Vulnerabilities > CVE-2024-38557 - Improper Locking vulnerability in Linux Kernel
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/mlx5: Reload only IB representors upon lag disable/enable On lag disable, the bond IB device along with all of its representors are destroyed, and then the slaves' representors get reloaded. In case the slave IB representor load fails, the eswitch error flow unloads all representors, including ethernet representors, where the netdevs get detached and removed from lag bond. Such flow is inaccurate as the lag driver is not responsible for loading/unloading ethernet representors. Furthermore, the flow described above begins by holding lag lock to prevent bond changes during disable flow. However, when reaching the ethernet representors detachment from lag, the lag lock is required again, triggering the following deadlock: Call trace: __switch_to+0xf4/0x148 __schedule+0x2c8/0x7d0 schedule+0x50/0xe0 schedule_preempt_disabled+0x18/0x28 __mutex_lock.isra.13+0x2b8/0x570 __mutex_lock_slowpath+0x1c/0x28 mutex_lock+0x4c/0x68 mlx5_lag_remove_netdev+0x3c/0x1a0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_uplink_rep_disable+0x70/0xa0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_detach_netdev+0x6c/0xb0 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_netdev_change_profile+0x44/0x138 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_netdev_attach_nic_profile+0x28/0x38 [mlx5_core] mlx5e_vport_rep_unload+0x184/0x1b8 [mlx5_core] mlx5_esw_offloads_rep_load+0xd8/0xe0 [mlx5_core] mlx5_eswitch_reload_reps+0x74/0xd0 [mlx5_core] mlx5_disable_lag+0x130/0x138 [mlx5_core] mlx5_lag_disable_change+0x6c/0x70 [mlx5_core] // hold ldev->lock mlx5_devlink_eswitch_mode_set+0xc0/0x410 [mlx5_core] devlink_nl_cmd_eswitch_set_doit+0xdc/0x180 genl_family_rcv_msg_doit.isra.17+0xe8/0x138 genl_rcv_msg+0xe4/0x220 netlink_rcv_skb+0x44/0x108 genl_rcv+0x40/0x58 netlink_unicast+0x198/0x268 netlink_sendmsg+0x1d4/0x418 sock_sendmsg+0x54/0x60 __sys_sendto+0xf4/0x120 __arm64_sys_sendto+0x30/0x40 el0_svc_common+0x8c/0x120 do_el0_svc+0x30/0xa0 el0_svc+0x20/0x30 el0_sync_handler+0x90/0xb8 el0_sync+0x160/0x180 Thus, upon lag enable/disable, load and unload only the IB representors of the slaves preventing the deadlock mentioned above. While at it, refactor the mlx5_esw_offloads_rep_load() function to have a static helper method for its internal logic, in symmetry with the representor unload design.
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.