Re: [PATCH v3] net/smc: fix sleep-inside-lock in __smc_setsockopt() causing local DoS

From: Dust Li

Date: Sun May 10 2026 - 21:47:45 EST


On 2026-05-10 12:34:13, Nicolò Coccia wrote:
>A logic flaw in __smc_setsockopt() allows a local unprivileged user to
>cause a Denial of Service (DoS) by holding the socket lock indefinitely.
>
>The function __smc_setsockopt() calls copy_from_sockptr() while holding
>lock_sock(sk). By passing a userfaultfd-monitored memory page (or
>FUSE-backed memory on systems where unprivileged userfaultfd is disabled)
>as the optval, an attacker can halt execution during the copy operation,
>keeping the lock held.
>
>Combined with asynchronous tear-down operations like shutdown(), this
>exhausts the kernel wq (kworkers) and triggers the hung task watchdog.
>
>[ 240.123456] INFO: task kworker/u8:2 blocked for more than 120 seconds.
>[ 240.123489] Call Trace:
>[ 240.123501] smc_shutdown+...
>[ 240.123512] lock_sock_nested+...
>
>This patch moves the user-space copy outside the lock_sock() critical
>section to prevent the issue.
>
>Fixes: a6a6fe27bab4 ("net/smc: Dynamic control handshake limitation by socket options")
>
>Signed-off-by: Nicolò Coccia <n.coccia96@xxxxxxxxx>

Reviewed-by: Dust Li <dust.li@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Tested-by: Dust Li <dust.li@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Best regards,
Dust

>---
> v1 -> v3:
> - Resend via git send-email to fix webmail whitespace corruption
> - Rebased against netdev/net tree
> - Added Fixes tag
> net/smc/af_smc.c | 17 ++++++++---------
> 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
>
>diff --git a/net/smc/af_smc.c b/net/smc/af_smc.c
>index 185dbed7de5d..da28652f6810 100644
>--- a/net/smc/af_smc.c
>+++ b/net/smc/af_smc.c
>@@ -3054,18 +3054,17 @@ static int __smc_setsockopt(struct socket *sock, int level, int optname,
>
> smc = smc_sk(sk);
>
>+ /* pre-fetch user data outside the lock */
>+ if (optname == SMC_LIMIT_HS) {
>+ if (optlen < sizeof(int))
>+ return -EINVAL;
>+ if (copy_from_sockptr(&val, optval, sizeof(int)))
>+ return -EFAULT;
>+ }
>+
> lock_sock(sk);
> switch (optname) {
> case SMC_LIMIT_HS:
>- if (optlen < sizeof(int)) {
>- rc = -EINVAL;
>- break;
>- }
>- if (copy_from_sockptr(&val, optval, sizeof(int))) {
>- rc = -EFAULT;
>- break;
>- }
>-
> smc->limit_smc_hs = !!val;
> rc = 0;
> break;
>--
>2.53.0