[PATCH v2] ext4: fix use-after-free in update_super_work when racing with umount

[Jiayuan Chen]

From: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxxx>

Commit b98535d09179 ("ext4: fix bug_on in start_this_handle during umount
filesystem") moved ext4_unregister_sysfs() before flushing s_sb_upd_work
to prevent new error work from being queued via /proc/fs/ext4/xx/mb_groups
reads during unmount. However, this introduced a use-after-free because
update_super_work calls ext4_notify_error_sysfs() -> sysfs_notify() which
accesses the kobject's kernfs_node after it has been freed by kobject_del()
in ext4_unregister_sysfs():

  update_super_work                ext4_put_super
  -----------------                --------------
                                   ext4_unregister_sysfs(sb)
                                     kobject_del(&sbi->s_kobj)
                                       __kobject_del()
                                         sysfs_remove_dir()
                                           kobj->sd = NULL
                                         sysfs_put(sd)
                                           kernfs_put()  // RCU free
  ext4_notify_error_sysfs(sbi)
    sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj)
      kn = kobj->sd              // stale pointer
      kernfs_get(kn)             // UAF on freed kernfs_node
                                   ext4_journal_destroy()
                                     flush_work(&sbi->s_sb_upd_work)

Instead of reordering the teardown sequence, fix this by making
ext4_notify_error_sysfs() detect that sysfs has already been torn down
by checking s_kobj.state_in_sysfs, and skipping the sysfs_notify() call
in that case. A dedicated mutex (s_error_notify_mutex) serializes
ext4_notify_error_sysfs() against kobject_del() in ext4_unregister_sysfs()
to prevent TOCTOU races where the kobject could be deleted between the
state_in_sysfs check and the sysfs_notify() call.

Fixes: b98535d09179 ("ext4: fix bug_on in start_this_handle during umount filesystem")
Cc: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxx>
Suggested-by: Jan Kara <jack@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Jiayuan Chen <jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxxx>

---
v1 -> v2: Use state_in_sysfs instead of reordering the teardown
sequence.
https://lore.kernel.org/linux-ext4/20260313065206.152645-1-jiayuan.chen@xxxxxxxxx/
---
 fs/ext4/ext4.h  | 1 +
 fs/ext4/sysfs.c | 9 ++++++++-
 2 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index b76966dc06c0..c012e85d2515 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -1574,6 +1574,7 @@ struct ext4_sb_info {
 	struct proc_dir_entry *s_proc;
 	struct kobject s_kobj;
 	struct completion s_kobj_unregister;
+	struct mutex s_error_notify_mutex; /* protects sysfs_notify vs kobject_del */
 	struct super_block *s_sb;
 	struct buffer_head *s_mmp_bh;
 
diff --git a/fs/ext4/sysfs.c b/fs/ext4/sysfs.c
index d2ecc1026c0c..f2505988e010 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/sysfs.c
+++ b/fs/ext4/sysfs.c
@@ -597,7 +597,10 @@ static const struct kobj_type ext4_feat_ktype = {
 
 void ext4_notify_error_sysfs(struct ext4_sb_info *sbi)
 {
-	sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj, NULL, "errors_count");
+	mutex_lock(&sbi->s_error_notify_mutex);
+	if (sbi->s_kobj.state_in_sysfs)
+		sysfs_notify(&sbi->s_kobj, NULL, "errors_count");
+	mutex_unlock(&sbi->s_error_notify_mutex);
 }
 
 static struct kobject *ext4_root;
@@ -610,6 +613,7 @@ int ext4_register_sysfs(struct super_block *sb)
 	int err;
 
 	init_completion(&sbi->s_kobj_unregister);
+	mutex_init(&sbi->s_error_notify_mutex);
 	err = kobject_init_and_add(&sbi->s_kobj, &ext4_sb_ktype, ext4_root,
 				   "%s", sb->s_id);
 	if (err) {
@@ -644,7 +648,10 @@ void ext4_unregister_sysfs(struct super_block *sb)
 
 	if (sbi->s_proc)
 		remove_proc_subtree(sb->s_id, ext4_proc_root);
+
+	mutex_lock(&sbi->s_error_notify_mutex);
 	kobject_del(&sbi->s_kobj);
+	mutex_unlock(&sbi->s_error_notify_mutex);
 }
 
 int __init ext4_init_sysfs(void)
-- 
2.43.0