CVE-2022-49201

ibmvnic: fix race between xmit and reset

MEDIUM
4.7
CVSS Score
Published: February 26, 2025 at 01:55 AM UTC
Updated: August 5, 2026 at 09:24 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorLinux Kernel

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Severity
MEDIUM4.7
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ibmvnic: fix race between xmit and reset There is a race between reset and the transmit paths that can lead to ibmvnic_xmit() accessing an scrq after it has been freed in the reset path. It can result in a crash like: Kernel attempted to read user page (0) - exploit attempt? (uid: 0) BUG: Kernel NULL pointer dereference on read at 0x00000000 Faulting instruction address: 0xc0080000016189f8 Oops: Kernel access of bad area, sig: 11 [#1] ... NIP [c0080000016189f8] ibmvnic_xmit+0x60/0xb60 [ibmvnic] LR [c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280 Call Trace: [c008000001618f08] ibmvnic_xmit+0x570/0xb60 [ibmvnic] (unreliable) [c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280 [c000000000c9cfcc] sch_direct_xmit+0xec/0x330 [c000000000bfe640] __dev_xmit_skb+0x3a0/0x9d0 [c000000000c00ad4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x394/0x730 [c008000002db813c] __bond_start_xmit+0x254/0x450 [bonding] [c008000002db8378] bond_start_xmit+0x40/0xc0 [bonding] [c000000000c0046c] dev_hard_start_xmit+0x11c/0x280 [c000000000c00ca4] __dev_queue_xmit+0x564/0x730 [c000000000cf97e0] neigh_hh_output+0xd0/0x180 [c000000000cfa69c] ip_finish_output2+0x31c/0x5c0 [c000000000cfd244] __ip_queue_xmit+0x194/0x4f0 [c000000000d2a3c4] __tcp_transmit_skb+0x434/0x9b0 [c000000000d2d1e0] __tcp_retransmit_skb+0x1d0/0x6a0 [c000000000d2d984] tcp_retransmit_skb+0x34/0x130 [c000000000d310e8] tcp_retransmit_timer+0x388/0x6d0 [c000000000d315ec] tcp_write_timer_handler+0x1bc/0x330 [c000000000d317bc] tcp_write_timer+0x5c/0x200 [c000000000243270] call_timer_fn+0x50/0x1c0 [c000000000243704] __run_timers.part.0+0x324/0x460 [c000000000243894] run_timer_softirq+0x54/0xa0 [c000000000ea713c] __do_softirq+0x15c/0x3e0 [c000000000166258] __irq_exit_rcu+0x158/0x190 [c000000000166420] irq_exit+0x20/0x40 [c00000000002853c] timer_interrupt+0x14c/0x2b0 [c000000000009a00] decrementer_common_virt+0x210/0x220 --- interrupt: 900 at plpar_hcall_norets_notrace+0x18/0x2c The immediate cause of the crash is the access of tx_scrq in the following snippet during a reset, where the tx_scrq can be either NULL or an address that will soon be invalid: ibmvnic_xmit() { ... tx_scrq = adapter->tx_scrq[queue_num]; txq = netdev_get_tx_queue(netdev, queue_num); ind_bufp = &tx_scrq->ind_buf; if (test_bit(0, &adapter->resetting)) { ... } But beyond that, the call to ibmvnic_xmit() itself is not safe during a reset and the reset path attempts to avoid this by stopping the queue in ibmvnic_cleanup(). However just after the queue was stopped, an in-flight ibmvnic_complete_tx() could have restarted the queue even as the reset is progressing. Since the queue was restarted we could get a call to ibmvnic_xmit() which can then access the bad tx_scrq (or other fields). We cannot however simply have ibmvnic_complete_tx() check the ->resetting bit and skip starting the queue. This can race at the "back-end" of a good reset which just restarted the queue but has not cleared the ->resetting bit yet. If we skip restarting the queue due to ->resetting being true, the queue would remain stopped indefinitely potentially leading to transmit timeouts. IOW ->resetting is too broad for this purpose. Instead use a new flag that indicates whether or not the queues are active. Only the open/ reset paths control when the queues are active. ibmvnic_complete_tx() and others wake up the queue only if the queue is marked active. So we will have: A. reset/open thread in ibmvnic_cleanup() and __ibmvnic_open() ->resetting = true ->tx_queues_active = false disable tx queues ... ->tx_queues_active = true start tx queues B. Tx interrupt in ibmvnic_complete_tx(): if (->tx_queues_active) netif_wake_subqueue(); To ensure that ->tx_queues_active and state of the queues are consistent, we need a lock which: - must also be taken in the interrupt path (ibmvnic_complete_tx()) - shared across the multiple ---truncated---

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

5.16 ≤ v < 5.16.195.17 ≤ v < 5.17.25.4 ≤ v < 5.15.335.4 ≤ v < 5.16.195.4 ≤ v < 5.17.25.4 ≤ v < 5.185.47ed5b31f4a6695a21f617df07646e9b15c6c1d29
Vendor states this is fixed in 1bd58abf595b6cf1ba6dd47ec887c4c009155fc9 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 4219196d1f662cb10a462eb9e076633a3fc31a15 (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 475f9cce98b63bc145b4efa66fa51175d4cb345f (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 8507c6ade73cdbbbda5c3d31d67f52f2e1cf03fe (fixed)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.15.33 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.16.19 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.17.2 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.18 (unaffected)
Vendor states this is fixed in 5.4 (unaffected)

References (4)

Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1bd58abf595b6cf1ba6dd47ec887c4c009155fc9
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4219196d1f662cb10a462eb9e076633a3fc31a15
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/475f9cce98b63bc145b4efa66fa51175d4cb345f
Patch
Source: 416baaa9-dc9f-4396-8d5f-8c081fb06d67
https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/8507c6ade73cdbbbda5c3d31d67f52f2e1cf03fe

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

4.7MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-362CWE-476

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