In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
can: bcm: defer rx_op deallocation to workqueue to fix thrtimer UAF
Commit f1b4e32aca08 ("can: bcm: use call_rcu() instead of costly synchronize_rcu()") replaced synchronize_rcu() in bcm_delete_rx_op() with call_rcu() and introduced the RX_NO_AUTOTIMER flag.
However, this flag check was omitted for thrtimer in the packet rx fast-path. During BCM RX operation teardown, a concurrent RCU reader (bcm_rx_handler) can race and re-arm thrtimer via bcm_rx_update_and_send() after call_rcu() has been scheduled. Once the RCU grace period elapses, bcm_op is freed. The subsequently firing thrtimer then dereferences the deallocated op, causing a UAF.
Adding flag checks to the rx fast-path (bcm_rx_update_and_send) does not fully close the TOCTOU race and introduces latency for every CAN frame. Conversely, calling hrtimer_cancel() directly inside the RCU callback (softirq context) is fatal as hrtimer_cancel() can sleep, triggering a "scheduling while atomic" panic.
Resolve this by deferring the timer cancellation and memory free to a dedicated unbound workqueue (bcm_wq). The RCU callback now queues a work item to bcm_wq, which safely cancels both timers and deallocates memory in sleepable process context. A dedicated workqueue is used to prevent system-wide WQ saturation and is cleanly flushed/destroyed on module unload to avoid rmmod page faults.
Since the deferred work can now outlive the calling context by an unbounded amount, also take a reference on op->sk when it is assigned and drop it only once the deferred work has cancelled both timers, so a socket can no longer be freed out from under a still-armed timer whose callback (bcm_send_to_user()) dereferences op->sk.
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 7.8
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon_linux_2023 | — | Upgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-aarch64Upgrade perfUpgrade kernel-toolsUpgrade kernel-modules-extraUpgrade bpftool-debuginfoUpgrade perf-debuginfoUpgrade python3-perf-debuginfoUpgrade python3-perfUpgrade kernel-modules-extra-commonUpgrade kernel-tools-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-debuginfo-common-x86_64Upgrade kernel-develUpgrade kernel-livepatch-6.1.180-225.360Upgrade kernelUpgrade kernel-tools-develUpgrade kernel-debuginfoUpgrade kernel-headersUpgrade bpftool | Sep 1, 2026 | Aug 15, 2026 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade linux | Aug 16, 2026 | Aug 16, 2026 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution exists | Aug 19, 2026 | Aug 15, 2026 |
| Vmware Photon_os | — | Use 'tdnf update' to upgrade all packages to the latest version. | Aug 25, 2026 | Aug 15, 2026 |
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