ALSA: pcm: Fix potential AB/BA lock with buffer_mutex and mmap_lock
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 5 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-667 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: ALSA: pcm: Fix potential AB/BA lock with buffer_mutex and mmap_lock syzbot caught a potential deadlock between the PCM runtime->buffer_mutex and the mm->mmap_lock. It was brought by the recent fix to cover the racy read/write and other ioctls, and in that commit, I overlooked a (hopefully only) corner case that may take the revert lock, namely, the OSS mmap. The OSS mmap operation exceptionally allows to re-configure the parameters inside the OSS mmap syscall, where mm->mmap_mutex is already held. Meanwhile, the copy_from/to_user calls at read/write operations also take the mm->mmap_lock internally, hence it may lead to a AB/BA deadlock. A similar problem was already seen in the past and we fixed it with a refcount (in commit b248371628aa). The former fix covered only the call paths with OSS read/write and OSS ioctls, while we need to cover the concurrent access via both ALSA and OSS APIs now. This patch addresses the problem above by replacing the buffer_mutex lock in the read/write operations with a refcount similar as we've used for OSS. The new field, runtime->buffer_accessing, keeps the number of concurrent read/write operations. Unlike the former buffer_mutex protection, this protects only around the copy_from/to_user() calls; the other codes are basically protected by the PCM stream lock. The refcount can be a negative, meaning blocked by the ioctls. If a negative value is seen, the read/write aborts with -EBUSY. In the ioctl side, OTOH, they check this refcount, too, and set to a negative value for blocking unless it's already being accessed.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 5.10.109 to before 5.10.110; 5.15.32 to before 5.15.33; 5.16.18 to before 5.16.19; 5.17.1 to before 5.17.2 | 5.10.110, 5.15.33, 5.16.19, 5.17.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 5.10.109 to before 5.10.110; 5.15.32 to before 5.15.33; 5.16.18 to before 5.16.19; 5.17.1 to before 5.17.2 Fixed in 5.10.110, 5.15.33, 5.16.19, 5.17.2 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 4
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.10.109:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.10.109 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.15.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.15.32 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.16.18 | Vulnerable | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.17.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 5.17.1 | Vulnerable | Linux |
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.10.109:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.10.109 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.15.32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.15.32 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.16.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.16.18 Vulnerable ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:5.17.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 5.17.1 Vulnerable ·Linux
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.110, 5.15.33, 5.16.19, 5.17.2
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2022:8267 Released 2022-11-15 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) kernel-tools-libs-devel-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) kernel-debug-devel-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-debug-devel-matched-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-devel-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1 +5
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) bpftool-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1, kernel-abi-stablelists-5.14.0-162.6.1.el9_1 +14
- RHSA-2022:7683 Released 2022-11-08 · Red Hat rating Moderatekernel security, bug fix, and enhancement update
- Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) kernel-tools-libs-devel-4.18.0-425.3.1.el8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) bpftool-4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-4.18.0-425.3.1.el8, kernel-abi-stablelists-4.18.0-425.3.1.el8 +19
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2022:7683 |
| Red Hat CodeReady Linux Builder (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2022:8267 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2022:8267 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) | Fixed | RHSA-2022:7683 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) | Fixed | RHSA-2022:8267 |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-49272
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-5w6j-rmq5-x4x9
References
Patch 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7e9133607e1501c94881be35e118d8f84d96dcb4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/40f4cffbe13a51faf136faf5f9ef6847782cd595
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9661bf674d6a82b76e4ae424438a8ce1e3ed855d
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9017201e8d8c6d1472273361389ed431188584a0
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/7777744e92a0b30e3e0cce2758d911837011ebd9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/abedf0d08c79d76da0d6fa0d5dbbc98871dcbc2e
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/be9813ad2fc8f0885f5ce6925af0d993ce5da4e5
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/bc55cfd5718c7c23e5524582e9fa70b4d10f2433
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Sources
- CVE-2022-49272 · CVE Program
- CVE-2022-49272 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-5w6j-rmq5-x4x9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2022-49272 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences