wifi: brcmfmac: fix use-after-free when rescheduling brcmf_btcoex_info work
At a glance
Severity
HIGH 7.8
EPSS
EPSS 0.16 % · percentile 5 (2026-10-27)
State
PUBLISHED
Published
Updated
Assigner
Linux
NVD status
Modified
Description
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
wifi: brcmfmac: fix use-after-free when rescheduling brcmf_btcoex_info work
The brcmf_btcoex_detach() only shuts down the btcoex timer, if the
flag timer_on is false. However, the brcmf_btcoex_timerfunc(), which
runs as timer handler, sets timer_on to false. This creates critical
race conditions:
1.If brcmf_btcoex_detach() is called while brcmf_btcoex_timerfunc()
is executing, it may observe timer_on as false and skip the call to
timer_shutdown_sync().
2.The brcmf_btcoex_timerfunc() may then reschedule the brcmf_btcoex_info
worker after the cancel_work_sync() has been executed, resulting in
use-after-free bugs.
The use-after-free bugs occur in two distinct scenarios, depending on
the timing of when the brcmf_btcoex_info struct is freed relative to
the execution of its worker thread.
Scenario 1: Freed before the worker is scheduled
The brcmf_btcoex_info is deallocated before the worker is scheduled.
A race condition can occur when schedule_work(&bt_local->work) is
called after the target memory has been freed. The sequence of events
is detailed below:
CPU0 | CPU1
brcmf_btcoex_detach | brcmf_btcoex_timerfunc
| bt_local->timer_on = false;
if (cfg->btcoex->timer_on) |
... |
cancel_work_sync(); |
... |
kfree(cfg->btcoex); // FREE |
| schedule_work(&bt_local->work); // USE
Scenario 2: Freed after the worker is scheduled
The brcmf_btcoex_info is freed after the worker has been scheduled
but before or during its execution. In this case, statements within
the brcmf_btcoex_handler() — such as the container_of macro and
subsequent dereferences of the brcmf_btcoex_info object will cause
a use-after-free access. The following timeline illustrates this
scenario:
CPU0 | CPU1
brcmf_btcoex_detach | brcmf_btcoex_timerfunc
| bt_local->timer_on = false;
if (cfg->btcoex->timer_on) |
... |
cancel_work_sync(); |
... | schedule_work(); // Reschedule
|
kfree(cfg->btcoex); // FREE | brcmf_btcoex_handler() // Worker
/* | btci = container_of(....); // USE
The kfree() above could | ...
also occur at any point | btci-> // USE
during the worker's execution|
*/ |
To resolve the race conditions, drop the conditional check and call
timer_shutdown_sync() directly. It can deactivate the timer reliably,
regardless of its current state. Once stopped, the timer_on state is
then set to false.
