[PATCH v3 3/9] s390/vfio-ap: Fix missing lock required to access list of ap_matrix_mdev objects

From: Anthony Krowiak

Date: Wed Aug 12 2026 - 08:02:43 EST


In order to traverse or add/remove ap_matrix_mdev objects in the
matrix_dev->mdev_list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held.
There are two functions that access the list without holding the mutex:

vfio_ap_mdev_probe function
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The vfio_ap_mdev_probe function uses the matrix_dev->mdevs_lock
mutex to guard the add of a newly created ap_matrix_mdev object to the
matrix_dev->mdev_list. This mutex does not protect list access; its purpose
is to guard against concurrent access to fields contained in an
ap_matrix_mdev object. This could lead to kernel memory corruption or
use-after-free if another mdev is created or removed concurrently.

The adding of an ap_matrix_mdev object to matrix_dev->mdev_list
is now guarded by the matrix_dev->guests_lock which is the correct
way to protect against concurrent mdev_list access.

vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The status_show function that supports display of the status attribute of
the devices in /sys/bus/ap/devices calls the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue
function which iterates the matrix_dev->mdev_list to find the object
representing the queue device whose status is to be displayed. In order to
traverse this list, the matrix_dev->guests_lock mutex must be held.

To fix this, the guests_lock mutex is taken prior to taking the
matrix_dev->mdevs_lock mutex in the status_show function. It is taken
there rather than the vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue function - where it is
needed - because it must be taken prior to the mdevs_lock mutex in order to
adhere to the proper locking order and prevent a lockdep splat; also
because the mdevs_lock is needed there to access fields within
the matrix_mdev object in that function.

See the vfio-ap-locking.rst in the linux kernel tree.

Fixes: 2c1ee8983aa3 ("s390/vfio-ap: prepare for dynamic update of guest's APCB on queue probe/remove")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Anthony Krowiak <akrowiak@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c | 8 ++++++--
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c b/drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c
index e382e5a1cb99..5c14ded4fd8e 100644
--- a/drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c
+++ b/drivers/s390/crypto/vfio_ap_ops.c
@@ -803,9 +803,9 @@ static int vfio_ap_mdev_probe(struct mdev_device *mdev)
matrix_mdev->req_trigger = NULL;
matrix_mdev->cfg_chg_trigger = NULL;
dev_set_drvdata(&mdev->dev, matrix_mdev);
- mutex_lock(&matrix_dev->mdevs_lock);
+ mutex_lock(&matrix_dev->guests_lock);
list_add(&matrix_mdev->node, &matrix_dev->mdev_list);
- mutex_unlock(&matrix_dev->mdevs_lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&matrix_dev->guests_lock);
return 0;

err_put_vdev:
@@ -2297,6 +2297,8 @@ static struct ap_matrix_mdev *vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue(struct vfio_ap_queue *q)
unsigned long apid = AP_QID_CARD(q->apqn);
unsigned long apqi = AP_QID_QUEUE(q->apqn);

+ lockdep_assert_held(&matrix_dev->guests_lock);
+
list_for_each_entry(matrix_mdev, &matrix_dev->mdev_list, node) {
if (test_bit_inv(apid, matrix_mdev->matrix.apm) &&
test_bit_inv(apqi, matrix_mdev->matrix.aqm))
@@ -2316,6 +2318,7 @@ static ssize_t status_show(struct device *dev,
struct ap_matrix_mdev *matrix_mdev;
struct ap_device *apdev = to_ap_dev(dev);

+ mutex_lock(&matrix_dev->guests_lock);
mutex_lock(&matrix_dev->mdevs_lock);
q = dev_get_drvdata(&apdev->device);
matrix_mdev = vfio_ap_mdev_for_queue(q);
@@ -2343,6 +2346,7 @@ static ssize_t status_show(struct device *dev,
}

mutex_unlock(&matrix_dev->mdevs_lock);
+ mutex_unlock(&matrix_dev->guests_lock);

return nchars;
}
--
2.53.0