published October 15, 2025
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
media: i2c: tc358743: Fix use-after-free bugs caused by orphan timer in probe
The state->timer is a cyclic timer that schedules work_i2c_poll and
delayed_work_enable_hotplug, while rearming itself. Using timer_delete()
fails to guarantee the timer isn't still running when destroyed, similarly
cancel_delayed_work() cannot ensure delayed_work_enable_hotplug has
terminated if already executing. During probe failure after timer
initialization, these may continue running as orphans and reference the
already-freed tc358743_state object through tc358743_irq_poll_timer.
The following is the trace captured by KASAN.
BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in __run_timer_base.part.0+0x7d7/0x8c0
Write of size 8 at addr ffff88800ded83c8 by task swapper/1/0
...
Call Trace:
<IRQ>
dump_stack_lvl+0x55/0x70
print_report+0xcf/0x610
? __pfx_sched_balance_find_src_group+0x10/0x10
? __run_timer_base.part.0+0x7d7/0x8c0
kasan_report+0xb8/0xf0
? __run_timer_base.part.0+0x7d7/0x8c0
__run_timer_base.part.0+0x7d7/0x8c0
? rcu_sched_clock_irq+0xb06/0x27d0
? __pfx___run_timer_base.part.0+0x10/0x10
? try_to_wake_up+0xb15/0x1960
? tmigr_update_events+0x280/0x740
? _raw_spin_lock_irq+0x80/0xe0
? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irq+0x10/0x10
tmigr_handle_remote_up+0x603/0x7e0
? __pfx_tmigr_handle_remote_up+0x10/0x10
? sched_balance_trigger+0x98/0x9f0
? sched_tick+0x221/0x5a0
? _raw_spin_lock_irq+0x80/0xe0
? __pfx__raw_spin_lock_irq+0x10/0x10
? tick_nohz_handler+0x339/0x440
? __pfx_tmigr_handle_remote_up+0x10/0x10
__walk_groups.isra.0+0x42/0x150
tmigr_handle_remote+0x1f4/0x2e0
? __pfx_tmigr_handle_remote+0x10/0x10
? ktime_get+0x60/0x140
? lapic_next_event+0x11/0x20
? clockevents_program_event+0x1d4/0x2a0
? hrtimer_interrupt+0x322/0x780
handle_softirqs+0x16a/0x550
irq_exit_rcu+0xaf/0xe0
sysvec_apic_timer_interrupt+0x70/0x80
</IRQ>
...
Allocated by task 141:
kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50
kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
__kasan_kmalloc+0x7f/0x90
__kmalloc_node_track_caller_noprof+0x198/0x430
devm_kmalloc+0x7b/0x1e0
tc358743_probe+0xb7/0x610 i2c_device_probe+0x51d/0x880
really_probe+0x1ca/0x5c0
__driver_probe_device+0x248/0x310
driver_probe_device+0x44/0x120
__device_attach_driver+0x174/0x220
bus_for_each_drv+0x100/0x190
__device_attach+0x206/0x370
bus_probe_device+0x123/0x170
device_add+0xd25/0x1470
i2c_new_client_device+0x7a0/0xcd0
do_one_initcall+0x89/0x300
do_init_module+0x29d/0x7f0
load_module+0x4f48/0x69e0
init_module_from_file+0xe4/0x150
idempotent_init_module+0x320/0x670
__x64_sys_finit_module+0xbd/0x120
do_syscall_64+0xac/0x280
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
Freed by task 141:
kasan_save_stack+0x24/0x50
kasan_save_track+0x14/0x30
kasan_save_free_info+0x3a/0x60
__kasan_slab_free+0x3f/0x50
kfree+0x137/0x370
release_nodes+0xa4/0x100
devres_release_group+0x1b2/0x380
i2c_device_probe+0x694/0x880
really_probe+0x1ca/0x5c0
__driver_probe_device+0x248/0x310
driver_probe_device+0x44/0x120
__device_attach_driver+0x174/0x220
bus_for_each_drv+0x100/0x190
__device_attach+0x206/0x370
bus_probe_device+0x123/0x170
device_add+0xd25/0x1470
i2c_new_client_device+0x7a0/0xcd0
do_one_initcall+0x89/0x300
do_init_module+0x29d/0x7f0
load_module+0x4f48/0x69e0
init_module_from_file+0xe4/0x150
idempotent_init_module+0x320/0x670
__x64_sys_finit_module+0xbd/0x120
do_syscall_64+0xac/0x280
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x77/0x7f
...
Replace timer_delete() with timer_delete_sync() and cancel_delayed_work()
with cancel_delayed_work_sync() to ensure proper termination of timer and
work items before resource cleanup.
This bug was initially identified through static analysis. For reproduction
and testing, I created a functional emulation of the tc358743 device via a
kernel module and introduced faults through the debugfs interface.