In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
usb: gadget: f_ncm: align net_device lifecycle with bind/unbind
Currently, the net_device is allocated in ncm_alloc_inst() and freed in
ncm_free_inst(). This ties the network interface's lifetime to the
configuration instance rather than the USB connection (bind/unbind).
This decoupling causes issues when the USB gadget is disconnected where
the underlying gadget device is removed. The net_device can outlive its
parent, leading to dangling sysfs links and NULL pointer dereferences
when accessing the freed gadget device.
Problem 1: NULL pointer dereference on disconnect
Unable to handle kernel NULL pointer dereference at virtual address
0000000000000000
Call trace:
__pi_strlen+0x14/0x150
rtnl_fill_ifinfo+0x6b4/0x708
rtmsg_ifinfo_build_skb+0xd8/0x13c
rtmsg_ifinfo+0x50/0xa0
__dev_notify_flags+0x4c/0x1f0
dev_change_flags+0x54/0x70
do_setlink+0x390/0xebc
rtnl_newlink+0x7d0/0xac8
rtnetlink_rcv_msg+0x27c/0x410
netlink_rcv_skb+0x134/0x150
rtnetlink_rcv+0x18/0x28
netlink_unicast+0x254/0x3f0
netlink_sendmsg+0x2e0/0x3d4
Problem 2: Dangling sysfs symlinks
console:/ # ls -l /sys/class/net/ncm0
lrwxrwxrwx ... /sys/class/net/ncm0 ->
/sys/devices/platform/.../gadget.0/net/ncm0
console:/ # ls -l /sys/devices/platform/.../gadget.0/net/ncm0
ls: .../gadget.0/net/ncm0: No such file or directory
Move the net_device allocation to ncm_bind() and deallocation to
ncm_unbind(). This ensures the network interface exists only when the
gadget function is actually bound to a configuration.
To support pre-bind configuration (e.g., setting interface name or MAC
address via configfs), cache user-provided options in f_ncm_opts
using the gether_opts structure. Apply these cached settings to the
net_device upon creation in ncm_bind().
Preserve the use-after-free fix from commit 6334b8e4553c ("usb: gadget:
f_ncm: Fix UAF ncm object at re-bind after usb ep transport error").
Check opts->net in ncm_set_alt() and ncm_disable() to ensure
gether_disconnect() runs only if a connection was established.