In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

net: enetc: fix NTMP DMA use-after-free issue

The AI-generated review reported a potential DMA use-after-free issue
[1]. If netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() times out and returns an error, the pending
command is not explicitly aborted, while ntmp_free_data_mem()
unconditionally frees the DMA buffer. If the buffer has already been
reallocated elsewhere, this may lead to silent memory corruption. Because
the hardware eventually processes the pending command and perform a DMA
write of the response to the physical address of the freed buffer.

To resolve this issue, this patch does the following modifications:

1. Convert cbdr->ring_lock from a spinlock to a mutex

The lock was originally a spinlock in case NTMP operations might be
invoked from atomic context. After downstream support for all NTMP
tables, no such usage has materialized. A mutex lock is now required
because the driver now needs to reclaim used BDs and release associated
DMA memory within the lock's context, while dma_free_coherent() might
sleep.

2. Introduce software command BD (struct netc_swcbd)

The hardware write-back overwrites the addr and len fields of the BD,
so the driver cannot rely on the hardware BD to free the associated DMA
memory. The driver now maintains a software shadow BD storing the DMA
buffer pointer, DMA address, and size. And netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() only
reclaims older BDs when the number of used BDs reaches
NETC_CBDR_CLEAN_WORK (16). The software BD enables correct DMA memory
release. With this, struct ntmp_dma_buf and ntmp_free_data_mem() are no
longer needed and are removed.

3. Require callers to hold ring_lock across netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd()

netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() releases the ring_lock before the caller finishes
consuming the response. At this point, if a concurrent thread submits
a new command, it may trigger ntmp_clean_cbdr() and free the DMA buffer
while it is still in use. Move ring_lock ownership to the caller to
ensure the response buffer cannot be reclaimed prematurely. So the
helpers ntmp_select_and_lock_cbdr() and ntmp_unlock_cbdr() are added.

These changes eliminate the DMA use-after-free condition and ensure safe
and consistent BD reclamation and DMA buffer lifecycle management.

Project Subscriptions

Vendors Products
Linux Kernel Subscribe
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net: enetc: fix NTMP DMA use-after-free issue The AI-generated review reported a potential DMA use-after-free issue [1]. If netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() times out and returns an error, the pending command is not explicitly aborted, while ntmp_free_data_mem() unconditionally frees the DMA buffer. If the buffer has already been reallocated elsewhere, this may lead to silent memory corruption. Because the hardware eventually processes the pending command and perform a DMA write of the response to the physical address of the freed buffer. To resolve this issue, this patch does the following modifications: 1. Convert cbdr->ring_lock from a spinlock to a mutex The lock was originally a spinlock in case NTMP operations might be invoked from atomic context. After downstream support for all NTMP tables, no such usage has materialized. A mutex lock is now required because the driver now needs to reclaim used BDs and release associated DMA memory within the lock's context, while dma_free_coherent() might sleep. 2. Introduce software command BD (struct netc_swcbd) The hardware write-back overwrites the addr and len fields of the BD, so the driver cannot rely on the hardware BD to free the associated DMA memory. The driver now maintains a software shadow BD storing the DMA buffer pointer, DMA address, and size. And netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() only reclaims older BDs when the number of used BDs reaches NETC_CBDR_CLEAN_WORK (16). The software BD enables correct DMA memory release. With this, struct ntmp_dma_buf and ntmp_free_data_mem() are no longer needed and are removed. 3. Require callers to hold ring_lock across netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() netc_xmit_ntmp_cmd() releases the ring_lock before the caller finishes consuming the response. At this point, if a concurrent thread submits a new command, it may trigger ntmp_clean_cbdr() and free the DMA buffer while it is still in use. Move ring_lock ownership to the caller to ensure the response buffer cannot be reclaimed prematurely. So the helpers ntmp_select_and_lock_cbdr() and ntmp_unlock_cbdr() are added. These changes eliminate the DMA use-after-free condition and ensure safe and consistent BD reclamation and DMA buffer lifecycle management.
Title net: enetc: fix NTMP DMA use-after-free issue
First Time appeared Linux
Linux linux Kernel
CPEs cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Linux
Linux linux Kernel
References

Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: Linux

Published:

Updated: 2026-06-26T19:40:57.186Z

Reserved: 2026-06-09T07:44:35.397Z

Link: CVE-2026-53300

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses

No weakness.