published October 14, 2026
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
RDMA/uverbs: Fix mmap_lock/disassociation_lock circular dependency
Commit 51976c6cd786 ("RDMA/core: Provide rdma_user_mmap_disassociate()
to disassociate mmap pages") introduced disassociation_lock to protect
new mmap registrations against uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate(), but
created an ABBA deadlock:
Thread A (mmap / fork):
mmap_lock -> disassociation_lock
Thread B (disassociate):
disassociation_lock -> mmap_lock
Fix by removing disassociation_lock entirely and using the pre-existing
hw_destroy_rwsem instead. hw_destroy_rwsem already provides the same
protection: rdma_umap_open() and ib_uverbs_mmap() both use
down_read_trylock() before registering a new VMA, so holding hw_destroy_rwsem
in uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate() is sufficient to block new registrations.
trylock is used in both mmap paths (not blocking down_read) because
mmap_lock is already held on entry, and uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate()
acquires mmap_lock internally — a blocking read would recreate the same
deadlock.
The only caller that was not taking hw_destroy_rwsem for write was
rdma_user_mmap_disassociate(). Fix it to take the rwsem per-ufile while
iterating under lists_mutex. This is safe because ib_uverbs_close()
releases hw_destroy_rwsem entirely before acquiring lists_mutex, so the
two locks are never held simultaneously.
lockdep warning:
[ 776.654252] ======================================================
[ 776.655214] WARNING: possible circular locking dependency detected
[ 776.656167] 6.18.0for-upstream_debug_94e244d9ccab #1 Not tainted
[ 776.657114] ------------------------------------------------------
[ 776.658087] devlink/14824 is trying to acquire lock:
[ 776.658879] ffff88811170c800 (&mm->mmap_lock){++++}-{4:4}, at: uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate+0x168/0x780 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.660479]
[ 776.660479] but task is already holding lock:
[ 776.661460] ffff888142d92b08 (&file->disassociation_lock){+.+.}-{4:4}, at: uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate+0x39/0x780 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.663177]
[ 776.663177] which lock already depends on the new lock.
[ 776.663177]
[ 776.664525]
[ 776.664525] the existing dependency chain (in reverse order) is:
[ 776.665724]
[ 776.665724] -> #2 (&file->disassociation_lock){+.+.}-{4:4}:
[ 776.666887] __mutex_lock+0x16d/0x2330
[ 776.667633] rdma_umap_open+0x129/0x280 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.668489] dup_mmap+0xa40/0x1790
[ 776.669170] copy_process+0x5dd2/0x6170
[ 776.669933] kernel_clone+0xb6/0x610
[ 776.670636] __do_sys_clone+0xb5/0xf0
[ 776.671354] do_syscall_64+0x70/0x12e0
[ 776.672083] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
[ 776.672940]
[ 776.672940] -> #1 (&mm->mmap_lock/1){+.+.}-{4:4}:
[ 776.673985] down_write_nested+0x90/0x1e0
[ 776.674751] dup_mmap+0x201/0x1790
[ 776.675448] copy_process+0x5dd2/0x6170
[ 776.676180] kernel_clone+0xb6/0x610
[ 776.676904] __do_sys_clone+0xb5/0xf0
[ 776.677615] do_syscall_64+0x70/0x12e0
[ 776.678351] entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
[ 776.679239]
[ 776.679239] -> #0 (&mm->mmap_lock){++++}-{4:4}:
[ 776.680253] __lock_acquire+0x18c6/0x2ec0
[ 776.681018] lock_acquire+0x10e/0x2e0
[ 776.681742] down_read+0x95/0x430
[ 776.682395] uverbs_user_mmap_disassociate+0x168/0x780 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.683436] uverbs_destroy_ufile_hw+0x1ae/0x270 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.684416] ib_uverbs_remove_one+0x22b/0x420 [ib_uverbs]
[ 776.685371] remove_client_context+0xa6/0xf0 [ib_core]
[ 776.686342] disable_device+0x12b/0x240 [ib_core]
[ 776.687249] __ib_unregister_device+0x269/0x460 [ib_core]
[ 776.688233] ib_unregister_device+0x21/0x30 [ib_core]
[ 776.689140] mlx5r_remove+0xd0/0x170 [mlx5_ib]
[ 776.689999] device_release_driver_internal+0x3b2/0x5
---truncated---