The patch titled ksm: fix NULL pointer dereference in scan_get_next_rmap_item() has been added to the -mm tree. Its filename is ksm-fix-null-pointer-dereference-in-scan_get_next_rmap_item.patch Before you just go and hit "reply", please: a) Consider who else should be cc'ed b) Prefer to cc a suitable mailing list as well c) Ideally: find the original patch on the mailing list and do a reply-to-all to that, adding suitable additional cc's *** Remember to use Documentation/SubmitChecklist when testing your code *** See http://userweb.kernel.org/~akpm/stuff/added-to-mm.txt to find out what to do about this The current -mm tree may be found at http://userweb.kernel.org/~akpm/mmotm/ ------------------------------------------------------ Subject: ksm: fix NULL pointer dereference in scan_get_next_rmap_item() From: Hugh Dickins <hughd@xxxxxxxxxx> Andrea Righi reported a case where an exiting task can race against ksmd::scan_get_next_rmap_item (http://lkml.org/lkml/2011/6/1/742) easily triggering a NULL pointer dereference in ksmd. ksm_scan.mm_slot == &ksm_mm_head with only one registered mm CPU 1 (__ksm_exit) CPU 2 (scan_get_next_rmap_item) list_empty() is false lock slot == &ksm_mm_head list_del(slot->mm_list) (list now empty) unlock lock slot = list_entry(slot->mm_list.next) (list is empty, so slot is still ksm_mm_head) unlock slot->mm == NULL ... Oops Close this race by revalidating that the new slot is not simply the list head again. Andrea's test case: #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <sys/mman.h> #define BUFSIZE getpagesize() int main(int argc, char **argv) { void *ptr; if (posix_memalign(&ptr, getpagesize(), BUFSIZE) < 0) { perror("posix_memalign"); exit(1); } if (madvise(ptr, BUFSIZE, MADV_MERGEABLE) < 0) { perror("madvise"); exit(1); } *(char *)NULL = 0; return 0; } Reported-by: Andrea Righi <andrea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Tested-by: Andrea Righi <andrea@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Andrea Arcangeli <aarcange@xxxxxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Hugh Dickins <hughd@xxxxxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Chris Wright <chrisw@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: <stable@xxxxxxxxxx> Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> --- mm/ksm.c | 6 ++++++ 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+) diff -puN mm/ksm.c~ksm-fix-null-pointer-dereference-in-scan_get_next_rmap_item mm/ksm.c --- a/mm/ksm.c~ksm-fix-null-pointer-dereference-in-scan_get_next_rmap_item +++ a/mm/ksm.c @@ -1302,6 +1302,12 @@ static struct rmap_item *scan_get_next_r slot = list_entry(slot->mm_list.next, struct mm_slot, mm_list); ksm_scan.mm_slot = slot; spin_unlock(&ksm_mmlist_lock); + /* + * Although we tested list_empty() above, a racing __ksm_exit + * of the last mm on the list may have removed it since then. + */ + if (slot == &ksm_mm_head) + return NULL; next_mm: ksm_scan.address = 0; ksm_scan.rmap_list = &slot->rmap_list; _ Patches currently in -mm which might be from hughd@xxxxxxxxxx are mm-fix-wrong-kunmap_atomic-pointer.patch mm-migratec-dont-account-swapcache-as-shmem.patch linux-next.patch ksm-fix-null-pointer-dereference-in-scan_get_next_rmap_item.patch mm-move-vmtruncate_range-to-truncatec.patch mm-move-shmem-prototypes-to-shmem_fsh.patch tmpfs-take-control-of-its-truncate_range.patch tmpfs-add-shmem_read_mapping_page_gfp.patch drm-ttm-use-shmem_read_mapping_page.patch drm-i915-use-shmem_read_mapping_page.patch drm-i915-use-shmem_truncate_range.patch drm-i915-more-struct_mutex-locking.patch mm-cleanup-descriptions-of-filler-arg.patch mm-truncate-functions-are-in-truncatec.patch mm-tidy-vmtruncate_range-and-related-functions.patch mm-consistent-truncate-and-invalidate-loops.patch mm-pincer-in-truncate_inode_pages_range.patch tmpfs-no-need-to-use-i_lock.patch prio_tree-debugging-patch.patch -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe mm-commits" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html