CVE-2026-31688 PUBLISHED

driver core: enforce device_lock for driver_match_device()

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 09.03.2026 Published: 27.04.2026 Updated: 27.04.2026

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

driver core: enforce device_lock for driver_match_device()

Currently, driver_match_device() is called from three sites. One site (__device_attach_driver) holds device_lock(dev), but the other two (bind_store and __driver_attach) do not. This inconsistency means that bus match() callbacks are not guaranteed to be called with the lock held.

Fix this by introducing driver_match_device_locked(), which guarantees holding the device lock using a scoped guard. Replace the unlocked calls in bind_store() and __driver_attach() with this new helper. Also add a lock assertion to driver_match_device() to enforce this guarantee.

This consistency also fixes a known race condition. The driver_override implementation relies on the device_lock, so the missing lock led to the use-after-free (UAF) reported in Bugzilla for buses using this field.

Stress testing the two newly locked paths for 24 hours with CONFIG_PROVE_LOCKING and CONFIG_LOCKDEP enabled showed no UAF recurrence and no lockdep warnings.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 49b420a13ff95b449947181190b08367348e3e1b to dc23806a7c47ec5f1293aba407fb69519f976ee0 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 2.6.30 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 2.6.30 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 7.0 to * (incl.)

References