource and modifying the normal execution flow. For instance a race condition can occur while accessing a file, the attacker can trick the system by replacing the original file with his version and cause the system to read the malicious file.
- Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links This attack leverages the use of symbolic links (Symlinks) in order to write to sensitive files. An attacker can create a Symlink link to a target file not otherwise accessible to her. When the privileged program tries to create a temporary file with the same name as the Symlink link, it will actually write to the target file pointed to by the attackers' Symlink link. If the attacker can insert malicious content in the temporary file she will be writing to the sensitive file by using the Symlink. The race occurs because the system checks if the temporary file exists, then creates the file. The attacker would typically create the Symlink during the interval between the check and the creation of the temporary file.
References
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/37bdf1ad592555ecda1d55b89f6e393e4c0589d1
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/70e9090acc32348cedc5def0cd6d5c126efc97b9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/83e42a78428fc354f5e2049935b84c8d8d29b787
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8b278c8dcfb565cb65eceb62a38cbf7a7c326db5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9dddc8211430fb851ddf0b168e3a00c6f66cc185
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/afd427048047e8efdedab30e8888044e2be5aa9c
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/c58af8564a7b08757173009030b74baf4b2b762b