High · published January 23, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
nfsd: provide locking for v4_end_grace
Writing to v4_end_grace can race with server shutdown and result in
memory being accessed after it was freed - reclaim_str_hashtbl in
particularly.
We cannot hold nfsd_mutex across the nfsd4_end_grace() call as that is
held while client_tracking_op->init() is called and that can wait for
an upcall to nfsdcltrack which can write to v4_end_grace, resulting in a
deadlock.
nfsd4_end_grace() is also called by the landromat work queue and this
doesn't require locking as server shutdown will stop the work and wait
for it before freeing anything that nfsd4_end_grace() might access.
However, we must be sure that writing to v4_end_grace doesn't restart
the work item after shutdown has already waited for it. For this we
add a new flag protected with nn->client_lock. It is set only while it
is safe to make client tracking calls, and v4_end_grace only schedules
work while the flag is set with the spinlock held.
So this patch adds a nfsd_net field "client_tracking_active" which is
set as described. Another field "grace_end_forced", is set when
v4_end_grace is written. After this is set, and providing
client_tracking_active is set, the laundromat is scheduled.
This "grace_end_forced" field bypasses other checks for whether the
grace period has finished.
This resolves a race which can result in use-after-free.
| Product | Versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 3.18, < 5.10.248 | 5.10.248 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.11, < 5.15.198 | 5.15.198 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 5.16, < 6.1.161 | 6.1.161 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.2, < 6.6.121 | 6.6.121 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.7, < 6.12.66 | 6.12.66 |
| linux/linux_kernel | ≥ 6.13, < 6.18.6 | 6.18.6 |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |
| linux/linux_kernel | all versions | — |