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

io_uring: Fix a null-ptr-deref in io_tctx_exit_cb()

Syzkaller reports a NULL deref bug as follows:

BUG: KASAN: null-ptr-deref in io_tctx_exit_cb+0x53/0xd3
Read of size 4 at addr 0000000000000138 by task file1/1955

CPU: 1 PID: 1955 Comm: file1 Not tainted 6.1.0-rc7-00103-gef4d3ea40565 #75
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996), BIOS 1.11.0-2.el7 04/01/2014
Call Trace:
<TASK>
dump_stack_lvl+0xcd/0x134
? io_tctx_exit_cb+0x53/0xd3
kasan_report+0xbb/0x1f0
? io_tctx_exit_cb+0x53/0xd3
kasan_check_range+0x140/0x190
io_tctx_exit_cb+0x53/0xd3
task_work_run+0x164/0x250
? task_work_cancel+0x30/0x30
get_signal+0x1c3/0x2440
? lock_downgrade+0x6e0/0x6e0
? lock_downgrade+0x6e0/0x6e0
? exit_signals+0x8b0/0x8b0
? do_raw_read_unlock+0x3b/0x70
? do_raw_spin_unlock+0x50/0x230
arch_do_signal_or_restart+0x82/0x2470
? kmem_cache_free+0x260/0x4b0
? putname+0xfe/0x140
? get_sigframe_size+0x10/0x10
? do_execveat_common.isra.0+0x226/0x710
? lockdep_hardirqs_on+0x79/0x100
? putname+0xfe/0x140
? do_execveat_common.isra.0+0x238/0x710
exit_to_user_mode_prepare+0x15f/0x250
syscall_exit_to_user_mode+0x19/0x50
do_syscall_64+0x42/0xb0
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x63/0xcd
RIP: 0023:0x0
Code: Unable to access opcode bytes at 0xffffffffffffffd6.
RSP: 002b:00000000fffb7790 EFLAGS: 00000200 ORIG_RAX: 000000000000000b
RAX: 0000000000000000 RBX: 0000000000000000 RCX: 0000000000000000
RDX: 0000000000000000 RSI: 0000000000000000 RDI: 0000000000000000
RBP: 0000000000000000 R08: 0000000000000000 R09: 0000000000000000
R10: 0000000000000000 R11: 0000000000000000 R12: 0000000000000000
R13: 0000000000000000 R14: 0000000000000000 R15: 0000000000000000
</TASK>
Kernel panic – not syncing: panic_on_warn set …

This happens because the adding of task_work from io_ring_exit_work()
isn’t synchronized with canceling all work items from eg exec. The
execution of the two are ordered in that they are both run by the task
itself, but if io_tctx_exit_cb() is queued while we’re canceling all
work items off exec AND gets executed when the task exits to userspace
rather than in the main loop in io_uring_cancel_generic(), then we can
find current->io_uring == NULL and hit the above crash.

It’s safe to add this NULL check here, because the execution of the two
paths are done by the task itself.

[axboe: add code comment and also put an explanation in the commit msg]