Re: [PATCH 0/6] SUNRPC: Address remaining cache_check_rcu() UAF in cache content files

[Calum Mackay]

On 01/05/2026 3:51 pm, Chuck Lever wrote:
> Misbah Anjum reported a use-after-free in cache_check_rcu()
> reached through e_show() while sosreport was reading
> /proc/fs/nfsd/exports on ppc64le.  Two fixes for that report
> landed in v7.0:
>
>    48db892356d6 ("NFSD: Defer sub-object cleanup in export put callbacks")
>    e7fcf179b82d ("NFSD: Hold net reference for the lifetime of /proc/fs/nfs/exports fd")
>
> The original e_show() repro is now fixed.  However, the same
> sosreport workload still reproduces a closely related fault on
> post-v7.0 mainline (Misbah, ppc64le) and on master.20260424
> (internal report, aarch64).  In both cases the fault is in
> cache_check_rcu() reached through c_show() rather than e_show(),
> and the cache_head pointer is plain garbage:
>
>    pc : cache_check_rcu+0x40 [sunrpc]
>    lr : c_show+0x60 [sunrpc]
>    ...faulting on h->flags off h = 0x0000000200000000
>
> c_show() is the generic show callback used by
> /proc/net/rpc/<cd>/content for every per-net cache_detail
> (auth.unix.ip, auth.unix.gid, nfsd.fh, nfsd.export).  Two
> bugs combine in that path:
>
> 1. cache_unregister_net() / cache_destroy_net() free cd and
>     cd->hash_table synchronously when the namespace exits.  The
>     /proc/net/rpc/.../content open path takes only a module
>     reference, so a fd kept open across a netns exit walks a
>     freed hash_table and returns garbage cache_head pointers.
>     This is the same hazard that e7fcf179b82d closed for the
>     /proc/fs/nfs/exports file alone.
>
> 2. ip_map_put() drops auth_domain_put() before kfree_rcu(), so
>     sub-objects can be freed before the RCU grace period -- the
>     same hazard that 48db892356d6 fixed for svc_export_put() and
>     expkey_put().  unix_gid_put() does not have this bug
>     structurally (its put_group_info() runs inside the call_rcu()
>     callback) but it uses a separate idiom from the other three
>     caches.
>
> This series replaces the v1 narrow fixes with shared
> infrastructure that covers all four cache_detail .put paths
> and all three per-cache file types:
>
> Patch 1 hoists nfsd_export_wq up to the sunrpc layer as
> sunrpc_cache_wq, exposed through sunrpc_cache_queue_release()
> and sunrpc_cache_drain() so all four put callbacks share one
> workqueue and one drain primitive.
>
> Patch 2 converts ip_map_put() to the queue_rcu_work() pattern,
> moving auth_domain_put() into a deferred ip_map_release() that
> runs after the RCU grace period.
>
> Patch 3 unifies unix_gid_put() onto the same pattern for
> consistency (not a bug fix on its own).
>
> Patch 4 takes a get_net(cd->net) in content_open(), cache_open(),
> and open_flush() and drops it in the matching release helpers,
> so cache_destroy_net() cannot run while a sunrpc cache fd is
> open.
>
> Series has been compile-tested only.
>
> ---
> Chuck Lever (6):
>        SUNRPC: Move cache_initialize() declaration to sunrpc-private header
>        SUNRPC: Provide a shared workqueue for cache release callbacks
>        SUNRPC: Defer ip_map sub-object cleanup past RCU grace period
>        SUNRPC: Use shared release pattern for the unix_gid cache
>        SUNRPC: Hold cd->net for the lifetime of cache files
>        NFSD: Convert nfsd_export_shutdown() to sunrpc_cache_destroy_net()
>
>   fs/nfsd/export.c             | 45 ++--------------------
>   fs/nfsd/export.h             |  2 -
>   fs/nfsd/nfsctl.c             |  8 +---
>   include/linux/sunrpc/cache.h |  3 +-
>   net/sunrpc/cache.c           | 90 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
>   net/sunrpc/sunrpc.h          |  2 +
>   net/sunrpc/sunrpc_syms.c     | 23 ++++++-----
>   net/sunrpc/svcauth_unix.c    | 46 ++++++++++++----------
>   8 files changed, 135 insertions(+), 84 deletions(-)
> ---
> base-commit: f3a313ecd1fdab1f5da119db355363b13af6fcac
> change-id: 20260430-cache-uaf-fix-a13000f67c37
>
> Best regards,
> --
> Chuck Lever

Looks good Chuck, thanks very much.

With these patches, testing shows no crashes, sosreport no longer hangs, 
no seq_file errors.

Tested-by: Alexandr Alexandrov <alexandr.alexandrov@xxxxxxxxxx>

cheers,
c.