High · published September 16, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
ublk: clear VM_MAYWRITE on read-only ublk char device mmap
ublk_ch_mmap() rejects mmap requests with VM_WRITE set, but never
clears VM_MAYWRITE on the resulting read-only mapping. This allows
a userspace daemon to mmap the per-queue command buffer PROT_READ,
then upgrade it to PROT_WRITE via mprotect(), since VM_MAYWRITE was
never cleared.
The command buffer holds struct ublksrv_io_desc entries that are
kernel-written ABI; a writable mapping lets an unprivileged daemon
process corrupt fields such as addr, op_flags, nr_sectors, and
start_sector.
Same bug class as the drm/panthor and drm/vc4 VM_MAYWRITE fixes, and
the 2026-08-13 ptp/vmclock fix (a5edadbae57e).
Verified via mprotect() PoC: before the fix, a PROT_READ mapping can
be upgraded to PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE and a write into the command
buffer corrupts io_desc fields (confirmed under KASAN). After the
fix, mprotect() returns -EACCES.