[PATCH] ata: pata_parport: Fix use-after-free in new_device_store
From: Pei Xiao
Date: Wed Jul 29 2026 - 09:03:16 EST
The function new_device_store() calls driver_find() without any
protection against concurrent driver unregistration. This can lead
to a use-after-free (UAF) when a driver is unloaded (via rmmod)
in parallel with a new device addition via sysfs.
The race window exists because driver_find() returns a pointer to
the driver's private data, but does not increase its reference
count. The caller is responsible for ensuring the driver remains
valid, but new_device_store() did not hold any lock or reference
during the lookup and subsequent use.
Concurrently, pata_parport_unregister_driver() releases the
pi_mutex before calling driver_unregister(), allowing new_device_store
to proceed with a stale pointer after the driver has been freed.
Fix this by expanding the critical section protected by pi_mutex
in both functions:
- In new_device_store(): acquire pi_mutex before calling driver_find(),
and keep it held until all uses of the found driver pointer are
completed.
- In pata_parport_unregister_driver(): hold pi_mutex throughout the
entire unregistration process, including the driver_unregister()
call, so that no concurrent lookup can see a partially removed
driver.
Thread A (new_device_store) | Thread B (pata_parport_unregister_driver)
driver_find("aten") |
| mutex_lock(&pi_mutex)
| idr_remove(&protocols, id)
| mutex_unlock(&pi_mutex)
| driver_unregister(&pr->driver)
| (frees driver_private)
/* continues using stale driv */|
-> UAF! |
Logs:
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in driver_find+0xd0/0xd4
Read of size 8 at addr ffffff9f970dc690 by task sh/4737
Call trace:
show_stack+0x14/0x1c (C)
dump_stack_lvl+0x70/0x84
print_report+0xf4/0x5a4
kasan_report+0xa0/0xe4
__asan_report_load8_noabort+0x18/0x20
driver_find+0xd0/0xd4
new_device_store+0x140/0x30c [pata_parport]
bus_attr_store+0x5c/0x94
sysfs_kf_write+0x1c4/0x25c
...
Allocated by task 4734:
kasan_save_stack+0x28/0x4c
kasan_save_track+0x1c/0x34
kasan_save_alloc_info+0x3c/0x4c
__kasan_kmalloc+0x98/0xac
__kmalloc_cache_noprof+0x158/0x3cc
bus_add_driver+0x70/0x4d8
driver_register+0xf0/0x3b0
pata_parport_register_driver+0xb8/0x1c4 [pata_parport]
0xffffffc07f5ce014
do_one_initcall+0xb8/0x36c
do_init_module+0x230/0x6d4
...
Freed by task 4737:
kasan_save_stack+0x28/0x4c
kasan_save_track+0x1c/0x34
kasan_save_free_info+0x48/0x8c
__kasan_slab_free+0x5c/0x84
kfree+0x174/0x3e0
driver_release+0x1c/0x7c
kobject_put+0x178/0x47c
driver_find+0x78/0xd4
new_device_store+0x140/0x30c [pata_parport]
bus_attr_store+0x5c/0x94
sysfs_kf_write+0x1c4/0x25c
...
Fixes: 72f2b0b21850 ("drivers/block: Move PARIDE protocol modules to drivers/ata/pata_parport")
Reported-by: Shuangpeng Bai <shuangpeng.kernel@xxxxxxxxx>
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20260728024015.2014674-1-shuangpeng.kernel@xxxxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Pei Xiao <xiaopei01@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/ata/pata_parport/pata_parport.c | 9 ++++-----
1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/ata/pata_parport/pata_parport.c b/drivers/ata/pata_parport/pata_parport.c
index 40baeac594a9..34f09192a419 100644
--- a/drivers/ata/pata_parport/pata_parport.c
+++ b/drivers/ata/pata_parport/pata_parport.c
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
* Copyright 2023 Ondrej Zary
* based on paride.c by Grant R. Guenther <grant@xxxxxxxxxx>
*/
+#include <linux/cleanup.h>
#include <linux/kernel.h>
#include <linux/module.h>
#include <linux/parport.h>
@@ -618,8 +619,9 @@ void pata_parport_unregister_driver(struct pi_protocol *pr)
break;
}
idr_remove(&protocols, id);
- mutex_unlock(&pi_mutex);
driver_unregister(&pr->driver);
+ mutex_unlock(&pi_mutex);
+
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(pata_parport_unregister_driver);
@@ -646,6 +648,7 @@ static ssize_t new_device_store(const struct bus_type *bus, const char *buf, siz
port_wanted = -1;
}
+ guard(mutex)(&pi_mutex);
drv = driver_find(protocol, &pata_parport_bus_type);
if (!drv) {
if (strcmp(protocol, "auto")) {
@@ -656,15 +659,12 @@ static ssize_t new_device_store(const struct bus_type *bus, const char *buf, siz
} else {
pr_wanted = container_of(drv, struct pi_protocol, driver);
}
-
- mutex_lock(&pi_mutex);
/* walk all parports */
idr_for_each_entry(&parport_list, parport, port_num) {
if (port_num == port_wanted || port_wanted == -1) {
parport = parport_find_number(port_num);
if (!parport) {
pr_err("no such port %s\n", port);
- mutex_unlock(&pi_mutex);
return -ENODEV;
}
/* walk all protocols */
@@ -677,7 +677,6 @@ static ssize_t new_device_store(const struct bus_type *bus, const char *buf, siz
parport_put_port(parport);
}
}
- mutex_unlock(&pi_mutex);
if (!ok)
return -ENODEV;
--
2.25.1