[STABLE v5.15.y 4/8] eventpoll: kill __ep_remove()

From: Lee Jones

Date: Tue Sep 08 2026 - 05:09:42 EST


From: Christian Brauner <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>

[ Upstream commit e9e5cd40d7c403e19f21d0f7b8b8ba3a76b58330 ]

Remove the boolean conditional in __ep_remove() and restructure the code
so the check for racing with eventpoll_release_file() are only done in
the ep_remove_safe() path where they belong.

Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260423-work-epoll-uaf-v1-3-2470f9eec0f5@xxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Christian Brauner (Amutable) <brauner@xxxxxxxxxx>
Stable-dep-of: a6dc643c6931 ("eventpoll: fix ep_remove struct eventpoll / struct file UAF")
Signed-off-by: Quentin Schulz <quentin.schulz@xxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Wentao Guan <guanwentao@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
(cherry picked from commit 13e8b6ab5fd34129b2a4a1b2c00b4921dde462cd)
Signed-off-by: Lee Jones <lee@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
fs/eventpoll.c | 68 +++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------------
1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 37 deletions(-)

diff --git a/fs/eventpoll.c b/fs/eventpoll.c
index 693ad9826e32..3d0cad2592a1 100644
--- a/fs/eventpoll.c
+++ b/fs/eventpoll.c
@@ -708,49 +708,18 @@ static void ep_free(struct eventpoll *ep)
kfree_rcu(ep, rcu);
}

-static void __ep_remove_file(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi, struct file *file);
-static bool __ep_remove_epi(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi);
-
-/*
- * Removes a "struct epitem" from the eventpoll RB tree and deallocates
- * all the associated resources. Must be called with "mtx" held.
- * If the dying flag is set, do the removal only if force is true.
- * This prevents ep_clear_and_put() from dropping all the ep references
- * while running concurrently with eventpoll_release_file().
- * Returns true if the eventpoll can be disposed.
- */
-static bool __ep_remove(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi, bool force)
-{
- struct file *file = epi->ffd.file;
-
- lockdep_assert_irqs_enabled();
-
- /*
- * Removes poll wait queue hooks.
- */
- ep_unregister_pollwait(ep, epi);
-
- /* Remove the current item from the list of epoll hooks */
- spin_lock(&file->f_lock);
- if (epi->dying && !force) {
- spin_unlock(&file->f_lock);
- return false;
- }
-
- __ep_remove_file(ep, epi, file);
- return __ep_remove_epi(ep, epi);
-}
-
/*
* Called with &file->f_lock held,
* returns with it released
*/
-static void __ep_remove_file(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi, struct file *file)
+static void __ep_remove_file(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi,
+ struct file *file)
{
struct epitems_head *to_free = NULL;
struct hlist_head *head = file->f_ep;

lockdep_assert_held(&ep->mtx);
+ lockdep_assert_held(&file->f_lock);

if (hlist_is_singular_node(&epi->fllink, head)) {
/* See eventpoll_release() for details. */
@@ -797,7 +766,26 @@ static bool __ep_remove_epi(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi)
*/
static void ep_remove_safe(struct eventpoll *ep, struct epitem *epi)
{
- WARN_ON_ONCE(__ep_remove(ep, epi, false));
+ struct file *file = epi->ffd.file;
+
+ lockdep_assert_irqs_enabled();
+ lockdep_assert_held(&ep->mtx);
+
+ ep_unregister_pollwait(ep, epi);
+
+ /* sync with eventpoll_release_file() */
+ if (unlikely(READ_ONCE(epi->dying)))
+ return;
+
+ spin_lock(&file->f_lock);
+ if (epi->dying) {
+ spin_unlock(&file->f_lock);
+ return;
+ }
+ __ep_remove_file(ep, epi, file);
+
+ if (__ep_remove_epi(ep, epi))
+ WARN_ON_ONCE(ep_refcount_dec_and_test(ep));
}

static void ep_clear_and_put(struct eventpoll *ep)
@@ -1008,7 +996,7 @@ void eventpoll_release_file(struct file *file)
spin_lock(&file->f_lock);
if (file->f_ep && file->f_ep->first) {
epi = hlist_entry(file->f_ep->first, struct epitem, fllink);
- epi->dying = true;
+ WRITE_ONCE(epi->dying, true);
spin_unlock(&file->f_lock);

/*
@@ -1017,7 +1005,13 @@ void eventpoll_release_file(struct file *file)
*/
ep = epi->ep;
mutex_lock(&ep->mtx);
- dispose = __ep_remove(ep, epi, true);
+
+ ep_unregister_pollwait(ep, epi);
+
+ spin_lock(&file->f_lock);
+ __ep_remove_file(ep, epi, file);
+ dispose = __ep_remove_epi(ep, epi);
+
mutex_unlock(&ep->mtx);

if (dispose)
--
2.55.0.979.g7e5102b832-goog