Re: [PATCH] configfs: fix a race in configfs_lookup()

From: Christoph Hellwig
Date: Mon Aug 23 2021 - 03:46:41 EST


On Fri, Aug 20, 2021 at 05:44:58PM -0400, sishuaigong wrote:
> When configfs_lookup() is executing list_for_each_entry(),
> it is possible that configfs_dir_lseek() is calling list_del().
> Some unfortunate interleavings of them can cause a kernel NULL
> pointer dereference error
>
> Thread 1 Thread 2
> //configfs_dir_lseek() //configfs_lookup()
> list_del(&cursor->s_sibling);
> list_for_each_entry(sd, ...)
>
> Fix this bug by using list_for_each_entry_safe() instead.

I don't see how list_for_each_entry_safe would save you there.
You need a lock to sychronize the two, list_for_each_entry_safe
only ensures the next entry is looked up before iterating over
the current one.