Security Bulletin
Summary
A flaw in TCP/IP may allow a denial of service
Vulnerability Details
CVEID: CVE-2024-50154
DESCRIPTION: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
tcp/dccp: Don't use timer_pending() in reqsk_queue_unlink().
Martin KaFai Lau reported use-after-free [0] in reqsk_timer_handler().
"""
We are seeing a use-after-free from a bpf prog attached to
trace_tcp_retransmit_synack. The program passes the req->sk to the
bpf_sk_storage_get_tracing kernel helper which does check for null
before using it.
"""
The commit 83fccfc3940c ("inet: fix potential deadlock in
reqsk_queue_unlink()") added timer_pending() in reqsk_queue_unlink() not
to call del_timer_sync() from reqsk_timer_handler(), but it introduced a
small race window.
Before the timer is called, expire_timers() calls detach_timer(timer, true)
to clear timer->entry.pprev and marks it as not pending.
If reqsk_queue_unlink() checks timer_pending() just after expire_timers()
calls detach_timer(), TCP will miss del_timer_sync(); the reqsk timer will
continue running and send multiple SYN+ACKs until it expires.
The reported UAF could happen if req->sk is close()d earlier than the timer
expiration, which is 63s by default.
The scenario would be
1. inet_csk_complete_hashdance() calls inet_csk_reqsk_queue_drop(),
but del_timer_sync() is missed
2. reqsk timer is executed and scheduled again
3. req->sk is accept()ed and reqsk_put() decrements rsk_refcnt, but
reqsk timer still has another one, and inet_csk_accept() does not
clear req->sk for non-TFO sockets
4. sk is close()d
5. reqsk timer is executed again, and BPF touches req->sk
Let's not use timer_pending() by passing the caller context to
__inet_csk_reqsk_queue_drop().
Note that reqsk timer is pinned, so the issue does not happen in most
use cases. [1]
[0]
BUG: KFENCE: use-after-free read in bpf_sk_storage_get_tracing+0x2e/0x1b0
Use-after-free read at 0x00000000a891fb3a (in kfence-#1):
bpf_sk_storage_get_tracing+0x2e/0x1b0
bpf_prog_5ea3e95db6da0438_tcp_retransmit_synack+0x1d20/0x1dda
bpf_trace_run2+0x4c/0xc0
tcp_rtx_synack+0xf9/0x100
reqsk_timer_handler+0xda/0x3d0
run_timer_softirq+0x292/0x8a0
irq_exit_rcu+0xf5/0x320
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x6d/0x80
asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x16/0x20
intel_idle_irq+0x5a/0xa0
cpuidle_enter_state+0x94/0x273
cpu_startup_entry+0x15e/0x260
start_secondary+0x8a/0x90
secondary_startup_64_no_verify+0xfa/0xfb
kfence-#1: 0x00000000a72cc7b6-0x00000000d97616d9, size=2376, cache=TCPv6
allocated by task 0 on cpu 9 at 260507.901592s:
sk_prot_alloc+0x35/0x140
sk_clone_lock+0x1f/0x3f0
inet_csk_clone_lock+0x15/0x160
tcp_create_openreq_child+0x1f/0x410
tcp_v6_syn_recv_sock+0x1da/0x700
tcp_check_req+0x1fb/0x510
tcp_v6_rcv+0x98b/0x1420
ipv6_list_rcv+0x2258/0x26e0
napi_complete_done+0x5b1/0x2990
mlx5e_napi_poll+0x2ae/0x8d0
net_rx_action+0x13e/0x590
irq_exit_rcu+0xf5/0x320
common_interrupt+0x80/0x90
asm_common_interrupt+0x22/0x40
cpuidle_enter_state+0xfb/0x273
cpu_startup_entry+0x15e/0x260
start_secondary+0x8a/0x90
secondary_startup_64_no_verify+0xfa/0xfb
freed by task 0 on cpu 9 at 260507.927527s:
rcu_core_si+0x4ff/0xf10
irq_exit_rcu+0xf5/0x320
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x6d/0x80
asm_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x16/0x20
cpuidle_enter_state+0xfb/0x273
cpu_startup_entry+0x15e/0x260
start_secondary+0x8a/0x90
secondary_startup_64_no_verify+0xfa/0xfb
CWE: CWE-416: Use After Free
CVSS Source: NVD
CVSS Base score: 7
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
CVEID: CVE-2025-38086
DESCRIPTION: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
net: ch9200: fix uninitialised access during mii_nway_restart
In mii_nway_restart() the code attempts to call
mii->mdio_read which is ch9200_mdio_read(). ch9200_mdio_read()
utilises a local buffer called "buff", which is initialised
with control_read(). However "buff" is conditionally
initialised inside control_read():
if (err == size) {
memcpy(data, buf, size);
}
If the condition of "err == size" is not met, then
"buff" remains uninitialised. Once this happens the
uninitialised "buff" is accessed and returned during
ch9200_mdio_read():
return (buff[0] | buff[1] << 8);
The problem stems from the fact that ch9200_mdio_read()
ignores the return value of control_read(), leading to
uinit-access of "buff".
To fix this we should check the return value of
control_read() and return early on error.
CVSS Source: Red Hat
CVSS Base score: 7
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Affected Products and Versions
| Affected Product(s) | Version(s) |
| Technical Support Appliance | All |
Remediation/Fixes
Update IBM Technical Support Appliance to 3.1.0. Refer to the online support documentation on how to perform an update.
Workarounds and Mitigations
None
Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins
References
Acknowledgement
Change History
14 Oct 2025: Initial Publication
*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.
Disclaimer
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Document Location
Worldwide
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Document Information
Modified date:
14 October 2025
Initial Publish date:
14 October 2025
UID
ibm17247857