published September 25, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
scsi: qla2xxx: Fix soft lockup polling continuation IOCB signature
qla27xx_copy_multiple_pkt() and qla27xx_copy_fpin_pkt() poll
rsp_q->ring_ptr->signature for RESPONSE_PROCESSED (0xDEADDEAD) to decide
whether the next continuation IOCB has arrived, spinning on cpu_relax()
without advancing the ring or decrementing the entry count while it has
not. response_t::signature lives at byte offset 60, but a continuation
IOCB (sts_cont_entry_t / struct sts_cont_entry_ext) carries raw FC frame
payload at that offset (data[56..59]). A received frame whose payload
bytes happen to equal 0xDEADDEAD is therefore misread as "not yet
arrived", and the loop spins forever in interrupt/DPC context, causing a
CPU soft lockup.
The poll is also unnecessary: callers of qla27xx_copy_multiple_pkt()
(PT_LS4_UNSOL and the NVMe purls path) already gate on
qla_chk_cont_iocb_avail(), which guarantees all entry_count IOCBs are
present before copying begins. The sibling helper
__qla_copy_purex_to_buffer() already drops the signature poll and relies
on the entry_type == STATUS_CONT_TYPE guard instead.
Remove the signature busy-wait from both helpers, keeping the entry_type
guard, and gate the FPIN path with qla_chk_cont_iocb_avail() so it defers
and re-processes on the next interrupt once all continuation IOCBs have
arrived, mirroring the ELS_AUTH_ELS and PT_LS4_UNSOL arms. With this the
signature field is never read on a continuation IOCB, eliminating the
payload-aliasing lockup.