Medium CVSS 5.5

Overview

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

netfs/fscache: Add a memory barrier for FSCACHE_VOLUME_CREATING

In fscache_create_volume(), there is a missing memory barrier between the
bit-clearing operation and the wake-up operation. This may cause a
situation where, after a wake-up, the bit-clearing operation hasn't been
detected yet, leading to an indefinite wait. The triggering process is as
follows:

[cookie1] [cookie2] [volume_work]
fscache_perform_lookup
fscache_create_volume
fscache_perform_lookup
fscache_create_volume
fscache_create_volume_work
cachefiles_acquire_volume
clear_and_wake_up_bit
test_and_set_bit
test_and_set_bit
goto maybe_wait
goto no_wait

In the above process, cookie1 and cookie2 has the same volume. When cookie1
enters the -no_wait- process, it will clear the bit and wake up the waiting
process. If a barrier is missing, it may cause cookie2 to remain in the
-wait- process indefinitely.

In commit 3288666c7256 ("fscache: Use clear_and_wake_up_bit() in
fscache_create_volume_work()"), barriers were added to similar operations
in fscache_create_volume_work(), but fscache_create_volume() was missed.

By combining the clear and wake operations into clear_and_wake_up_bit() to
fix this issue.

Risk analysis

This vulnerability is rated 🟡 MEDIUM.

  • CVSS: 5.5 (MEDIUM)
  • Detected tags: none (tag impact: LOW)

Recommended actions:

  • Prioritize remediation based on business criticality and exposure.
  • Limit exposure and increase monitoring until fixed.

Recommended tools

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