[PATCH net v1] net/rose: fix NULL pointer dereference in rose_transmit_link on reconnect
From: Jiayuan Chen
Date: Tue Mar 10 2026 - 06:17:12 EST
From: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxxx>
syzkaller reported a bug [1], and the reproducer is available at [2].
When rose_connect() is called a second time on an already-connecting
socket, it overwrites rose->neighbour with the result of rose_get_neigh()
without releasing the previous reference. If rose_get_neigh() returns
NULL, the socket is left in an inconsistent state: rose->state remains
ROSE_STATE_1 from the first connect while rose->neighbour is NULL.
When the socket is subsequently closed, rose_release() sees ROSE_STATE_1
and calls rose_write_internal() -> rose_transmit_link(skb, NULL), causing
a NULL pointer dereference when accessing neigh->loopback.
Fix this by:
1. Releasing the old neighbour reference before attempting a reconnect
2. Resetting rose->state to ROSE_STATE_0 before the new connect attempt,
so a failure leaves the socket in a clean state
3. Setting rose->neighbour to NULL in all error paths after
rose_neigh_put() to prevent use-after-free on subsequent reconnects
[1] https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=d00f90e0af54102fb271
[2] https://gist.github.com/mrpre/9e6779e0d13e2c66779b1653fef80516
Fixes: 1da177e4c3f4 ("Linux-2.6.12-rc2")
Reported-by: syzbot+d00f90e0af54102fb271@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/69694d6f.050a0220.58bed.0027.GAE@xxxxxxxxxx/T/
Cc: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
net/rose/af_rose.c | 11 +++++++++++
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+)
diff --git a/net/rose/af_rose.c b/net/rose/af_rose.c
index 841d62481048..d9bf32ac3df3 100644
--- a/net/rose/af_rose.c
+++ b/net/rose/af_rose.c
@@ -814,6 +814,14 @@ static int rose_connect(struct socket *sock, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr, int
sk->sk_state = TCP_CLOSE;
sock->state = SS_UNCONNECTED;
+ /* Release previous neighbour ref if reconnecting */
+ if (rose->neighbour) {
+ rose_neigh_put(rose->neighbour);
+ rose->neighbour = NULL;
+ }
+
+ rose->state = ROSE_STATE_0;
+
rose->neighbour = rose_get_neigh(&addr->srose_addr, &cause,
&diagnostic, 0);
if (!rose->neighbour) {
@@ -825,6 +833,7 @@ static int rose_connect(struct socket *sock, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr, int
if (!rose->lci) {
err = -ENETUNREACH;
rose_neigh_put(rose->neighbour);
+ rose->neighbour = NULL;
goto out_release;
}
@@ -837,6 +846,7 @@ static int rose_connect(struct socket *sock, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr, int
if (!dev) {
err = -ENETUNREACH;
rose_neigh_put(rose->neighbour);
+ rose->neighbour = NULL;
goto out_release;
}
@@ -844,6 +854,7 @@ static int rose_connect(struct socket *sock, struct sockaddr_unsized *uaddr, int
if (!user) {
err = -EINVAL;
rose_neigh_put(rose->neighbour);
+ rose->neighbour = NULL;
dev_put(dev);
goto out_release;
}
--
2.43.0