Re: [PATCH net] net: openvswitch: fix flow mask use-after-free on flow deletion

From: Aaron Conole

Date: Sun Aug 16 2026 - 10:53:08 EST


Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@xxxxxxx> writes:

> The commit in the Fixes tag below made so flow->mask free is scheduled
> via RCU right after it is removed from the flow table. The pointer
> stays in the flow structure and it can be accessible while in the same
> RCU critical section. This is done to avoid requiring ovs_mutex for
> the ovs_flow_free().
>
> However, while removing the flow during processing of CMD_DEL, we do
> not take RCU read lock before the removal, and ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info()
> uses the flow->mask pointer afterwards. The RCU read lock is taken,
> but it's already late at that point. The comment on that line
> acknowledges that the lock is cosmetic and doesn't serve a real purpose.
>
> This leads to use-after-free if the RCU grace period passes between
> removal and the filling. It is a short race window, but it is there
> and can lead to a real crash in case memory allocation for the info
> takes a bit longer:
>
> BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __ovs_nla_put_key
> net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:1996
> BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in ovs_nla_put_key+0x2463/0x2e30
> net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:2250
> Read of size 4 at addr ffff88801ee89970 by task ovs_flow_del_ec/9487
>
> Call Trace:
> <TASK>
> __ovs_nla_put_key net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:1996
> ovs_nla_put_key+0x2463/0x2e30 net/openvswitch/flow_netlink.c:2250
> ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info+0x420/0x9c0 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:930
> ovs_flow_cmd_del+0x53a/0x970 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:1467
> ...
> netlink_rcv_skb+0x156/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2556
> </TASK>
>
> Allocated by task 9487:
> mask_alloc net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:967
> flow_mask_insert net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:1012
> ovs_flow_tbl_insert+0xea2/0x1a90 net/openvswitch/flow_table.c:1084
> ovs_flow_cmd_new+0x7e3/0xd90 net/openvswitch/datapath.c:1086
> ...
> netlink_rcv_skb+0x156/0x420 net/netlink/af_netlink.c:2556
>
> Freed by task 9485:
> rcu_free_sheaf+0x1e/0x100 mm/slub.c:5978
> rcu_do_batch kernel/rcu/tree.c:2645
> rcu_core+0x59c/0x10c0 kernel/rcu/tree.c:2897
> handle_softirqs+0x1e4/0x9a0 kernel/softirq.c:622
> ...
> instr_sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt arch/x86/kernel/apic/apic.c:1062
>
> ovs_flow_tbl_remove() must be called after the ovs_flow_cmd_fill_info()
> to avoid this race. This also helps with cleaning up the forced cast
> and the cosmetic RCU read lock. Before the commit in the Fixes tag the
> order did not matter as long as the flow object itself was not freed.
>
> A wider RCU critical section could be another option, but we have a
> GFP_KERNEL allocation in the way.
>
> Reported by Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative as ZDI-CAN-32042.
>
> Fixes: 56c19868e115 ("openvswitch: Make flow mask removal symmetric.")
> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Signed-off-by: Ilya Maximets <i.maximets@xxxxxxx>
> ---

Reviewed-by: Aaron Conole <aconole@xxxxxxxxxx>