[PATCH] netdevsim: fix use-after-free in __nsim_dev_port_del
From: Hrushiraj Gandhi
Date: Sat Jun 20 2026 - 02:50:22 EST
debugfs files created under a port's ddir (ethtool/get_err,
ethtool/set_err, ring params, bpf_offloaded_id, udp_ports/inject_error,
etc.) store raw pointers directly into the netdevsim struct, which lives
in the net_device private data kmalloc slab.
If these files outlive the netdevsim struct, a concurrent reader can
trigger a slab-use-after-free by passing debugfs_file_get() (which only
checks dentry lifetime) and then dereferencing the freed data pointer
in debugfs_u32_get().
In __nsim_dev_port_del(), nsim_destroy() is called before
nsim_dev_port_debugfs_exit(). However, nsim_destroy() calls free_netdev()
at its end, while nsim_dev_port_debugfs_exit() removes the port's
debugfs directory. This means the slab is freed before the debugfs
files are removed.
Fix by calling debugfs_remove_recursive(ns->nsim_dev_port->ddir) in
nsim_destroy() right before free_netdev(). This ensures all per-port
debugfs files are destroyed synchronously before the backing memory is
freed. The subsequent call to nsim_dev_port_debugfs_exit() in
__nsim_dev_port_del() becomes a harmless no-op.
Reported-by: syzbot+6c25f4750230faf70be9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Closes: https://syzkaller.appspot.com/bug?extid=6c25f4750230faf70be9
Fixes: e05b2d141fef ("netdevsim: move netdev creation/destruction to dev probe")
Signed-off-by: Hrushiraj Gandhi <hrushirajg23@xxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c | 7 +++++++
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+)
diff --git a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
index 27e5f109f933..08136e7990cb 100644
--- a/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
+++ b/drivers/net/netdevsim/netdev.c
@@ -1214,6 +1214,13 @@ void nsim_destroy(struct netdevsim *ns)
ns->page = NULL;
}
+ /*
+ * Remove per-port debugfs files before free_netdev() releases the
+ * netdevsim struct to prevent use-after-free in concurrent readers.
+ */
+ debugfs_remove_recursive(ns->nsim_dev_port->ddir);
+ ns->nsim_dev_port->ddir = NULL;
+
free_netdev(dev);
}
--
2.47.3