Linux kernel source tree
Go to file
Thomas Gleixner 920f893f73 posix-cpu-timers: Prevent UAF caused by non-leader exec() race
Wongi and Jungwoo decoded and reported a non-leader exec() related race
which can result in an UAF:

 sys_timer_delete()			exec()
   posix_cpu_timer_del()
   // Observes old leader
   p = pid_task(pid, pid_type);		de_thread()
   					  switch_leader();
					  release_task(old_leader)
					    __exit_signal(old_leader)
					      sighand = lock(old_leader, sighand);
					      posix_cpu_timers*_exit();
   sighand = lock_task_sighand(p)	      unhash_task(old_leader);
     sh = lock(p, sighand)	    	      old_leader->sighand = NULL;
					      unlock(sighand);
     (p->sighand == NULL)
	unlock(sh)
	return NULL;

   // Returns without action
   if(!sighand)
      return 0;
   free_posix_timer();

This is "harmless" unless the deleted timer was armed and enqueued in
p->signal because on exec() a TGID targeted timer is inherited.

As sys_timer_delete() freed the underlying posix timer object
run_posix_cpu_timers() or any timerqueue related add/delete operations on
other timers will access the freed object's timerqueue node, which results
in an UAF.

There is a similar problem vs. posix_cpu_timer_set(). For regular posix
timers it just transiently returns -ESRCH to user space, but for the use
case in do_cpu_nanosleep() it's the same UAF just that the k_itimer is
allocated on the stack.

Also posix_cpu_timer_rearm() fails to rearm the timer, which means it stops
to expire.

While debating solutions Frederic pointed out another problem:

   posix_cpu_timer_del(tmr)
					__exit_signal(p)
					  posix_cpu_timers*_exit(p);
					  unhash_task(p);
					  p->sighand = NULL;
     sh = lock_task_sighand(p)
        sighand = p->sighand;
	if (!sighand)
	    return NULL;
	lock(sighand);

     if (!sh)
	WARN_ON_ONCE(timer_queued(tmr));

On weakly ordered architectures it is not guaranteed that
posix_cpu_timer_del() will observe the stores in posix_cpu_timers*_exit()
when p->sighand is observed as NULL, which means the WARN() can be a false
positive.

Solve these issues by:

  1) Changing the store in __exit_signal() to smp_store_release().

  2) Adding a smp_acquire__after_ctrl_dep() into the !sighand path
     of lock_task_sighand().

  3) Creating a helper function for looking up the task and locking sighand
     which does not return when sighand == NULL. Instead it retries the
     task lookup and only if that fails it gives up.

  4) Using that helper in the three affected functions.

#1/#2 ensures that the reader side which observes sighand == NULL also
observes all preceeding stores, i.e. the stores in posix_cpu_timers*_exit()
and the ones in unhash_task().

#3 ensures that the above described non-leader exec() situation is handled
gracefully. When the task lookup returns the old leader, but sighand ==
NULL then it retries. In the non-leader exec() case the subsequent task
lookup will observe the new leader due to #1/#2. In normal exit() scenarios
the subsequent lookup fails.

When the task lookup fails, the function also checks whether the timer is
still enqueued and issues a warning if that's the case. Unfortunately there
is nothing which can be done about it, but as the task is already not
longer visible the timer should not be accessed anymore. This check also
requires memory ordering, which is not provided when the first lookup
fails. To achieve that the check is preceeded by a smp_rmb() which pairs
with the smp_wmb() in write_seqlock() in __exit_signal(). That ensures that
the stores in posix_cpu_timers*_exit() are visible.

The history of the non-leader exec() issue goes back to the early days of
posix CPU timers, which stored a pointer to the group leader task in the
timer. That obviously fails when a non-leader exec() switches the leader.
commit e0a7021710 ("posix-cpu-timers: workaround to suppress the problems
with mt exec") added a temporary workaround for that in 2010 which survived
about 10 years. The fix for the workaround changed the task pointer to a
pid pointer, but failed to see the subtle race described above. So the
Fixes tag picks that commit, which seems to be halfways accurate.

Thanks to Frederic Weissbecker, Oleg Nesterov and Peter Zijlstra for
review, feedback and suggestions and to Wongi and Jungwoo for the excellent
bug report and analysis!

Fixes: 55e8c8eb2c ("posix-cpu-timers: Store a reference to a pid not a task")
Reported-by: Wongi Lee <qw3rtyp0@gmail.com>
Reported-by: Jungwoo Lee <jwlee2217@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>
Reviewed-by: Oleg Nesterov <oleg@redhat.com>
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
2026-07-05 11:44:06 +02:00
arch Split <linux/mod_devicetable.h> in per subsystem headers 2026-07-02 20:54:26 -10:00
block block: handle REQ_OP_ZONE_APPEND in __bio_integrity_action 2026-06-24 06:53:25 -06:00
certs treewide: fix indentation and whitespace in Kconfig files 2026-05-28 21:24:42 -07:00
crypto mm.git review status for mm-hotfixes-stable..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-06-21 13:20:19 -07:00
Documentation VFIO fixes for v7.2-rc2 2026-07-02 15:25:54 -10:00
drivers Split <linux/mod_devicetable.h> in per subsystem headers 2026-07-02 20:54:26 -10:00
fs fscrypt fixes for 7.2 2026-06-27 09:20:16 -07:00
include Split <linux/mod_devicetable.h> in per subsystem headers 2026-07-02 20:54:26 -10:00
init mm.git review status for mm-hotfixes-stable..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-06-21 13:20:19 -07:00
io_uring io_uring-7.2-20260625 2026-06-25 09:53:31 -07:00
ipc kernel-7.2-rc1.misc 2026-06-15 03:05:50 +05:30
kernel posix-cpu-timers: Prevent UAF caused by non-leader exec() race 2026-07-05 11:44:06 +02:00
lib bootconfig: fix NULL-pointer arithmetic in xbc_snprint_cmdline() 2026-07-01 08:08:27 +09:00
LICENSES LICENSES: Add modern form of the LGPL-2.1 tags to the usage guide section 2025-10-22 07:58:19 +02:00
mm block-7.2-20260625 2026-06-25 09:56:47 -07:00
net Split <linux/mod_devicetable.h> in per subsystem headers 2026-07-02 20:54:26 -10:00
rust Rust changes for v7.2 (addendum) 2026-06-24 15:11:08 -07:00
samples tracing/events: Fix to check the simple_tsk_fn creation 2026-06-30 23:58:19 +09:00
scripts Second round of Kbuild changes for 7.2 2026-06-25 09:06:12 -07:00
security bpf: Reject BPF_MAP_TYPE_INODE_STORAGE creation if BPF LSM is uninitialized 2026-06-30 16:31:56 +02:00
sound Replace <linux/mod_devicetable.h> by more specific <linux/device-id/*.h> (c files) 2026-07-03 07:38:17 +02:00
tools Split <linux/mod_devicetable.h> in per subsystem headers 2026-07-02 20:54:26 -10:00
usr kbuild: uapi: also test UAPI headers against C++ compilers 2026-03-25 13:24:42 +01:00
virt s390: 2026-06-25 10:21:13 -07:00
.clang-format clang-format: fix formatting of guard() and scoped_guard() statements 2026-05-28 21:24:41 -07:00
.clippy.toml rust: bump Clippy's MSRV and clean incompatible_msrv allows 2026-04-07 09:51:39 +02:00
.cocciconfig
.editorconfig editorconfig: add rst extension 2026-01-26 19:07:09 -08:00
.get_maintainer.ignore .get_maintainer.ignore: add myself 2026-04-02 16:48:25 +02:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: set diff driver for Rust source code files 2023-05-31 17:48:25 +02:00
.gitignore SPDX patches for 7.2-rc1 2026-06-22 12:06:22 -07:00
.mailmap MAINTAINERS: Update Jason Wang's email address 2026-06-29 19:09:00 -07:00
.pylintrc docs: Move the python libraries to tools/lib/python 2025-11-18 09:22:40 -07:00
.rustfmt.toml rust: add .rustfmt.toml 2022-09-28 09:02:20 +02:00
COPYING
CREDITS mm.git review status for mm-hotfixes-stable..mm-nonmm-stable 2026-06-21 13:20:19 -07:00
Kbuild checksyscalls: move instance functionality into generic code 2026-04-05 09:21:32 +02:00
Kconfig io_uring: Rename KConfig to Kconfig 2025-02-19 14:53:27 -07:00
MAINTAINERS Including fixes from netfilter and batman-adv. 2026-07-02 06:01:12 -10:00
Makefile Linux 7.2-rc1 2026-06-28 12:01:31 -07:00
README docs: add AI Coding Assistants documentation 2026-01-06 14:55:06 -07:00

Linux kernel
============

The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware,
system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software.

Quick Start
-----------

* Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst
* Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org
* Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst
* Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/

Essential Documentation
-----------------------

All users should be familiar with:

* Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst
* Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst
* License: See COPYING

Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at:
https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/


Who Are You?
============

Find your role below:

* New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development
* Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture
* Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis
* Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels
* System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting
* Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches
* Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware
* Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros
* AI Coding Assistant - LLMs and AI-powered development tools


For Specific Users
==================

New Kernel Developer
--------------------

Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here:

* Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst
* Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst
* Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst
* Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst
* Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst
* Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst
* Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst

Academic Researcher
-------------------

Explore the kernel's architecture and internals:

* Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst
* Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst
* Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst
* Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst
* Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst
* RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst
* Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst
* Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst

Security Expert
---------------

Security documentation and hardening guides:

* Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst
* LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst
* Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst
* Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst
* CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst
* Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst
* Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst

Backport/Maintenance Engineer
-----------------------------

Maintain and stabilize kernel versions:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst
* Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst
* Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

System Administrator
--------------------

Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems:

* Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst
* Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst
* Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst
* Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst

Maintainer
----------

Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions:

* Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst
* Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst
* Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst
* Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst
* Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst
* Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst
* Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst

Hardware Vendor
---------------

Write drivers and support new hardware:

* Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst
* Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst
* Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst
* Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst
* Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/
* Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst
* DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst

Distribution Maintainer
-----------------------

Package and distribute the kernel:

* Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst
* ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README
* Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst
* Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst
* Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst
* Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst

AI Coding Assistant
-------------------

CRITICAL: If you are an LLM or AI-powered coding assistant, you MUST read and
follow the AI coding assistants documentation before contributing to the Linux
kernel:

* Documentation/process/coding-assistants.rst

This documentation contains essential requirements about licensing, attribution,
and the Developer Certificate of Origin that all AI tools must comply with.


Communication and Support
=========================

* Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/
* IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net
* Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/
* MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists
* Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst