🇰🇷 한글 설명
Linux 커널의 SMC(Shared Memory Communications) 프로토콜에서 TCP 수신 경로와 소켓 종료 경로 간의 race condition으로 인해 NULL pointer dereference와 use-after-free 취약점이 발생합니다. smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() 함수가 동시에 해제되는 smc_sock 메모리에 접근하거나 NULL 포인터를 역참조하여 커널 패닉을 유발할 수 있습니다.
💡 쉬운 설명
리눅스 네트워킹에서 두 개의 동시 작업(연결 수신과 소켓 종료)이 같은 메모리에 접근할 때 시스템이 이미 해제된 메모리나 NULL 주소를 참조하여 커널이 충돌합니다. 공격자는 TCP SYN 패킷 타이밍을 조작하여 이 race condition을 유발하고 커널 패닉을 일으킬 수 있습니다.
🇺🇸 원문 (English)
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net/smc: fix NULL dereference and UAF in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock()
Syzkaller reported a panic in smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() [1].
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in the TCP receive path
(softirq) via icsk_af_ops->syn_recv_sock on the clcsock (TCP
listening socket). It reads sk_user_data to get the smc_sock
pointer. However, when the SMC listen socket is being closed
concurrently, smc_close_active() sets clcsock->sk_user_data
to NULL under sk_callback_lock, and then the smc_sock itself
can be freed via sock_put() in smc_release().
This leads to two issues:
1) NULL pointer dereference: sk_user_data is NULL when
accessed.
2) Use-after-free: sk_user_data is read as non-NULL, but the
smc_sock is freed before its fields (e.g., queued_smc_hs,
ori_af_ops) are accessed.
The race window looks like this (the syzkaller crash [1]
triggers via the SYN cookie path: tcp_get_cookie_sock() ->
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock(), but the normal tcp_check_req() path
has the same race):
CPU A (softirq) CPU B (process ctx)
tcp_v4_rcv()
TCP_NEW_SYN_RECV:
sk = req->rsk_listener
sock_hold(sk)
/* No lock on listener */
smc_close_active():
write_lock_bh(cb_lock)
sk_user_data = NULL
write_unlock_bh(cb_lock)
...
smc_clcsock_release()
sock_put(smc->sk) x2
-> smc_sock freed!
tcp_check_req()
smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock():
smc = user_data(sk)
-> NULL or dangling
smc->queued_smc_hs
-> crash!
Note that the clcsock and smc_sock are two independent objects
with separate refcounts. TCP stack holds a reference on the
clcsock, which keeps it alive, but this does NOT prevent the
smc_sock from being freed.
Fix this by using RCU and refcount_inc_not_zero() to safely
access smc_sock. Since smc_tcp_syn_recv_sock() is called in
the TCP three-way handshake path, taking read_lock_bh on
sk_callback_lock is too heavy and would not survive a SYN
flood attack. Using rcu_read_lock() is much more lightweight.
- Set SOCK_RCU_FREE on the SMC listen socket so that
smc_sock freeing is deferred until after the RCU grace
period. This guarantees the memory is still valid when
accessed inside rcu_read_lock().
- Use rcu_read_lock() to protect reading sk_user_data.
- Use refcount_inc_not_zero(&smc->sk.sk_refcnt) to pin the
smc_sock. If the refcount has already reached zero (close
path completed), it returns false and we bail out safely.
Note: smc_hs_congested() has a similar lockless read of
sk_user_data without rcu_read_lock(), but it only checks for
NULL and accesses the global smc_hs_wq, never dereferencing
any smc_sock field, so it is not affected.
Reproducer was verified with mdelay injection and smc_run,
the issue no longer occurs with this patch applied.
[1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=827ae2bfb3a3529333e9
📍 영향받는 시스템
Linux kernel - SMC(net/smc) 프로토콜 지원 커널 (버전 명시 안 됨, 수정 전 모든 영향받는 버전)
⚔️ 공격 벡터
SYN cookie 경로 또는 TCP three-way handshake 중 비정상 패킷 전송으로 race condition 유발, 로컬 또는 원격 공격 가능
🛡️ 대응 방법
Linux 커널을 최신 버전으로 업데이트하거나 공식 패치 적용, 또는 CONFIG_SMC=n으로 SMC 모듈 비활성화
🔧 검증 코드
명령어 결과로 CONFIG_SMC=y가 나오면 SMC가 활성화된 상태이며, 해당 커널 버전의 보안 공지를 확인하여 패치 적용 여부 확인 필요
grep -i smc /boot/config-$(uname -r) | grep -E 'CONFIG_SMC.*=y'